An Artful Journey: Day 5, The Journey Home

I’m a few days behind in posting about my last day of my Artful Journey trip. It’s been a busy week! Monday was a great wrap up to a great weekend. Leah and I lingered over breakfast not wanting to leave and shared one last hug before we left. I had some time to kill before I had to be at the airport, so she suggested I go into Santa Cruz.

What a nice little end of trip bonus that was! The boardwalk was utterly charming in a Kelly explosion of color kind of way. Leah must have known I’d love it. And I guess it’s true. If I was THAT close, I had to at least dip my toes in the Pacific Ocean (cold….February cold…).

The boardwalk wasn’t officially open but I managed to sweet talk my way in to take some pictures. I absolutely fell in love with the swing and took several dozen pictures of it. The detail on it was just extraordinary.

I loved how all the rides and the old fashioned ticket booths and the signage there meshed into one big happy color scheme. I’d love to bring the family back here to see this. My girls would absolutely D-I-E for it, as they love to say. :-)

I gathered a handful of shells and some sea glass I found and put them in my coat pocket. I had forgotten about them when I went through airport security, but luckily they let me keep them. Seaweed and all! I have them all in a little glass jar now here at home.

I have to say God must have been watching out for me on my flight home. On the San Jose to Vegas leg, the flight was overbooked and the crew was looking for volunteers to step off. One of the volunteers just happened to be in a choice seat on the first row and stood up just before I got there. Score! Leg room! That flight was late taking off, so I barely made my connecting flight (and I mean barely as in I was the second to last person to board the plane on this very full flight.) Yet, there again…three rows in was an aisle seat, next to a four-year-old little girl and her mom. A motherhood bonus! I’m quite certain most everyone else walked by that seat because they didn’t want to sit next to a young child for four hours on a plane. Fine with me! I have twin six-year-olds! The little girl’s name was Ava, and coincidently enough, her mother’s name was Kelly. Early into the flight, Kelly and Ava traded seats so Kelly and I were sitting next to each other, and we talked the entire flight home. Ava was a complete angel, as was Kelly. I thoroughly enjoyed talking with her, and to top off a wonderful trip, she even gave me a ride home so I didn’t have to call a cab! How sweet was that!?! We’ve exchanged cards so I hope we’ll get together with our girls soon.

Now that I’ve been home for a little over a week, I’ve had a little more time to reflect back on this whole experience, and I’ve really enjoyed reliving every moment as I’ve shared it all here with you. This experience truly did change my life. That may sound a bit corny or cliché, but that’s the only way to explain it. When I got home, I immediately told DH that I will be going back, and I’d love for him and the girls to come too. I’ve been wanting to make some changes in my life for a while now, and this experience really crystallized that for me. I have a clearer focus on what’s most important, and I’m working on ways to more integrally combine my two biggest loves…my family and my creativity. Life’s too short to spend it doing something that doesn’t totally fill your soul to the brim, right?