My Second NH Trip //2022

 Hello again! My last post I mentioned yet another trip I went on with my family and said I hoped to share abut that trip in my next post. Here I am, making good on that promise. 

  I went to NH to visit family with my sister Emily in March of this year. If you remember that post your remember I was both nervous and excited to stretch my wings a little. This time my parents and the younger kids came along too and despite how much fun I had the last trip I was excited to go as a family this time. Colten ,my oldest brother, also flew out from Idaho to meet us there. We had the entire family there except for three. We missed Dustin and Abby, and Kenyon but we understood why they couldn't make it.

  Colten was going out to see a sweet girl he was dating, Jenae. The rest of us were excited to officially meet Jenae for ourselves on this trip. 

  We got up bright and early and all got into our twelve passenger van and headed to the airport. This time I wasn't quite so nervous since I'd done it more recently. Besides, my parents were with and I could be a kid again. *winks* 

There were nine of us so we had three benches. My two sisters and I sat in front of three of my younger brothers. My parents and the youngest sat across the aisle. Here I snapped a quick picture between the seats. It's not a great picture but it wasn't easy to get one. 

We arrived late at my aunt and uncles. The next morning was beautiful and I snapped a picture out my bedroom window to send to all the folks back home. 

Me. We were headed out to visit my grandpa in the hospital. He'd broken a hip a few weeks before. Seeing him in the hospital was very hard because he has changed so much from the grandpa I knew as a little girl, but I was glad I was able to give him my love and see him several times during the trip. 

The fall colors were beautiful. 

Ice cream at Aunt Mary's. According to NH folks it's the best ice cream you will ever eat since it comes form a local farm. I'm not sure if I agree one hundred percent, but it was super good! 

Colten and Jenae. They were adorable together. 

I went hiking for the first time in NH. Their mountains just can't compare with ours but they have their own beauty and the trail was very rugged, you could get lost easily if you didn't know the way. Jenae knew where she was going though so we followed her. 

Evelyn, my younger sister, sitting at the top and looking out over the view. 

The view. The colors were spectacular! Despite not having the majestic peeks of home this was a breathtaking view just the same. You'd never find colors like that on the West Coast.

Colten and Jenae. 

Cousin Reagan! She's a little cutie. 

I couldn't visit NH without getting Dunkin Donuts. 

Ummm...Yes, *coughs* I still found time for reading in between visiting family and sightseeing. Aunt Mary put me in the bedroom with her bookcase filled with Christian fiction so...There was no way I wasn't going to read some. 

Riding with Colten and Emily to visit another NH mountain top. This one was higher but the color wasn't as good. 

We reached the top! This view was also very different from home but beautiful. You could see for miles! 

We set aside nearly a whole day to explore and discover covered bridges. This is something else you'd never find back home and a side of NH I love: it's rich history. 

Emily and I went along the walkway on the side of one of the covered bridges. It was a lot of fun. 

Each covered bridge was different and had character all it's own. 

My youngest brother, Matthew. As usual he was a goofball for any pictures. 

Did I mention goofballs...? I have seven brothers and they're all goofballs in their own way. And I love them for it. 

Colten and Jenae invited us to join them for a trip to the White Mountains. It was a few hour drive from where we were staying but we had a blast. Here Colten and Jenae look out at the view on one of our stops.

The White Mountains reminded me a little more of home than anywhere else in NH had. 

We went to find some waterfalls. It was cold so we all bundled up. And yes, that's another brother's fingers in the back of the picture. *laughs*

That's Colten and Jenae standing on the ledge across the way. They got a lot closer to the water than my mom let the little kids get! 

Colten and Jenae! I had to take a picture of their matching sweatshirts. They were so cute. 

Breakfast one morning. 

Herbal tea sweetened with honey is one of the most soothing things in all the world. I drink a great deal of it either in the morning or the evening in the winter. 

We headed out for the coast since all us kids had never seen the Atlantic Ocean. We stopped for lunch at a little hole in the wall pizza place. 

