Um, California? It's November.

So knock it off with the un-winter-ish weather.

Chiara and I flew into California yesterday to pack up all the furniture etc we've been storing at my parents' house. My plan was to come back, pack up the moving truck, and drive home to Idaho (groan ... still can't believe I live there). Yesterday all I did was go through old stuff, throw things away, and repack boxes. All day. I can't BELIEVE the things I'm finding in boxes labeled with my name ... it's astounding.

For example, I found an Eric Carle painting kit from my I-want-to-learn-to-watercolor phase. Yeah, it's in a Hungry Caterpillar box. Classy. I found a stack of Splash Mountain pictures from every school trip I'd ever taken to Disneyland. They weren't pretty, by the way. I found letters I'd attempted to write in Italian from the first few months of my mission which were full of American idioms. I found pictures and gifts from ex-boyfriends, clothes that I'd never don again even if I could fit into them, and more cards and letters and papers than I can even put into words. It was ridiculous. I even found a poem I'd written about my first love. Well, I thought he was my first love. I was 14 years old. :)

Chiara has been loving this whole packing project because she plays with all the boxes. Hide and seek is her favorite game of life. It would worry me except that she's not a good hider. As soon as Eldon or I announce that we're done counting she bursts out of her hiding place and yells, "Boo!" And then she laughs hysterically. So do we. I'll miss that game when she grows out of it ... I hope it's not for a long, long time.

So it's been a productive trip. For Christmas my mom took me to IKEA this morning ... ambiguous sentence. We found so much great stuff to organize and otherwise manage my life. I love the people who come up with the products IKEA sells. We bought magnetic spice racks, "floating" shelves, deep picture frames, and so much more. I'm still glowing from it all. Eldon is probably reading this and cringing, but it will really be a fantastic help to our little apartment. You'll see, Honey. I threw away all my dumb stuff (except I might have kept the caterpillar painting set) and made room for useful stuff! :)

Oh, what made me think of our IKEA trip was realizing how easy it would be for a mother to lose a child who was good at hide-and-seek. My goodness, she was climbing into every cabinet, bin, and bed she could. It was so funny. She did a full-out nose dive into this little toy box and was just thrilled with herself over it. I have no idea what the people around us were thinking. Probably, "Why does that woman let her daughter do that?" Because it's funny. That's why. And it makes her happy. And she is really, REALLY cute when she's happy.

I am so so so happy and excited to get all moved into our new place and make us a home. Yay to the tenth power!!