Moving on.

Yesterday we said goodbye to our home. I felt much more emotional leaving it than I had expected. My sadness mostly stems from the fact that this home is where we became parents. It's the place we brought Meredith home from the hospital. These past 16 months have been amazing. The memories we've made are countless. As we packed up our home, I had visions of myself bouncing my newborn to sleep in her darkened nursery. I remembered back to the long, cold winter when we played on the living room rug and built forts. I remembered watching her crawl for the first time. I remembered giving her solids for the first time. I remembered watching her play with tupperware in the kitchen and climbing into the cabinets as I packed. I remembered the progression of bath time- from lazing in the bath sling to splashing wildly in the tub. So so many memories in that little blue house. As we drove away last night, tears streaming down my face, I tried to remind myself that the wonderful thing about memories is they come with you.

This pond.

This pond.

This pond has watched the growing of our love. It has celebrated our engagement.


It has celebrated our victories: marriage, college graduation, pregnancy.

This pond has kept us company on quiet evening strolls.


This pond has observed the swelling of my belly and listened as we hoped for the start of labor.


This pond comforted me during the newborn witching hours, rocking my crying baby to sleep.


This pond has served as a sounding board as we resolved conflict, discussed friendships and made big decisions about church, jobs and moving.


This pond has been witness to cheerful, tearful, excited, scared prayers, listening as we've offered them up to the heavens.


This pond has offered it's entertainment through bird watching, splashing at the beach, playing at the park and seeing sunbathing turtles.
 

This pond watched me become a wife, a mother and a woman. I will miss it.

home style.

One of the things I am most excited about with our move is getting to redecorate. Since we've gotten married, we always rented our homes, so I've never gotten into the mindset of making our house a home in terms of decorations. I've decided it's time to finally commit the time and resources to making our house the way I'd like it to be, rental and all. I think it will be really important for us to feel really happy in our new home because we won't have lots of other familiar things around us. Right now I'm thinking I'd like a teal, red and yellow color scheme, but who knows!? I could definitely change my mind. What color combinations have you been loving lately? I'm also hoping to incorporate multiple textures & patterns which is a big deal for me. I'm usually fixated on perfect matching.

images: 1 2 3 4 5

10 years.

10 years ago my family pulled into Boston, our new home. I cannot believe it's been 10 years. I often still feel like I'm new here. I still consider Atlanta my home.

I am so thankful for my time here, though. I met my husband here, have made many good friends here and became a mommy here. It is a city I love. I love the four seasons. I love the skyline viewed from Memorial Drive. I love apple picking in the fall and laying out on Crane's Beach in the summer. I love the first snowfall each season and watching people break out their flip flops the first time the temperature hits 50. I love that I can walk to the grocery store, coffee shop or ice cream store. I love all the festivals and live music and endless options for restaurants.

I wonder if and when Boston will ever feel like home, if I'll ever consider myself from here. Regardless, whether we stay here for ever or move on one day, it is a place that has a special spot in my heart.

How about you? Where do you consider home? Is it where you live now or where you grew up? Or are those two places that same for you?

photo cred: joe mcanulty. my brother. image here. and because he's mad talented and hysterical, also find him here and here.

ok, i think we've talked about my dislike of doing dishes. it's really not my favorite thing to do at.all. i think because it's never ending. but there's one thing i hate the MOST about washing dishes.

water bottles.

such a pain in the neck. i use one of those nifty hand sponges and they do not fit in water bottles. my hand holding a sponge doesn't fit in water bottles. it is so stressful to me. so, i'll do loads and loads of dishes and leave water bottles for days. do you have any suggestions?? we don't have a dishwasher so don't go suggesting that! I wish!

image. 

maybe water bottle wouldn't anger me the same way if i had think pretty kitchen. probably not.

seriously? go look at this whole house. it is my dream home, i think.

Wordless Wednesday: It's Someone's Birthday Month!

tutorial here.

reunions

Sick of our Georgia trip yet? Sorry. Almost done :)

Probably the best part of the trip was getting to introduce Meredith to some of the most important people in my life, people that have known me longer than anyone who lives near me in Boston. I wish we had gotten pictures with everyone, but here is a small sampling.

my childhood best friend

another good childhood friend

a new friend and her precious little guy

my "uncle" neil

good family friend

It's funny how at home I felt with various people I haven't actually lived near for nearly ten years. I found myself more at ease with people I never really considered best friends simply because they knew and loved me through many years and those awkward middle school years. There's something special about being around people who have known you from early in your life. It's not until I'm around those relationships that I realize how much I miss that up here. I'm so thankful I got a taste of it this past week.

Home sweet home

One of the highlights of our trip was visiting my childhood home. I almost always go by when I'm in town. Something about seeing the home I lived in from age four to seventeen makes me feel happy and peaceful. It also brings back so many memories. Memories of Christmas mornings, birthday parties and sleepovers. Memories of fishing in our backyard creek, jumping on our trampoline, hunting for Easter eggs in the front yard and playing hide-and-seek in the house.

It was funny because the house is for sale. The sentimentalist inside me wanted to buy it right then and there. As we looked at the listing pictures, we saw the inside of house has changed quite a bit. It is no longer the home I grew up in. I guess it's true what they say. You can't go home again.