Oregon Coast Road Trip

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We took a road trip to Oregon in the fall of last year. It was one of those trips I wanted to take for years, and one I often think about since.

Sometimes we even dream of buying a little cottage along a river nestled in those pines and wild blackberry bushes, minutes from the coast, even for just a year or two. It’s a happy thought I dream of from time to time.

Someday we’ll be back, if for nothing else than to feel the thrill of our heart’s content.

This was a last minute trip (as most of our trips are). We had hardly a plan except to explore and enjoy, which landed us on top of a volcano, through the cityscape, and to the sands of the pacific just on day two. We struggled to find a place to stay each night (it was Labor Day weekend) but ended up with just what we needed.

In four days we totaled 31 hours of driving in the car, but we mixed it up with park stops, beach play, and lots and lots of snacks. And the drive was half the fun with all the beauty we got to see together!

It was an incredible trip, one of my very, very favorites.

Oregon Coast Road Trip | thatwemighthavejoy.com

In the Sunshine

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We are in California now, living just an hour from the beach in beautiful spring weather while much of our family and friends are still sporting heavy coats and scraping ice from their windshields. We are taking walks in the sunshine, swimming on the weekends, and taking drives along the coast. I think about this and my nose gets all tingly and my eyes water because I longed for this so much. I wanted it so intensely at times, and here we are living in it!

At this very time last year when our days were hazy and our home was surrounded in mounds of snow for months on end with hardly a temperature above twenty, I laid on my couch with my growing belly under mounds of my own darkness. Pregnancy has a way of intensifying emotion, and I was struggling to get out from under it.

But I changed in those months. I grew, closer to Him. I reached up to the Savior and pleaded for His help, more than I ever had before. And He lifted me. In quiet moments I felt strengthened, inspired, and encouraged and I can’t even pinpoint exactly how, but I remember those feelings. They brought me closer to heaven and closer to Him.

So as much as I am heart swellingly grateful for this time in the sun, I am deeply grateful for the darker days that brought me here and brought me to Him too.

At the end of my pregnancy I updated my blog with some of these experiences from my journal and the crumbly feelings I was having. They were so raw at the time I first wrote them that I didn’t really care to share them. But ultimately I felt the desire to because I think there is value in sharing the struggles, and if it can help someone, the sweet strength I felt along the way too. You can find these under the category, “pregnancy,” which is on the right side on a computer or scroll all the way to the bottom on a phone.

Pay it Forward

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I was looking forward to yesterday for a while.

For Jake’s birthday, we ordered a paddle board from REI and we couldn’t wait to pick it up and take it to the beach! The first time we went to the gulf coast, we saw a guy out in the ocean on his stand up paddle board. Jake was smitten. He kept talking about how cool it would be to have a paddle board, and he just seemed so excited about it. Well, the price tag proved this item elusive for a while. It’s been over two years, and I figured it was a good time to look into getting ourselves a stand up paddle board. And we did!!

We picked it up yesterday morning, strapped it to the top of our explorer, and headed out for the beach! We had SUCH a good time. The weather was a perfect 78 degrees, with a slight breeze and plenty of sunshine. And, the beach was empty! Other than a few people walking by or in their beach houses, we had the beach to ourselves. Jake wasted no time getting that board into the water, and ended up taking it out a number of times while we were there. The waves were pretty choppy, but he kept his balance pretty well. He even rode a few waves in. Ava and I also took a ride sitting down on it while Jake pushed us around. Ava was a little uneasy at first, and didn’t even want to go out on it, but she still laughed and seemed to have a good time on it. She also loved running up and down the beach, chasing the birds and the waves. She ended up falling asleep, wrapped in a towel on my lap as the sun set. I loved it. It was a perfect day relaxing and playing together. We were all so happy.

When we got home around 8:30, the neighborhood kids were jumping in a bounce house in the Hanson’s yard across the street. Ava had a blast playing with them (as always) and ate lots of Halloween candy. Did I mention it was Halloween? I wouldn’t have spent the day any other way.

One more thing. Before heading out to the beach, we stopped at an nice Indian buffet to get some lunch. The food was great, although Ava didn’t seem to want to try much (which is typical.) The waiters were so kind and even brought out ice cream for her. We sat nearby a nice middle aged man, and Jake engaged in some conversation with him throughout our meal. He left before we were done. While we were finishing up our rice pudding, one of the waiters came over to us, thanked us for coming, and with a smile said, “You don’t need to worry about paying, your meal has been covered. That man already paid for you.”

I was so touched. Maybe it’s my pregnancy emotions, but I just wanted to cry; I was so grateful and so touched by his kindness. Most of all, I was impressed by the feeling it left me with–it made me want to do likewise. To pay it forward. I thought about how powerful little acts of kindness like that can be, especially if it inspires others to continue to pay it forward with other acts of kindness.

Overall, it just left me with such a great feeling, and I don’t doubt that the giver felt similarly. We would all do better with more kindness like that.

halloweenbeach-36 — 30 weeks! (And really loving this bump of mine.)