Saying Goodbye

This has been quite the week! I have been feeling all kinds of emotions, but mostly a mixture of excitement and sadness. Tonight is my last night in Springfield (in my head it is still Monday night, but it is past midnight, so I guess that technically now it is Tuesday), and I am very excited for the new opportunities waiting in Utah and to be close to my family there, but I am also very sad to be leaving our dear friends here in Springfield. I am also sad because Grandma F.T. is in very poor health right now. I hope that Greg and I can make it out to Utah in time to see her. She has certainly been in my thoughts and prayers this week! Mom had originally planned to fly out here and drive back to Utah with me, but because of Grandma's situation, we decided that it would be better for her to stay in Utah. So Greg and I will be embarking on a road trip tomorrow (actually I guess we are leaving later today since it is already Tuesday). 

Our farewell festivities began last Monday evening when Greg's boss and his family took us out to eat. They are going to really miss having Greg at the funeral home! But they are glad that they'll have a little more time with him before he heads to Utah.


On Tuesday, we had a fun lunch party at the Military Museum. This cake was amazing! 

And then later in the day on Tuesday my sweet friends Susan and Linda hosted a reception for Greg and me at the Lincoln Home Conference Center. It was great to see many of my old Lincoln Home pals! Susan and Linda have been wonderful mentors and friends, and I will miss them very much.

On Wednesday evening I was able to have a fun game night with some of my friends from church, and then on Friday Greg and I had a great dinner with our favorite Springfield friends, the Atkins, at Cozy Dog Drive In. After dinner we went over to their house, and Connor and Emma put on a farewell show for us. They are SO CUTE!!! They sang the cutest "goodbye" song.

On Saturday Greg and I went to our last St. Louis Cardinals game. We have sure enjoyed living close enough to St. Louis to have attended a number of Cardinals games over the last few years. But we'll still be Cardinals fans, even after we leave. And hopefully someday we can go to another Cards game. The best part of the day was when we got to meet up with Sarah, Joel, Eliza, and Leo at Ted Drewes for some tasty frozen custard! It just so happened that they were in St. Louis also, so we got to see them to say goodbye. I will miss being just three hours away from them! On Sunday it was sad to be at church here for the last time. I really enjoyed my association with all of the kind people in our ward, and I was especially sad to say goodbye to the Young Women and the other Young Women leaders! That afternoon I was able to go hang out with the Atkins--I am going to miss them so much!!

This morning Greg and I went over to Nauvoo with our friends Rose and Chris. They love history as much as we do, and they were interested in learning more about the history of the LDS Church, so we didn't want to miss an opportunity to show them around in Nauvoo. It was a beautiful day, and we had a lot of fun visiting several sites in town. We will miss hanging out with Rose and Chris--especially since they just moved back to Springfield!

And then this evening we got to meet up with the Atkins one more time for some yummy frozen yogurt at Cherry Berry! Have I mentioned that I am going to miss them? :) They are such a wonderful family, and I am so glad that we have gotten to know them. It was really hard to say goodbye, but I will look forward to seeing them when I come back to help Greg with the final move sometime in the near (hopefully) future. I am so grateful for the time I have had in Illinois! I can't believe that, including my time at grad. school, I have lived in Illinois for almost five years!! Though I was sad to live so far away from my family, I wouldn't trade my time here for anything because of the wonderful friendships I gained in the Land of Lincoln. So, like Lincoln, I bid Springfield an "affectionate farewell," and look back on my time here with the fondest of memories. Now we will embark on a new adventure!