The Atlantic Ocean! It didn't look that much different from our beach back home but it sure felt different! Back home if it was cloudy and overcast like that it would be cold, windy and misty. It wasn't like that at this beach. The air was warm and muggy. To tell you the truth I was a little disgusted. *hides* Next I needed to touch the actual water. I couldn't come all the way to the Atlantic Ocean without touching it! It was warm! The Pacific Ocean is always freezing so it was so weird for me to put my hand in the ocean and have it be lukewarm.   

My feet planted for the first time on the sands of the Atlantic. 

And we were headed home! I woke up from my alarm going off at three thirty a. m. and rolled out of bed. I think I was still half sleeping as I dressed. *laughs* I know it's a terrible picture but it was the best I got. 

We did a lot more than these few pictures betray. We spent a lot of time visiting family and getting to know Jenae and her family. I was too busy to snap pictures on those days. 

I snapped this picture as I walked back into my own bedroom back home to let my closest friends know we'd made it safe and sound. It was good to be back! 

  It was a very blessed trip and we made many beautiful memories! I was so happy to get to know Jenae for myself and I'm so excited to have her as my new sister-in-law in the near future (Colten and Jenae got engaged since that trip!) 

  You won't believe what I did only three hours after arriving home from my long trip. I fell down the back deck stairs and broke my right foot! Let's just say that was a long day since I'd gotten up at three thirty and had to go to Urgent Care a few hours after being home. But THAT is a different story. Maybe I'll give you all the details of my broken foot next time.

  

  For now, keep on singing, Jesus loves you! 

 

   Damara Nancy  

 

  

     

Bedroom Tour

 It's been awhile and I've flown across the entire country again since I've written believe it or not. I hope to do a post about that soon but first a post that has for too long been neglected.

  I've never had a bedroom to myself. But what's astounding, I've only had one bedroom my entire life. We've never moved out of my childhood home. My parents were building this house when my mom was pregnant with me and we have never moved out. And during all of my eighteen years (besides when I was really little and I slept in my parents room) I've slept in the same bedroom. I've shared the same four blue walls with my sisters. Until now. 

   When two of my brothers moved out there was more room. Thus, I got my very own bedroom for the very first time.

   Honestly I didn't know what to do with it. I never had many choices about my bedroom before. The walls were blue, had always been blue, and there were always too may dressers and stuff everywhere to make it very cute. Now I had almost unlimited options. Being a person of habit I was a little nervous. I don't like change and even though I loved the idea of creating my own little haven I was hesitant. And I'm not the visionary or artistic type so I didn't know how to go about making a room look nice.I had never had so much space in all my life! I had no idea how to fill it. And painting the walls proved a problem. Should I paint the walls blue? That sounded...Familiar. Homey.  

  But I decided that I needed to go against that part of me that wanted blue just because that's what I'd always had. Although the color I picked wasn't adventurous at all, it was just perfect for me. I still plan to add curtains and a few more soft touches but I love what I created, despite it being a change. 

I discovered I loved greenery. Fake greenery since it never dies but still adds the same feeling to the room. 

What I refer to as my happy wall since it holds so many things that represent happy moments and memories. I hope to add to it until the almost the whole wall is covered in my treasures. 

My bedding was a hard choice. I love lilacs and the color purple but the practical side of me wondered if that was too bold. But I stuck to what I loved despite my fears. And fell in love with the results. 

I absolutely love this corner. The hanging plant. The books. Everything. 

Ah, my books. I was the most excited about my windowsill bookshelf out of everything in the room. And I wasn't disappointed. 

   And there you have it!  I plan to add to it as the months go by.

  I loved discovering my style. And along the way I discovered something else; change is for growing us. And changing in even the smallest ways (like forcing yourself to discover your own style instead of going with what is familiar) can sometimes make you grow the most. We don't always know the reasons behind things. Even the smallest things. But God sees the big picture. 

Keep singing. Jesus loves you. 

  Damara Nancy