Seagulls in the Mountains: January Jaunt

"You can never go home again."

I don't know where that came from or what made it so famous. It is true, though. And not just of "going home"; it's true of different stages of life; of singular phases that helped you become who you are.

When I was younger, it bothered me, but now I'm at peace with the natural way that life just rolls along. My past formed the person I am as I wandered along without direction, not really knowing who I was; not aware of the potential I held.

When I was a single mom living in California, I spent a lot of time at the home of my very good friend, Stacy. She was too young to be like a mom to me, but too old to be like a sister. Yet, she taught me so much
. One of her daughters was planning to go through the temple for the first time so I took Rylee down with me and we had quite a trip.

Waiting at the airport for her first ever plane ride.


Walkin' the mile... walkin' the mile...


Safety first!

Stacy had a lot going on, but I convinced her to take me down memory lane. This is the house my parents bought when I was 14. There used to be rose bushes lining the front of a green lawn. There are very few grassy lawns in the whole high desert now. A few have decorated with gravel and some have concrete, but most are just like this. Bare sandy dirt. How do they even get rid of the sod? Not even a weed is trying to live here. It's quite depressing. We stopped by my old high school which looked like it was abandoned. Falling apart. Peeling paint. Chain link fences around it. My sister said it is still in operation as a high school and it is really bad.


Not a rebellious teenager anymore.

Rylee doing chores with Stacy's grandkids. They are so adorable.

Two of Stacy's daughters live right across the street from Disneyland. Her oldest daughter lives up in the high desert, and her one son is back east in the military.

Darby tells her little nieces and nephews that if they behave well she'll turn on the fireworks for them. This night, she did it for Rylee! (Disneyland fireworks show. Would it still hold it's magic if it happened every night?)

One perk of leaving Star Valley and going out into "the World"---> RESTAURANTS GALORE. Everyone just took turns picking a place to eat. I was in heaven. This place had the BEST pork chop I've ever tasted in my life.