Go West

The journey to our new home in Montana covered 1,900 miles and eight different states.  We went from Ohio to Utah to Idaho, back to Utah back to Idaho and then finally to Montana.  Yeah, we're crazy like that.

The good news is that we had mutliple drivers, multiple days to make the trip, and our girls got to travel via airplane with Nana Joni and Paul.

The bad news is that it took what felt like a long, long time, a few more dollars than we would have cared to spend, and Nana Joni ended the last leg of their flight covered in throw up thanks to Miss Stella.

It's official: I am not asking my mom to babysit again for quite a while.

We sold our Maxima the day before leaving Ohio, so ourselves as well as Ryan's parents made the journey west sharing our time in the Santa Fe. 

It was nice to only have to purchase gas for and drive one car, but it was a little sad to see the Maxima go.

I recieved that car the summer before college and it has served us quite well over the last eight years.

It saw weekend trips home to Pocatello to visit the family; road trips for honeymoons, baseball games, and Bear Lake weekends; and miles spent moving away from Utah and exploring our new home in the east.

Not to mention all the miles it clocked driving Ryan (and myself) down I-315 to the Ohio State campus parking lots where there often wasn't an avaialable spot to be found for hours.

Good times, indeed; one hub cap and all.

Are we all a little sick of the nostalgia yet?

Okay, back to the road trip.

We decided to make the most of our journey and stop at a few tourist attractions along the way.

Our first break landed us in the booming town of Cayuga, Indiana.

Cayuga happens to be the birthplace of Teresa's dad and it was so fun for her to be able to stop and check out the quant little town that was once a part of his life.

Grandpa Hamilton passed away the summer Ryan and I began dating, but Teresa's mom was able to track down the possible address of a distant relative who might still live nearby.

Soon enough we were pulling into the driveway of one Ms. Nora Dowers.

To say she was surprised and confused at her unexpected visitors would be an understatement, but in the end it was apparent that we made this sweet old lady's day.

She shared with us a little bit about her life as well as some information about Grandpa's family.

It was obvious she was more than a little lonely and wouldn't let us leave with out the promise of keeping in touch and sending her letters and pictures when we returned home.

Broke my heart just a little bit.

Most of my time in the car was spent napping or reading my book Heaven is Here, by Stephanie Nielson.  I did take my turn driving, but I am pretty sure the boys were more than happy when my turn was over and they no longer had to listen to me singing every word to the Wicked soundtrack at the top of my lungs.

I loved Stephanie's book.

Honestly I was a little skeptical about reading it because I have followed her blog for quite a while and thought I likely wouldn't read anything I hadn't already heard about there.

Not only was I wrong about that, but I was amazed at how inspiring her struggle still was and how much I truly felt the Spirit while reading her words.

I was especially touched by her experiences with life beyond the veil, and her testimony that those who have gone before us are so near.

I was inspired to be better in so many areas of my life thanks to her example, and I came away at the end feeling a greater love for myself, my family, and my God.

The major pit stops of the trip came at Carthage Jail and Nauvoo.

It was so amazing to be able to spend a few hours reflecting on the struggles and courage of those Saints who went before us.

I am sure it had something to do with my overly emotional state due to leaving Ohio and everything I loved there, but I felt so much emotion as I contemplated what those Saints must have felt as they turned their backs on everything they had so labored to create.

It wasn't hard for me to draw parallels to my own situation, but at the same time find perspective in the grand scheme of life.

There is a road in Nauvoo that stretches from the bottom of the temple out to the Mississippi River. It was likely a route used by those early Saints to exit Nauvoo and head into an unknown futre out West.

 The road is lined with actual excerpts from journals of some of those pioneers, and each word that I read touched my heart and resonated with me personally.

I particularly loved the following from Bathsheba Smith:

"My last act in that precious spot was to tidy the rooms, sweep up the floor, and set the broom in its accustomed place behind the door.  Then with emotions in my heart...I gently closed the door and faced an unkown future, faced it with faith in God and with no less assurance of the ultimate establishment of the Gospel in the West and of its true, enduring principles, than I had felt in those trying scenes in Missouri."

I just found her words so full of faith and promise, and they motivated me to have the same trust that all would be well and work out as it should in our new home.

Overall I felt a lot of emotion while in Nauvoo.

The last time I was there was exactly four  years prior as we were instead heading east and to our new life in Ohio.

That visit was made with my family and with my sweet dad in tow.

Knowing that my time in Ohio was over and that he would never get to see the new life we are forging in Montana was one of the hadest parts of leaving for me.

I believe he is aware of me and my sweet little family, and that he sees our lives unfolding; but he will never physically be here to see our lovely new home or to go on a tour of Ryan's new office.

Those thoughts are hard for me to swallow and Nauvoo made me think of him so much more.

The lyrics to the beautiful LDS hymn Come, Come Ye Saints, were penned only miles from Nauvoo as author William Clayton moved westward with the Saints, and it was talked about and heard all throughout our time in Nauvoo.

It was also the closing song at my dad's funeral and a song that we sang to him as a family as he rested in bed the day before he died.

The second verse reminds me of him the most:

"Why should we mourn or think our lot is hard?

Tis not so; all is right.

Why should we think to earn a great reward

If we now shun the fight?

Gird up your loins; fresh courage take.

Our God will never us forsake;

And soon we'll have this tale to tell-

All is well! All is well!"

All truly is well, and I am doing my best to find the courage he would want me to have here in my new home.

Even though those moments and days that remind me of him can be hard, they are also sweet.

I feel him close and am reminded of his love for me; and that is something that death nor time can ever take away.