After two lovely weeks in Washington, Oregon and Idaho I have returned to Guam. It had been a year and half since I last saw my family, and I was really looking forward to this trip. Peter told me that when you go back home for the first time after being away for so long, you can see changes in yourself. With this in mind, I was wondering how my friends and family had changed. In a way I wanted things to be different because nearly two years have passed and I didn’t want to see anyone doing the same old thing. In another way, I didn’t want things to change too much. I wanted to come home and feel like I never left.
We arrived in Seattle to spend the weekend with Peter’s family. I went to the Seattle Space Needle for the first time! It was a really pretty day and I was lucky to be able to see the entire city! Later in the week I visited my sister, mom and dad and was able to celebrate my dad’s birthday with him! Most of the trip consisted of business and we had to squeeze family and friend time wherever we could. I’m really thankful that all of our friends and family were so understanding.
I met my girl friends at the Portland City Grill where we caught up. It was a nice evening! I was happy to see that although they were all pretty much the same, they were all doing very well and seemed happy! I missed them a lot, but everything seemed relaxed and normal and it felt like we had just seen each other last week.
Peter and I survived our first road trip together when we drove across Oregon to Eastern Oregon and Idaho. Our entire time spent in Portland was COLD and rainy. Everyone kept telling us, “Oh but last week it was so hot, I don’t know what happened.” Now that we’ve adjusted to island weather, anything below 80 degrees is COLD! So as you can imagine we were freezing the entire trip. I didn’t have any cold weather clothes with me so I borrowed things from family. Half way through our road trip, the Oregon scenery changed to desert and the sun was shining so bright. We went back to my hometown to visit with my dad. I was so happy. I couldn’t imagine ever leaving again. I jumped out of the car as soon as we arrived and my dad was waiting outside for us. I felt overcome with a lot of emotions, but mostly I was just joyous! Home sweet home.
My dad’s house was under construction so it was an interesting week. Other than that everything went smoothly. He cooked Spanish food for us, took us out to the desert, we visited the Owyhee hot springs and taught Peter how to shoot a rifle and shotgun. Peter and I went to Boise and found the Record Exchange where we bought tons of used CDs. Later we went to the Senior Citizen Center dance and I danced with my dad while Peter danced with the ladies haha. On the weekend my grandmother celebrated her 80th birthday that turned into a family reunion. My aunts hired a Mariachi band to serenade my grandmother, which brought her to tears. We ate tons of delicious Mexican food, danced and talked. Peter met nearly my entire family on my mom’s side. They all said, “Oh what a handsome boyfriend you have!” I guess they approve of him 
Throughout my trip I was sad. I knew that each day brought me closer to my departure back to Guam. I love Guam a lot. But if I have to give it up and be cold for the rest of my life just to be near my sister, mom and dad, then I will. That’s what I realized on my trip. I don’t want to miss out on anything else and I want to enjoy my life with my family. I can always come back to Guam when I’m older. I’m not leaving anytime soon, I just know that my goal is to move closer to home <3
