California skies are like gold.

Photo by: Lindsey Shaun Photography

I am a sunset chaser. My favorite are the sunsets that leave you with a love-sick stomach ache and a lump in your throat that restricts airflow just slightly. 

Just over a year ago I was sitting in the back seat of a Chevy Malibu with my mission companion, the sisters we were in the car-share with were in front. The car had soft music playing, no one was speaking. We were exhausted from the Spirit. Roads in San Jose, California are smoother than the roads I am used to in my rural Utah hometown and as we drove I rested my head against the window and peered across the concrete jungle. 

Born and raised in country I was surprised that I loved the city so much. The sounds, the smells - even the bad ones, the architecture and the people. Especially the people.

Here I was away from home. My service as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was going by so fast. I had changed so much and for a moment in the backseat of the mission Malibu everything stopped.

"California skies are like gold," I thought.

Gold. It is a symbol of wealth, luxury and quality. I also relate it to warmth and illumination. To me gold symbolizes joy. And as I looked at the gold sun setting behind the California horizon that joy hit me hard. I couldn't imagine being happier.

My call as a full time missionary came to an end May 2014, not even six months ago. I returned home and I thought I was prepared for my new life.

Oh, was I wrong.

I was married Friday, October 24, 2014. It was the best day of my life.

Midterms have consumed nearly every moment. Wedding gifts have filled our small apartment to the brim. Dishes haven't been done for a few days and we have decided to be vegetarian for a month. Sleep is little and craziness is at an all time high.

Here I sit on the floor in our tiny front room amongst boxes of things we need to organize and I have never been happier.

California skies are like gold. But I have found my own kind of gold.