asleep.

Every night I climb into my comfy bed and chat with my roommate until we fall asleep. Sometimes when she falls asleep before me I think about all the places I've laid in bed trying to fall asleep. 

Every Wednesday night at the ranch we'd camp out in the teepees with all the kids. I would lay in my sleeping bag watching all the kids slowly fall asleep, some still whispering to each other, some giggling and others yelling at them to shut up. I think of my big bed at home in the room that’s been all mine for 14 years. I love that big, princess bed that my dad built in the wall for me, he called it my princess cave. It’s the bed that I’m most comfortable in, the teal walls and built in books shelves surround me as I fall asleep. 

I think about all the nights I've slept in the trailer, sometimes in the backyard, sometimes camping. Usually all the boys slept in the big bed with me.

I think about sleeping in the hospital bed when I was in Mexico last spring in that huge room with all the incredible girls I’d met. I thought about sleeping in tents at girl’s camp, on a tarp during trek, in nasty dorm beds at BYU for EFY with Ali. I thought about sleeping in on a mattress in Carly’s room and on Chelsea’s couch after we stayed up until 3 watching the Royal Wedding. I thought about the nights I’ve spent at Aunt Karen’s, sleeping on the luv sac or the pull out couch or with her and Leah in the big bed. I thought about incredible vacations to NYC with the lights flashing and taxi’s honking as I fell asleep. The top bunk at Aunt Lizzie’s, the floor at Granny’s New Mexico house, the queen bed in the beach house in San Diego, Ali’s big bed, a ski resort in Virginia, the big red couch in our living room, all the forts we’ve made in the basement, the couch at Jessica’s dorm last year, bottom bunk at the Ranch. The twin beds at the beach house in Oahu, where we’d see lizards darting around on the walls and ceilings as we fell asleep. Sharing a little bed with mom in Guatemala, the Marriott in Lima, Peru, the hotel in St. George where everyone on our floor complained to the front desk that we were too loud. Ann’s birthday in Park City, my 16^th birthday in Salt Lake. That awesome resort in Mexico, that huge cabin at the YMCA somewhere in Colorado, the big bed in the basement at aunt Keely’s. Cythina’s bedroom floor. 

When Walker and I were younger we’d sleep under the Christmas tree the whole week before Christmas, the lights twinkling above us, snow falling outside.

I usually think of my favorite place that I’ve ever slept, my bed in Grandma Jack’s basement in Virginia. The sound of the dehumidifier, the lightning bugs glowing outside. Before we’d go to sleep Walker and I would jump from his bed to mine, back and forth. I loved that room, there were pictures everywhere of my dad and his siblings when they were younger, I loved the feel of my blankets, the smell of the room and the comfort of having Walker sleeping right next to me, Gabe and Satchel and Nolan in the nursery next door and my parents in the room next to that. I loved the concept of us all sleeping so close to each other, knowing that my dad grew up right there in that very same house! 

Just thinking about it makes me want to be in VA right this very minute instead of writing this incredibly boring paper for English. I can't wait to see what the future holds. There are so many more adventures out there for me! (I hope quite a few of them are in good ole VA) I LOVE YOU, VIRGINIA! 

I know this refers to West Virginia, you get the point.