Home

I love traveling and living in other states. But each time I go somewhere, I leave part of my heart there (or my heart grows in size to make room). Every place that I live or visit shows me more things to love and appreciate. I meet new people and as I get to know them and hear their story, they each gain a piece of my heart.

My Christmas visit is nearly over. Today I fly back to school. While I've loved being with family, I'm ready to go back to Utah. The day after Christmas I was homesick, for Utah. Although I was born and raised in Alaska, and that's where the majority of my immediate family currently lives, and will forever be where I was raised, it's not my main home anymore.

One thing that my family does (that I really love) is when we're traveling, no matter where, when we're out and about doing fun things, we'll go over our plans for the day. Any time that we say "and then we'll go home", we're referring to the hotel or place where we're staying. We adapt quickly and recognize that as long as we're together, we're <HOME>.

Home is wherever your heart is. With that definition, I have many homes. But the one that I feel most drawn to currently is in Utah. Where I'm attending university, working, nurturing friendships, attending the temple, and learning new things every day.

I am so blessed to live life with this perspective. It makes the goodbyes soo much harder, but it makes every moment and conversation ever so precious. #SoBlessed

Love,
D. J. Lathrop