nostalgia.

mom, brother, sister-in-law and i went to idaho. my guts were screaming with sweet nostalgia... more than ever before. at this point, i've been out of school for so long now, i could have gone all over again... 4 MORE years in happy rexburg.

people mock that place... but ask anyone who's ever lived there... and they'll tell you it was the time of their lives. seriously.

so many things to love. even from the drive between rexburg and salt lake {the drive that seemed to absolutely torture my mom...}

there's that one spot... the grove of trees on the left... as you're heading southbound... just as you're heading to the malad summit... so pretty.

and then there's the rolling hills by devil's creek reservoir {so much prettier in the spring... and when i'm not driving 75 mph in the rain...}

and horkleys... HORKLEYS! penny candy {that costs .02 cents these days. what?!}, fifty cent video rentals... and diet coke with extra syrup. horkleys.

the 2nd rexburg exit... the one that ALMOST lured me mud lake. almost. {oh, but then i remembered what mud lake had to offer. and then i was over it.}

more horkleys. 44 oz. of diet coke for .60 cents. lots of syrup. with a shot of vanilla coke from the tap. {'cept they cost 0.75 cents now. jim horkley's covert drug ring must have taken a turn for the worse with the economy in the state its in n' all...}

oh, and then there's this guy. cousin chelsea's kai. yup, he's little. little digits... little arms... little legs... really big eyes... really big hair. so happy. so content. and so sweet.

i can't get enough of him. i fought to hold him the whole weekend through.

and huckleberry ice cream from reed's dairy. my favorite.

and the temple. my mom and i did our thing at the temple together when we had a few hours of down time... can't get enough of that, really.

lots and lots and lots of great things about this place. i loved living there. i loved the people there. and i loved getting a healthy dose of idaho-ness... i don't get nearly enough of them.