An Easter Farewell

It seems somewhat ironic to me that the day that my siblings are all leaving Provo and moving on into big person world, is also Easter Sunday.

Easter is a day focused around the happiness and joy of the resurrection of our Savior, and what it means for our future destiny as his children. He came back from the dead, to be among the living. Yet inside I just feel an emptiness that I can only compare to what the saints must have felt as they watched their Savior be removed from the cross and laid in a tomb. This individual that meant so much to them, their older brother, was gone. In spite of what he said regarding his resurrection, they must have felt so confused and lost as the one they held their confidences in had offered himself up freely. Surely there would never be a time where they could feel happiness again.

So it is also with the graduation of my two older brothers. They came to BYU with a mission, and we were lucky enough to all be here to experience it together. All 5 Glazier siblings at BYU at the same time. It was too good to be true. I remember being on my mission and thinking how hard it would be for all of us to ever be together again at the same time for an extended period of time. But the planets aligned and we got to share in some of the best times together. We camped out for basketball games for days on end. We had dinner together every Sunday, each taking turns preparing fun food for a mass of people. Fondue nights were everyone's favorite. There were a lot of times where I truly felt like this time here together was going to last forever. Sure people left during the summer months to go to internships and the likes, but there was the surety that come August, everyone would safely return. Well, they have finished the work they come to do. They are now both a Master of Business and Doctor of Juris Prudence. There is nothing left for them to do here in the land of school, it is finished.

So it's Easter morning now, and there is a Penske truck headed to Arizona, and another caravan headed to Oregon. Lisa and I are sitting on an air mattress in our furniture-less room that has carefully organized piles of our possessions lining the walls, and I'm trying not to be sad. I feel like the ones whom I respect and admire so much, have left me and I'm here alone in Provo-world trying to figure out when my time will come. I'm beginning my own three days of darkness the apostles and early christians experienced after Christ died. How can I possibly do this alone without their friendship and support?

I don't have to, and that's the point.

One of the greatest blessings that has come from this time together is the foundation we have established of friendship and love. It actually started a long time ago when our parents enforced family dinner and introduced the contention box. My parents understood the immense power that comes from mutual admiration among siblings. They fostered that strength and it has become this force to be reckoned with as we have become married adults working to build our own families. I suppose I should be angry with my parents because it's that affection we share that makes these partings so difficult, and they started it. But that would be ridiculous because I wouldn't trade this love I have for them for anything. Christ felt that too, and wasn't even willing to sacrifice his own personal comforts to risk us not being able to be with him again.

So it comes full circle. Easter is about Christ and his return to mortality, and the hope it gives us that we can be together again, and that hope is what I need. I have the greatest hope that I will be able to be with my brothers, sister and parents again. Fortunately we are all still living and the connection can be felt with a quick phone call or skype session, but there is nothing that compares with sitting in the same room with each other laughing over stories of childhood embarrassments or cheering on your favorite sports team. It's not that these moments won't happen again, on the contrary, I highly expect them to happen often. But it's the proximity that makes them more frequent and enjoyable. If I could have my way, they would stick around until we were all done. But while I love them, I wouldn't wish an eternity in Provo on anyone.

In the end, I guess really it's not as ironic as I originally though, in fact it's more appropriate than I ever realized. Easter helps us remember the hope and happiness that comes from our potential reunion with our Savior as we come to the end of our lives. So while we have not come to the end of our lives, but merely the end of a season of our lives, I hope for a time not far distant when we can laugh and spend time together again and remember the time we were all at BYU together.

Ten Things I Love about Disneyland

Todd and I have decided we will take turns blogging each week, and this week it is my turn. There are a lot of things going on in our lives now with moving and finishing classes, etc., but that is all kind of boring. What I really wish we could do is go to Disneyland! As you may know, we both LOVE Disneyland (and Disney in general) and we try to go there as often as possible. At the end of this semester, we will have time off and enough money saved up to go, but sadly the timing is off. We have both felt like it would be a good idea to wait until the fall to go when things aren't quite so crazy. We are both sad, but it is all for the best. But just because we aren't going doesn't mean that we have stopped thinking about it.

In fact, we think about it every day, several times a day because we recently bought "A Musical History of Disneyland," which has the music from most of the rides and songs they play throughout the park. It has changed my life! I feel like I can close my eyes and be in the Tiki Room or on Space Mountain wherever I am. It is awesome!

So today I wanted to share ten things I love about Disneyland. They are in no particular order because there are so many things I love I would never be able to pick what I love the most.

I love leaving behind all my worries and cares and going to a place that is full of magic and wonder.

I especially love being there with my family and the people I love most.

I love knowing where the cameras are and being really dramatic when they are taking your picture on a ride.

And being the center of attention....

I love the "spare no expense" holiday decorations and the exciting night life.

I LOVED the California Adventure food and wine festival when we went in April 2010. They had professional chefs come and teach you how to cook different meals, and also the proper way to eat cheese. All you had to do was wait in line for a little while but everything was free and they gave you pretty good portion sizes, plus a water bottle and note pad. It was all things I love in one. Togetherness, Disneyland, and cheese.

I love having our own boat on Pirates of Caribbean. It is my favorite ride.

I love random places like the Mission tortilla factory where you can get a delicious tortilla and watch a funny little video where little kids tell you where corn came from.

I love meeting the characters.

And I love being a kid again.

What should we write about

The problem with being a slacker blogger is that when the time comes to blog again after a year and a half there are too many things to write about. We could write about me getting into Dental Hygiene school, Todd changing majors to Industrial Design, going to San Francisco, going to Disneyland, going to Oregon (twice), buying a new car, winning a $100 Macey's gift card, deciding to move to Oregon for the summer, or just regular day to day stuff I guess. So not much has really even happened. I suppose the most pertinent subject is our decision to leave Provo for the summer.

We've lived in this house for almost 2 and a half years, basically since we've been married. It has been awesome, and considering the circumstances under which we found it, it has been a huge blessing. We did live somewhere else before here after we got married - it was for about 2 months and it ended when the people we shared a house with knocked on our door and just said "Sorry". Sorry for what? We were being kicked out because the house was not technically a duplex and we had an eviction notice saying that we had two weeks to find a new place of residence. Living in Provo, that is not an easy thing to accomplish. However, this place quickly fell into our laps and we have loved it ever since.

So here we are at the end of this semester/time of our lives and we are packing up our house and putting it into storage as we leave this house and ward and venture into a new environment for a few months in Oregon. It definitely is exciting, but somewhat sad to think about the good times Lisa and I have had here. There is a picture my mom has hanging in her house, I believe it is from Martha Stewart, and I feel like it captures the way I feel about leaving here.