HOMEsweetHARPER.

first things first. conference was awesome as always. as soon as the talks are posted i will share my favorites. this mornings talk by Elder Richard G. Scott was among the best. He spoke of his beloved wife & the acts of kindness they shared throughout a lifetime. as members of the church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints we are taught of the eternal nature of our lives. my parents were sealed to my brothers and i in the holy temple of the Lord for time and all eternity. now i am sealed to jordan-my husband, in the same beautiful way. i know as well as my husband, brothers, parents, grandparents, etc that i will see them and be with them for eternity. i will never have to long for there companionship once i depart this life. i am so happy with the knowledge of this in my life and also the faith that i have that this knowledge is true. the reassurance that my family will be a whole always is so peaceful. whether rich or poor, sick or healthy, dead or leaving-we are a unit for eternity and i love this.

with that being said i realized the exact simple pleasures that i miss about home. starting first with the fact that it SNOWED today. i am seeing friends playing in pools soaking the sun up and i am bundled up ATTEMPTING to stay warm. i miss the smell of my mom. okay this may be weird for an adult to say this but the memory of my mom when she would come home from work was her scent-for some reason i have treasured this since childhood. she ALWAYS smelled the same, i could never describe what it is but i loved that smell always & miss it daily. i miss bryce's midnight talks. bryce is such a funny kid. he would open my door, peek his head in, & say "sis are you up?" i would say "yes". he would come in and tell me what he did that night, show me something new, or just to laugh and joke. he did this so often it was almost expected that once the garage was opened and i heard those footsteps that any second the door would soon after open. i miss bryan jumping up at the crack of dawn to come and wake me up-not in a simple "hey are you up" way...it was the jump on my bed all 6'5"s of him- im surprised he didnt bounce up and hit his head on the roof. he would wake me up like this to tell me to get up so that we can go shopping & to eat somewhere. we would go shopping and would convince me to buy EVERYTHING that i picked up then would make me buy lunch. thanks brother for that. then he would do something that would irritate everyone that wasnt in the same room as him-he would make our dog harley, bark like a crazy man. last-my dad... oh my dad my dad my dad. the things he did... hahah. i am for sure my fathers daughter. i miss the smell of his cologne. not just the one smell that he regularly wore but the 15 DIFFERENT scents that he has. my dad LOVES cologne and wears ever kind you could think of-that smells good of course. he sprays it EVERYWHERE-in cars, on himself, on beds, in hallways, etc. youd really think that it was room spray. the other thing that i hated-but miss being able to laugh about is that he would blow down the sidewalks, driveway, & garage with his leaf blower at least 3-5 times a day. (this is a LITERAL amount with no sort of exaggeration) our house was always spotless inside & out because of this but he loved to do it.

i have been missing my family & as i sat reading a talk that had been given at a past conference i had a realization of what i was actually missing. my family-i miss them but i miss making memories with them. i realized that i was no longer able to make daily memories with them but instead i should live in the moment with my husband and make memories with him. memories that i will be able to recall and enjoy in the autumn of our lives. i will be able to make memories with my family every chance i get but i will NEVER forget the memories & moments we have thus far. family comes before everything else in life and i hope and pray that, one day, my kids will grow up & STRUGGLE to leave home and ALWAYS have a desire to return because i know without a doubt that the HARDEST thing i have ever had to do was to leave my mom, dad & brothers. they are the best i could have asked for and loved me in all my crazy antics.

for parents (and a reminder for myself one day) make your house a home and make it a place that your children would do anything to return to. for teens & young adults- hold the times that you have with your family close to your heart-the good, the bad and the ugly. NO MATTER WHAT remember where you came from because one day you will realize that FAMILY is ALL you have. they will be there when you miss them, when you want to vent, when you want to cry, or for things like getting married & raising a family yourself.

 my brothers at there absolute best

 my parents, best friends, & best examples.

 the people who made me-ME!