1. My two homes. Oregon and Colorado, the way they rhyme, the way my heart can’t choose between them.

2. Visiting family and a few friends. It’s never enough time and I’m always sad to leave, but I’m also glad to be home in Colorado again.

3. Marionberry pie. My mom made me one, and at the 4th of July picnic at my aunt’s house, there were three different kinds — and yes, I tried all three.

4. The beach. I only got to spend part of a day there while I was in Oregon, and it was simultaneously wonderful and heartbreaking.

5. My tiny family. Oh how I miss them when I’m away.

Practicing “leave it.” Sometimes Sam looks like a giant compared to Ringo.

6. Our garden. I was only gone a week, but it went crazy, so tall and green. We are now getting a few tomatoes and zucchini and the first sunflower bloomed.

Bonus joy: good food, watching movies with my mom, walks and dinners with my mom and dad, my dad’s not cat (he doesn’t have a cat, but he does), seeing my nieces and my brother, aunts and uncles and cousins, a big family dinner, thrift store shopping, a rental car with Colorado plates, a safe trip there and back, a little girl on my flight home whose name is also Jill, being able to be away from home but still take care of myself, bran muffins, fruit, my first tomato of the season, sleeping in my own bed, clean sheets, a smart phone, soaking in the tub, podcasts, stretching, how you can search your situation on the internet and find stories of how other people have worked with it, going home and being home, being lucky enough to have two homes.