Away Frahm New Haven and each other

During the wee hours of Tuesday morning, Walker and I were driven to JFK by a very generous church friend. The weekend had been a whirlwind, bringing us to good places and things, but at a breakneck pace. It was Thursday night when we decided to spend some time on Friday and Saturday in the outdoors in celebration of our anniversary on Sunday, May 24. We had also tried to get to the Manhattan Temple earlier in the week, but traffic was so bad we were forced to turn around, but still, we wanted to take some time to be together and serve in the temple. So, on Friday morning before I went to work, I threw together some clothes and toiletries and Walker rushed me to work. Then, he gathered all of the other necessities for our trip and packed them, a loving gesture which started our weekend off on the right foot. Around noon, he whisked in and picked me up from work and we took off to New York. The drive in was very pleasant, and we took time to reminisce about our wedding day, and to daydream and ruminate a little over our future. Our experience in the temple was refreshing and much-needed, which proved fortuitous. In our careful, detailed, in-advance planning, we had neglected to attend to the important fact that we would be leaving Manhattan at 4:45 on the Friday of Memorial Day weekend. Enough said.

That evening around 9:00, we arrived at Macedonia Brook State Park. Though we had wanted to hike Mt. Riga, the highest point in Connecticut, Walker had sprained his ankle, and, though my enthusiasm for hiking to peaks is nearly unsquelchable, I wasn't sure that a 6-month pregnant woman should put her baby or body through that. So, we decided to take it a bit easy. We went to Macedonia Brook last summer, and it was just as beautiful this time around. We watched the stars through our mesh-top tent and fell asleep, exhausted but very satisfied with our day. I woke up in the darkness to a few light drops of rain. After Walker hastily replaced the rain fly, we settled back down and enjoyed one of the most pleasant sensations of camping - being warm and dry inside a little space while listening to the rain trickle and patter and tap against the tent.

That was the last real moment of peace and quiet we had that weekend. Saturday, we took a moderate hike leading to some nice overlooks and then headed home, arriving in the late afternoon in time to do some trip preparation. On Sunday, our actual anniversary, we made stuffed peppers together and then enjoyed the year-old top layer of our wedding cake, chocolate chip with cream cheese filling. All of it was plain delicious. Then, we spent some evening hours diassembling our bed, wardrobe, hooks, racks, etc. from our old apartment, which we needed to vacate on Monday...on Monday, a good handful of church men showed up and helped us move all of our things within the space of 90 minutes. Wow. :) This was true service--giving up a few precious morning hours on a rare Monday holiday to help us move. I packed up kitchen stuff and Walker and I cleaned the apartment. We were done by 3:00 pm--no small feat, we felt.
And then the 9-hour (for Jenn) and 13-hour (for Walker) marathon of packing, cleaning, gathering, emailing, transferring of material, and confirming of plans began. Promptly at 4:00 am, Brady Pope, our ride, knocked on the door. My flight left at 7:00 am, arriving inexplicably but mercifully nearly an hour early. Walker, unfortunately, had to wait in the airport until 5:30 pm for his flight to leave. Walker is in many ways my hero, and this is only one small way in which I idolize him. Walker has so much patience and tolerance for spending long periods of time in rather dreary and mundane locations, but still finding something fun or productive to do. He arrived safely in Bucarest, where he plans to stay until Tuesday-ish when he leaves for Chisinau, Moldova.

In the meantime, I have gone on a trip to Goblin Valley in southern Utah with my family this week, and tomorrow Spencer (19-year old brother) will address our congregation in anticipation of his departure to serve a mission for our church in Oslo, Norway. Believe me, I am excited about this. Especially since we will be able to understand each other with a little practice.
But, perhaps even more, because I know Spence will have the opportunity to learn and grow so much, and to experience the true joy of always serving others.

Kiwi clicks his heels and kicks joyfully, and I smile tiredly but happily, until next time.