Today was a very hard day for me to start. I had to close the door to my mom's condo one last time knowing I will not ever see it again. I called my brother for some emotional support as I was not coping well at all. I have been grieving my mom since she passed away but usually am able to put on my game face and not let anyone know it or show it. I have mastered my game face with all the crap Dave has put my through in the last 2 years. I have learned to hide my emotions and how I feel from everyone very well. It was one of the hardest things I have had to do. To close the door and leave it one last time. I am very heavy hearted and feel the loss of my mom to the bottom of my soul and it hurts. I miss talking to her on a regular basis, I miss having some one to vent to about how crappy my life is and how tired I am of dealing with things, I miss my outlet to all my stress, I miss my support system, I miss my mom terribly.

We met George for breakfast one last time before we left. He took us out to Cracker Barrel. It was good!!! I had grits and biscuits and gravy with my breakfast. Boy am I going to miss the food here in Illinois. I can safely say that food in Wa doesn't compare on any level with what we have had here. I know without a doubt that is one thing I will miss.

We are in Nauvoo. It was sort of planned but not as a night stop. My Aunt Karen came here and said to not plan on being here long there is not much here. She is totally wrong!!!!We were going to be here for like 2 hours and move on but! it has been awesome. We got here and the place was madhouse crazy and it had me a bit worried. But we walked around the temple and took several pics. We then talked to a missionary and found out about a horse drawn carriage tour of the city. I thought it was awesome! It was a free hour long tour of all the historical buildings with a narrator explaining everything. We then found out there is a pageant thing here. Marissa wanted to stay for the pre show stuff so we talked about it and decided there is way to much here to see in a few hours and we need a lot more time. At least half a day to see all the things we want to. We asked around and luckily found a hotel room for a extremely reasonable price. I was shocked!!!! So we snagged the room, grabbed some food, and hung out in Nauvoo for the festivities. An awesome time was had!!! The pageant is something I recommend everyone see! I am trying to figure out how to fit the 2 in Utah in our trip home. And yes it was totally free!!!! An awesome day seeing history and touring and shows and it cost nothing!!! Tomorrow we are planning to see a lot more of Nauvoo. We hope to head out noonish and go over to Carthage then maybe a hundred or so miles and at least get out if Illinois.

I am feeling blessed right now with many things in my life. I know we are not given anything we are not able to handle. Everything in life is a test. But come on.. Don't I have enough going on here??? It has been a true blessing to me being here and the feelings I have here are so strong and touching! I am so excited and looking forward to seeing more tomorrow.