Lightening Bugs and Moving Boxes.

Last night the lightening bugs were out in full force in my back yard swallowing me in memories of my childhood. Little me would chase them around in the hopes of putting them in a jar beside my bed so I could watch them as I fell asleep.

As I walked back into the house, smiling at my memories, I was struck by how fast this new place has become home. Oh, I am still unpacking boxes -- our painters are still working in the upstairs and so not only are boxes waiting to be sorted, I have had to undo the bulk of what I had already done. (If you read that with a tad bit of frustration, you read it perfectly! ;) ) But the downstairs is almost exactly like I want it and that is where we live. We have established our dinner routine -- everyone has their spot at the table. We have figured out our favorite cozy spots for watching TV as a family at night. And I have even started cooking in the kitchen and can do so almost exclusively without having to search for things!

Deep deep sigh.

Breakfast nook -- with a barn door my Grandaddy built.

It's amazing that the movers just pulled away from our curb four weeks ago today. (Except the truck that has all our outdoor furniture which is just sitting somewhere NOT making it to me....but that is a completely different story.)

Our keeping room!

In those last weeks before leaving our Mississippi home, I would wander through the house turning off lights and locking doors before heading to bed every night. Even though we have moved several times in our marriage, and even though I have had to make more than a couple houses feel like home, I worried during those evening walk-throughs that this time would be different. I was worried that leaving Mississippi might break me this time -- a bit less young than I was when I left her in 1991.

But here's the thing, and it is not just a cliche, home is what pulls us, draws us, comforts us. And home...well home is where my people are. Period.

I am in love with the blue on my dining room walls.

The last year living with Wade in one state and me in another was lonely and hard and just really awful. And yet, it probably prepared us to make the move because as hard as leaving friends, proximity to my Mama, and all the known was....everything is better when we are together.

Just to keep it real -- we have no bedroom furniture and...
I am using a moving box as a bedside table. Design at its best! :)

And so, even if I haven't found people to gather here yet -- I am breathing deeply and thanking God for an ability to acclimate, to flex, to hammer the nails and hang the pictures, to take whatever walls we have and make them our home.