Home for Christmas

We're in Utah! Have been for about a week now.

And clearly I busted into my new (refurbished) Macbook--which is working perfectly so far.

And clearly I discovered Photo Booth.

And clearly my husband and I spent an hour playing on it and laughing because we're ecstatic to finally have time for us and for enjoying such pointless activities!

Good life choices all around.

Our first item of business upon arriving in Utah (after Cafe Rio and walking through the mall) was to grab my favorite dog and go on my favorite Dry Canyon hike. This is where Jared and I took our first hike together and also where we got engaged and also the last hike we took before Grenada. So yes, you could say it's my favorite.

I've come to two life-changing realizations since arriving home. The first occurred when I tagged along with my mom on a trip to Walmart. You guys, I almost had an emotional breakdown in the breakfast foods aisle, and I actually teared up in the produce section. I felt lightheaded through the whole trip. I have never before appreciated or even realized how abundant and inexpensive and beautiful food is in America (specifically Utah). Would you believe me if I told you our monthly Grenada food budget is $650 US dollars? And on that, we really don't eat all that well. Sometimes the only produce available in the stores is slightly rotten, so I just have to buy it and cut out the unusable parts. I nearly choked when I saw a large $2.50 jar of jam at Walmart. A sample-sized jar of jelly in Grenada is $20 Eastern Caribbean dollars, or about $8 US. (Hence why I made like a gallon of mango jelly myself. For the win!) There are less expensive grocery stores you can visit on the island, but anything I've ever boughten from them is either completely stale or bug-infested. So anyway, I hope that I will never take a trip to an American grocery store for granted ever again. This is a beautiful nation.

Realization #2: Family trumps Christmas. In the past, the Christmas season for me has been about lights and movies and snow and all that other good stuff. This year, however, my paper chain counted down to seeing my family. Now that we're here, I haven't really thought all that much about Christmas. (Which is in 2 days? How??) Instead, Jared and I have been thinking about what fun things we can do with our families and all that we can cram in with them during the next two weeks. I'm excited for Christmas mostly so we can talk to my two younger brothers who are serving LDS missions. Family time is another thing that I have taken for granted in the past, but is really special to me.

These past few months have been life-changing in hard but really good ways. We are so beyond happy to be home for Christmas, and I hope that all of you will be able to spend time with loved ones during this holiday season. Merry Christmas!