Three States, Five Houses

For the past 5 years I have gone to visit my childhood best friend, Emily, during Spring Break. She and her husband, Bart, have kept me traveling all across the United States. It has always been the perfect combination of sight seeing and relaxation.

The first two years were in Rhode Island. We went to several places in Boston, the Vanderbilt mansions in New Port, and plenty of coffee shops between Boston and Providence.

The third year was in Phoenix, Arizona. That year was unique. Bart and Emily welcomed their baby girl, Ainsley Ida, into the world while I was there. I became Aunt Cait for the first time. After them, I was the first person to ever hold Ainsley. God's timing was perfect, and I will forever be thankful that Bart and Emily still wanted me there for Spring Break. They graciously let me use their car to do some sight seeing while they spent most of week in the hospital.

Last year, Spring Break took us to Idaho. Bart is the Worship Minister at a church in Boise. Ainsley had her first birthday that week, so I got to help Emily with party preparations. To end my stay, the church Bart works at was having a concert by Rend Collective. It was a fun surprise Emily had kept from me. Such a refreshing, and joyful, way to end my week!

One week from today, I will be back in Boise. All of the other years, Emily has made a summer and/or Christmas trip back to Missouri. However, this year time didn't allow her annual trip back. So it has been an entire year since we have seen each other in person. That is the longest we have ever gone without seeing each other our entire lives. (We met in the nursery at church when we were months old.) As if I weren't ready enough for a break from school, the anticipation of being reunited with Emily makes me all the more eager.

I'm also excited to see the house they bought last month. Plus, the purchase of their new house means we are keeping up with another Spring Break tradition. While a couple years have been in the same State, each Spring Break has been spent in a different home. I think after moving 5 times in 5 years, and considering they have now bought a house, maybe our 6th Spring Break we'll finally have a repeat home.