Trail heads, small wards, and a lot of beavers

I've only been in Pocatello for just a little under a week and already it's been a wonderful blessing. Different but good. Unsure what to do with my time but good. As you can tell, I've been interested in blogging and writing down our experiences and some thoughts that I have in the mean time. But I have a goal to get outside the house at least once a day to either read at the park, go shopping, do family history, or go to the library. It's awesome because all of those things are within walking distance or just 5 minutes away driving. I'm hoping to also start volunteering and using my time to develop gifts and talents (hopefully that means more piano practicing time too).

We are in this family ward that is tiny! I was amazed. I thought we were going to be in a large family ward with tons of kids but there aren't any newborns either. Just 2 year olds on up and hardly any youth. But they are some sweet people. We got invited to dinner that very first Sunday with a young couple who were moving in a couple of weeks. It was fun to talk to them and another couple in the ward who was also at the dinner-all of us in the same boat-newlyweds going to grad school. I went to a Relief Society activity last night but only 6 people showed up including me. It was like we were all on this triple date together! We did indexing at the Family History Center and then got ice cream. And they are hilarious! I felt like I was laughing the whole time we were there.

Austin and I have this tradition of taking a stroll on the trail behind our house after dinner. Another favorite thing we do is I read to him after dinner while he does the dishes. It's a win-win. We're reading "Lions of Little Rock" which I read recently but loved it so much that I wanted to read it to him.
I've been caught in the busy ness of managing for a couple of years that having nothing else to do except keep a house is nerve racking, which is interesting because I do want to be a homemaker. It's neat that I can pray to my Heavenly Father and ask Him how I can make this home better. I've had spiritual promptings several times that being in Pocatello was to be a preparatory time for Moscow, for my future family. I don't know what all of that entails but I want to take that to heart and not neglect important and essentials things in life.

Sometimes scrubbing toilets and baking bread is fulfilling. It seems kind of weird to say it but it's true. Because when Austin comes home after work and sees a (partially) clean house and the smell of dinner, he's like a kid again. It doesn't matter how bad the day was. Coming home to a place that is home makes the whole process worth it.

On a walk. And there is a pause sign on the left.

Beavers? Marmots?

Part of my job is perfecting cookies