God knew i lived here, so he put a little bit of utah in malden massachusetts

so after seeing how warm it was today (yes! today! this might be a blogging first) i knew i should probably go for a run and do it in the early afternoon rather than later (like usual) when it gets really cold and sad. i had my phone with me so i wasn't super worried about getting lost so i went the opposite direction of where i've gone before.

within about twenty minutes of my run i saw this above and was immediately intrigued. 

as i came over the little hill i saw this

and this. what? another little hidden pond?

and this nice bosnian lady feeding the birds who thought i was russian?

by this part i was already really happy about my discovery.  you can't see it from the road so i didn't even know it existed!

but lucky for me it just kept getting better and better. 

look at that nice moss all over those rocks!

after walking up to it i found an even higher spot to climb to (i use the term climb loosely) 

and when i got to the top (it took five seconds) i felt like i was in utah hiking again (kind of)! 

i was so happy i had to sit right down and take a bunch of pictures of myself being so happy about it and then i laid down and stared at the pretty sky and felt the sun on my face and really couldn't think of the last time i felt as happy as i did in that moment. interesting how i've been here in boston and seen so many wonderful things and yet i'm happiest when i feel like i'm back home in utah. ..interesting. 

i loved my pretend mountain. 

i kind of thought the fun was over at that point because my day had already been made but as i continued to explore this magical place i found a trail. A TRAIL. not a brick trail made for tourists to easily check out 16 different historical sites but a real life in the woods trail. it felt too good to be true! i think i might have even looked around to make sure i wasn't being punked before i began jogging on it. 

it eventually led me to this part that really felt like i was in utah and back at my family cabin up snake creek canyon with all the leaves on the ground and that drop off. and then as i walked through it (i couldn't jog anymore, i had to take it all in) i smelled it. it smelled exactly like it does at my cabin and i think i got a little choked up  (okay i did) because i was so happy. i just kept smelling and smelling and wished i could capture the smell like i would capture a picture because i wanted it to last forever. 

i didn't realize it until i saw the pond but i kind of went on a real hike! look how high i was! 

(i'm showing how i'm almost as tall as the tree if you didn't get it)

utah!

 it turns out that i was actually at pine banks park and that park will never know how happy it made this utah girl today. 

as i walked away i came across my favorite cemetery that i was telling you about! it is so close to the park, i just never knew because i never went down that part of main street. i could have been loving this place for a whole month if i just went a few blocks further than usual. so many analogies began running through my missionary trained brain at that moment but i'll spare you. 

since i now knew where i was i decided to walk back home through the cemetery 

i found this little thing and decided it would make a good seat to enjoy the weather and this nice day a little bit longer (while continuing to listen to jonsi and bon of course)

 you see the past few days i've been really stressed about finding a job. coming out here i wasn't too worried because i had a couple options lined up. well now that i'm almost two months into this journey, all those fell through and it just isn't turning out quite how i had imagined. and since i thought those would work out i didn't spend too much time looking elsewhere so this past week i've just felt panicked and unprepared and confused as to why i felt so good about moving here. 

but as i sat on that hill and thought about all the nice things that happened that day i was reminded that God knows me and he knows my heart. He is aware of me and all things, like it says in the doctrine and covenants, will give me experience and will be for my good. since i assume most of you are my family and friends i feel okay with saying that a part in my patriarchal blessing blesses me to be one who loves nature. it also says they (meaning God's creations) will lift my soul as i take advantage of them. i thought that was so odd because i never cared much for nature but as i've gotten older my love for it has grown to the point where i feel confident saying nothing makes me happier or has the ability to fill me with such peace and comfort. with that being said, i really don't think it was a coincidence i found that park today! so hooray for being lead to a miniature forest and then back to my favorite cemetery and being able to enjoy it all since it felt like spring. God really is the best! i can't ever say that enough.