growing pains

People joke about how sentimental I am, and it's true. I get very attached to things, and consider many ordinary and simple moments in life to be special. So it is no wonder that I struggle with change.  That closing a chapter of my life is difficult, and hard to let go. In the last year there has been so much change and growing up to do. I got married to the love of my life, which was a big and wonderful change. My parents moved out of the house I grew up in, which was the best decision for them, but in the process of moving, I had to say goodbye to my childhood home. I graduated college and said goodbye to my schooling years (at least for a little while). I may get a Masters in Piano Performance, but if I choose a different degree, then it is goodbye to piano lessons and the instruction that shaped the musician I am. Layton and I decided to get a new car, but that meant I had to say goodbye to my red bug, Ruby. And no, it is not just a car. Layton got into University of Virginia School of Law, and we know its the right decision to go. I am so excited to have an adventure and start a new life! But that means closing the chapter on my old life. Saying goodbye to Salt Lake City, my home for 16 years. It means that I have to say goodbye to being up the street from my parents, and minutes away from my closest friends. It means that I will be in a new and different place where I will know no one. No one will know me as blonde Lauren Nelson, pianist, soccer player, and friend. Instead I will be a stranger, brunette, Lauren Bell. All of this change and especially moving to Virginia means a lot of things, but one thing most of all. 

It means I have to be brave. 

I love this quote, and I think it describes our situation perfectly...

Layton and I are sailors right now, standing on the shore. And in three weeks we will take off across the ocean with nothing ahead of us but the unknown. Growing pains are part of life, but I know that taking a leap of faith off the shore will make the biggest difference in our lives. It will be hard, new and different, but sometimes the hardest thing and right thing are the same.