Ch-ch-ch-changes!

I was totally just going to shower, and then read a friend's blog and was inspired to post something too (I haven't written since Christmas after all). It's 2:57 p.m. and I'm not dressed for the day yet. But hey - it's Saturday - don't worry about it.

So we're going to Minneapolis this summer. I don't think it's still quite real to me that I'm finally moving away from Utah - and not just away, but FAR away. 19 hours by car (according to Google). 25 hours from Portland (sorry Mom). I know it's only temporary, but if we end up really liking it, and getting a full-time offer after grad school, we could be there full time a year from now. Crazy!

It's amazing how quickly your life can change. The only thing truly constant in life is change, though. Our family may be headed off internationally sometime before school starts in the fall (and after the internship), so I filled out an application for a passport for Scarlett today. I pulled out my old passport along with the other documents in our fire safe, and saw a very young-looking missionary picture, taken more than a decade ago. It's hard to believe that I'm that same person who bawled like a baby when his entire family dropped him off at the local, one-gate airport to fly to England.

A lot has happened in 11 years. I bought a couple cars, filed my own taxes, bought my own insurance, graduated college, worked for four and a half years as a business professional, got married, purchased furniture, became a father, and now I'm back at school pursuing my MBA. I'm a real, live grownup, for all intents and purposes. But I still cry a little every time we have to leave my parents' driveway to make the trek back to Utah. I still crave the love and approval of my parents - I still want my dad to be proud of me. Sometimes I still lounge about the house in PJ's on a Saturday until 3 p.m., watching the last season of Burn Notice.

I'm still a kid, but I'm also an adult. I have a family to take care of, a daughter I want to raise to be a productive member of society, with chores to take care of and bills to pay. I have a calling and home teaching to think about, planning for temple nights and daddy-daughter dates to do, and a big move across country to prepare for. I always thought of 30 as old. Now it doesn't seem so old - but 20 seems really young:

I'm grateful for all of the changes in my life, but I'm also grateful for the things that haven't changed - that I hope never do. I hope I can always be a little bit silly, and not always take everything so seriously. I hope I can always have fun and be as happy as children are, while still taking care of the things that need to get done. Good goal, right?