New Hampshire. It's the Greatest Place.

As I'm sure most of you know, Dalin and I currently live in Provo, Utah as we attend school at BYU and finish up getting our degrees. We have only been married and lived here just over ten months now, and already I am yearning to leave. Everyone who is older and has more life experience commands us to "enjoy these days" and "this time in our lives" because it is going to "fly by." Yeah, well, sometimes I kind of wish it would. As we are getting to know one another better as a couple, we are finding out more about who the other is as a person and what goals we share. I think one thing we can agree on is that we do not want to live in Utah. There is really no doubt about that. Even though I often suggest that I hate Utah, it's more that I just like everywhere else better...and by everywhere I mean the entire east coast, Idaho, and Arizona. Those are really the only places I can compare it to with my limited travel experience. I will admit that this state has SOME admirable qualities...I will name them so you know I am not too unkind a person:

It has nice mountains

The good stores are pretty close

It has BYU

The apostles and prophet are around here

It has Salt Lake, which is fun to visit

It has lots of temples close by

They have the Jazz

It has dollar theaters

It has Provo Canyon, which is where Dalin proposed to me

You can see the lights in the valley at night

Good people come here

These things are nice, but New Hampshire (where I am from) is just so exceptional a state that there really isn't much of a comparison. I'll tell you why:

My family is there. 

The trees. They make breathing easier.

The hundreds of lakes (Lake Winnipesaukee)

We have green (tree-covered) rolling hills
It is beautiful. We have the best views.

The many rivers that run throughout the woods
The air. It smells so clean. 

The natural water slides at the Kancamagus highway

Mount Washington (the highest peak in the Northeast)

You can drive across the state and into others (Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont, Canada--which is obviously not a state) in two hours. 

We have no income or sales tax--stuff actually costs what the price tag says!

We have lots of small towns

We have Gunstock! I grew up right behind it. 

We have the most beautiful Autumn you could ever imagine--it's so beautiful, people come just to see the trees

The humidity! I miss the moisture and not drying out like a raisin! 

We get rain! 

The weather is always perfect.

We really have no natural disasters...other than excessive snow...which I can live with. 

We have the ocean! Which is my favorite place!

Portsmouth. The town in which I have wanted to live for a very long time.

The amazing seafood...(it's great in all of New England, which goes without saying)

The interesting history (being close to Plymouth, Boston, etc.)

We are two hours from Boston and the temple

We got married there (Boston/reception in New Hampshire)

We are six hours from New York
We have real people

Our motto is "Live free or die."

We have the Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox (unquestionably the best in sports ;)

The Church is strong and we have ample opportunity to be missionaries

It is my home.

There are so many other things. There really is not much of a comparison. I miss New Hampshire. I miss my family, I miss my home, I miss my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. I miss Buddy. I miss my bedroom, I miss the trees, the lakes, the ocean. I miss everything about it.

A little dream...

Someday, I hope we'll live there in an old Victorian home in Portsmouth with our little Mormon family. We'll go to the ocean every day and collect sand dollars and sea glass. I'll paint and paint in my studio and fill our home with my crazy art. Dalin will have his own dental practice and will be home often. I will edit books professionally while our children are at school, then, once they're home again, we'll play in the woods and go visit the shops downtown where we'll buy ice cream and visit the art galleries. We'll go camping and fishing frequently and have my parents visit every week. We'll have a guest room (or two or three ;) so that Dalin's family can stay with us as long as they'd like. Dalin and I will bring the kids to the public plays that are put on in the Portsmouth gardens. We will teach our children to play tennis and to love the taste of lobster. Our home will be a place of peace. We will invite others into our home often. We'll have picnics by the woods in our backyard and grow a vegetable garden. We will become a self-reliant and hardworking people. We will share the gospel with our friends and neighbors through our example and invitation. We will be far from perfect--making mistakes, having accidents and arguments, and struggling to remain sane--but ultimately we will find happiness as we turn to and rely on Heavenly Father and our little eternal family.

I cannot wait for that day.