Missing Home and Miss Zoey Charlotte

I have had a few moments where I have been homesick. I have had a few moments where I've really missed friends and family. I feel fortunate that these moments are few and far between. I feel like maybe I should apologize for that statement, but I won't. I think it is a gift, or a talent perhaps, that I can see beyond the moment. I can see past what is right at hand (well... sometimes, depending on the subject). I may miss my mom sometimes... however, I was lucky to live as close to her as I did for as long as I did, and I've made some awesome memories and had a lot of fun with her and my dad. Instead of focusing on feeling lonely or missing my mom... I acknowledge the feeling is there... and then just... think about other things. I think about the places I'd like to take my mom when she comes to visit. I think of things I want to tell her the next time I talk with her on Skype. I think about where I want to travel with Josh next. I think about German beer and ice cream. I remember, and focus, on the fact I'm extremely lucky to be living where I am. Those types of thoughts keep the homesick feelings away. It also helps that my husband is very entertaining and extremely silly. He keeps me distracted when my positive thinking doesn't work.

There are times when my positive thinking doesn't really work. I had one of those moments this weekend. My niece Zoey is 16 months old. I saw her for the first time when she was only a week old, and I made sure to try and see her as often as possible. Five months prior to me moving, my brother and his wife moved to Missoula and rented a house down the block from me. I was literally across the street from my niece. I was able to see her whenever I wanted (for the most part) and I tried to take advantage of it as much as I could. I was able to be there for her first birthday, which I'm grateful for. I left three days later. Both my mom and brother are good about sending me new pictures of Zoey and keeping me posted about cute new things she does. Since I've left she's started talking and is quickly building her vocabulary. She also is starting to show more parts of her personality (and LORD is she sassy... and spoiled). I can't believe how much she has grown and changed in the four months since I've left. It makes me sad to think of the things I'm missing out on, because I feel like I am missing everything. I posted new picture of her on Facebook, and realized it didn't make much sense to keep putting pictures into an album called "Baby Zoey" because she isn't a baby anymore. She doesn't look like a baby. All of the pictures I was posting weren't even pictures I had taken, or pictures I was there for. It just made me sad. I miss my niece.

Members of my extended family say as Zoey gets older she looks like me as a child. I think Zoey looks a lot like her mom, my sister-in-law Laine. However... in some pictures I can see the resemblance.

This is a picture where I feel Zoey looks the most like me as a child. To prove my point...

... I'm just saying...
I just hope she is as tough as her mom... and as sassy as me. Lord help us all.