My baby’s home for a few days and it’s so nice to have him here. I couldn’t believe how old he looked when he walked in last night. Time has flown by so incredibly fast. He’s doing really well and is enjoying his time on Florida’s west coast. I just have to say we are blessed that he has an incredible billet family and incredible billet brothers. I’m glad to see him thriving away from home. My boy is definitely not tethered to my apron strings. Tonight we’re going to celebrate him being home with some Sushi Yama for dinner.

Meanwhile, I’m still packing for my trip. I didn’t get much down yesterday and need to do some laundry. I’m trying to pack light, since we’ll have laundry at every AirBnB we’re staying at. The hardest part is trying to decide how many pairs of shoes to bring. I’m bringing two pairs of hiking boots/shoes. I have hiking sandals that’ll work well for the hike through the Narrows at Zion. Aside from that, I’m trying to decide if I need to bring dress shoes. We’ll be having dinner out some nights. Clearly, I don’t want to show up in dirty hiking gear. From snippets I’ve read, it seems like Southern Utah has some fine dining options. Hopefully, the food is better there than it is in Ogden.

What aspects of your cultural heritage are you most proud of or interested in?

I’m proud of my family’s Norwegian heritage. When we went to Norway in 2017, it felt like going home. The way people spoke, and the way houses looked back in Minnesota all made sense after that trip. I could see why they immigrated to Minnesota as it looks similar to a lot of Norway. Of course, nothing in Minnesota can compare with the beauty of Fjord Norway although Lake Superior is pretty spectacular. One thing I love about our heritage is that our ancestors wasted nothing. Food and farmable land were scarce, so they used every part of the animal. In fact, it was this ingenuity that led to the creation of Brunost (brown cheese,) which uses whet a byproduct of the cheese-making process as its main ingredient.