March 16, 2026
I am no Emma Lion.
I started out strong, writing a few entries a week. Then life got crazy with painting, decluttering, cleaning, and getting the house we have lived in for 13 years ready to sell.
Then it was listing the house and managing showings that started strong and have since slowed to a trickle. But the house must be spotless at all times, just in case.
That was followed by preparing to welcome Kate home from her mission (today was her last P-day!) while helping Carson get all the necessary appointments to submit his mission papers. (So. Many. Appointments.)
Meanwhile, every single member of our family is navigating their own state of transition and its related uncertainties. Our upcoming move to Missouri and all its moving parts obviously fall into that category, along with three college graduations in a tough job market, financial concerns for the new grads, a high school graduation, one mission ending, another call coming soon, and all the emotions that surround such big, inherently stressful life events.
Amid the roller-coaster of emotions and my never-ending to-do list, it was hard to keep up with daily writing. I am not a fast writer, and consistency has never been my strongest suit. So I let it go.
But I have missed it. So I will make another attempt to harness my inner Emma Lion.
With so much happening, I don’t know where to begin. So, I suppose I will start where I am right now: an airplane en route to Phoenix after all flights from Kansas City were grounded last night.
Here’s how it went down:
Greg has been going back and forth between Phoenix and KC for the past eight weeks and, according to him, “it’s getting old.” According to me, it’s getting old. Maybe we are just getting old.
That is entirely likely, but I digress.
He usually comes home to Phoenix on Saturday afternoon, after spending Thursday and Friday working in KC. But this week, I decided to fly out there to meet him for the weekend. He wanted to show me all the home renovations that have been happening in our new house over the past few weeks, and we were both excited about attending our new ward for the first time on Sunday.
When I landed in KC on Saturday morning, the weather was in the 60s with abundant sunshine. We spent the day running errands and getting the house ready for Kate to come visit in a couple of weeks. (Translation: we bought an air mattress from Costco, along with some sheets, pillows, and towels. She will be getting the queen’s treatment in our mostly empty house.) Her job as an interior design enthusiast will be to help us furnish and decorate the blank slate we now own.
After a nice dinner, we turned in for the night. We knew the weather was going to take a turn on Sunday, which was a little nerve-wracking with our scheduled Sunday evening flight, but we didn’t worry too much.
When we walked into church at 9 am on Sunday, it was cloudy and in the 50s. The breeze felt warm and balmy. When we got out of church two hours later, after the warmest welcome we have ever received (more on that later), the temperature had dropped by almost 20 degrees, and the wind was icy.
We headed to the house for a few hours before leaving for the airport at 4:30. In that time, the temperature continued to drop, the wind picked up, and it started to snow.
Things were looking a little sketchy, and we hoped our flight would still be able to take off in this weather. That did not happen, but I’m getting ahead of myself.
When we got to our gate, everything seemed to be on schedule. The gate agent had us line up to begin boarding, but the boarding didn’t happen.
First, it was a maintenance issue that took an hour to resolve. Then, we were cleared to board, which we did. We taxied away from the gate and got in line for de-icing (the temperature had fallen into the teens, and it was snowing in earnest, with 50-mph wind gusts), where we sat for an hour and a half without moving. Apparently, one de-icing truck is not enough for this kind of weather. Who knew?!?
After what felt like forever, the pilot announced that the wind had become too intense and we would be returning to the gate. All remaining flights had been grounded for the remainder of the evening.
This Midwest weather is for the birds!
Luckily, we had a warm house to go to, so that was a blessing. But this week is spring break, which is Greg’s busiest week of the year. He had 70 patients scheduled in his Phoenix office for both Monday and Tuesday, and the earliest flight we could initially find was on Tuesday night.
So, we booked the Tuesday night flight, went to bed, and prayed for the best outcome.
When we woke up this morning (Monday), Greg called Southwest to explore our options. The agent found a flight that was not visible online. It left Kansas City at 11:30 am (two hours from the time of that call), had a two-hour layover in Houston, and would arrive in Phoenix at 4:30 pm. So we booked it.
We had just enough time to get ready, talk to Kate for a few minutes on her last P-day, catch an Uber to the airport, and get on the flight, which left KC with no problem. (Insert sigh of relief.) We are currently in the air, set to land in Phoenix within the next few minutes, and all is well.
A storm, a cancelled day of patients, and a spring break adventure. We will chalk it up to our list of Missouri memories.
And now, we are bracing ourselves for 107 degrees in Phoenix this week. How can it be -5 in KC and 107 in Phoenix?!? (Why are we moving to this polar vortex again?!?)
The weather is crazy! I think that means Jesus is coming again soon. I’m counting on it.
Happy Spring Break!
**Read the rest of this journaling series here
