Refresh, Renew, Restart

Goodbye, Logan.... Hello, ironic twist!

So I'm sitting in the little office at the Creamies factory where I've spent most of my summer. It's really slowed down here since August started - my boss had to let his summer workers go because the orders from Associated Foods and WalMart had declined drastically, and hardly anyone comes in the front anymore. It's a pretty big change from how it was when I started in May and June. I've definitely come to more fully appreciate the frozen treats business - all the behind-the-scenes work that goes on to get ice cream from boxes of butter, sugar, milk, and flavoring into tasty Creamies you buy at the store. And Charlie's will forever be my favorite ice cream place in Logan.

Last week I said goodbye to the gang at the Analysis, Assessments, and Accreditation office at Utah State. They were good friends of mine - after all, I worked there for almost an entire year. Luckily I lived to see the day when my co-secretary Marilyn got on Facebook, so I get to keep in touch that way.

Now my car's packed and I've already moved all my stuff out of the good old Canyon Terrace house. Yesterday we had an ice cream social after church to get rid of a 3-gallon tub of Carmel Cashew that I bought for the sweet, sweet price that we sell them at work. There was no way I could get it home without it melting all over, so I enlisted the wardies in a service project of eating to get rid of it for me. Good times...good eating.

The best goodbye was my farewell to Cache Valley on Saturday night. I went up with my friend Nic to a park on the edge of the mountain after visiting the fair, and we were met with a most amazing sight: The expanse of the valley, all lit up, especially the A to the north and the temple to the south, stars right above our heads, and the most electrifying lightning storm on the west by the mountains. It was breathtaking. (Literally...since Nic had been around animals at the fair and had allergic reactions to them...bwah ha.) I realized how much I'd come to love this place we call Logan. It really is beautiful!

And I've told this story a couple times, but here's once more for the blogosphere: I'd been in the MTC for a couple weeks when we got a new group of sisters in our zone. We welcomed them in, took care of them, showed them around, but three short weeks later they had to leave to go to the Peru MTC to finish up their training. I'll always remember what one of the girls wrote in my journal as they were going: "So, I'm way bummed that I'm leaving. But not bummed enough to stay!"

It may not always have been true these past few days, but it is now. I'm ready for a fresh new start. It's sad to end, and scary to begin something new... but it does a body good.