The Perfect Day

Almost. It was almost the perfect day. There was one small snag, which I'll explain later. But it came pretty darn close to the perfect day. After we had a couple weeks to get settled Barrett and I decided we needed to start planning little outings in the evenings after work and on the weekends so we could start exploring Stavanger. So this night we decided to head to a park/trails/overlook of one of the fjords to have a picnic dinner. 

The day started out with a trip to the grocery store so I could buy supplies for our picnic and I even posted an Instagram about our successful trip to the grocery store. Not only had I mostly found what I needed, but I had FINALLY remembered, understood the question, and been daring enough to tell the cashier "Nei takk" (no thanks) when he asked me if I wanted bags. Little successes like this go a long way. Plus it had been rainy for several days so sunshine always adds to the beauty and happiness.

Then we went home to make preparations. I made more applesauce and had time to perfectly plan what we were going to eat for dinner and plan what we needed with it. Lily had a great nap, which means I got down time and probably posted something on the blog :) After nap we packed everything up and headed on the bus to meet Barrett at his work. 

Little snag: we got off on the right bus stop but I did not go the right way to Barrett's work. It is not even a 5 minute walk from the bus stop and I walked back and forth for maybe 20 minutes. I started getting frustrated with Barrett for not giving me specific enough directions, and was mad at myself for forgetting, or not listening closely enough to the instructions. But eventually I made it to the back of the building because I had walked there from centrum once before. Phew. Crisis averted. I didn't get too lost.

Then we had a long walk sightseeing some more through the shopping district of centrum (where I chose not to pay 5 krones to use the bathroom!) and on to our destination. The long walk, which I won't say I was always the most pleasant about, was well worth it though for the beautiful view and peaceful dinner.

Eating our dinner while overlooking this view...

Lily loved playing in the rocks and handing rocks for Barrett to throw into the ocean.

 Barrett took our nice camera and got some great close-ups of Lily.

Then we caught the bus to go home. I don't remember much else about the night, but some time during the day I thought to myself, "this has been a perfect day." 

Also to add to the great day I re-read Elder Uchtdorf's general conference talk from last April called "Grateful in Any Circumstances". I had just been talking to my friend from Baltimore about how funny it is that you miss where you moved from, even when you were there such a short time, and had been feeling a little sad about being so far away from everyone. Plus I had a lot of hard days in Baltimore and would not go back to Barrett being gone all the time. Yet you still have a small yearning from what you left behind. A quote our friend, Hayley, who has moved around a few times for a mission and for school, posted recently on Facebook rang true to me (thanks Hayley!): "You get a strange feeling when you're about to leave a place, like you'll not only miss the people you love but you'll miss the person you are now at this time and this place, because you'll never be this way again."-Azar Nafisi. Maybe that was it. We were missing part of who we are and had become by leaving Baltimore. Anyway, back to the talk, Elder Uchtdorf also has a beautiful way of saying it under the section We are not made for endings: "In light of what we know about our eternal destiny, is it any wonder that whenever we face the bitter endings of life, they seem unacceptable to us? There seems to be something inside of us that resists endings. Why is this? Because we are made of the stuff of eternity. We are eternal beings, children of the Almighty God, whose name is Endless and who promises eternal blessings without number. Endings are not our destiny. The more we learn about the gospel of Jesus Christ, the more we realize that endings here in mortality are not endings at all. They are merely interruptions-temporary pauses that one day will seem small compared to the eternal joy awaiting the faithful. How grateful I am to my Heavenly Father that in His plan there are no true endings, only everlasting beginnings." Isn't this absolutely gorgeous? It gives me chills reading it again. He says it perfectly. Endings, changes, and movings on, are bittersweet for a reason. AND, will not last forever.

I am grateful for days like our picnic next to the ocean. It helps to overshadow the days that are not-so-perfect, which leads to my next post....