up the street

I can't believe our month in the desert is half over!

Time is flying by.  This is the point on any trip to see my family that I start to feel a little melancholy.  

It's the pull of home and the tug of staying.  An internal battle that has me losing either way.  

Quite frankly, it sucks.

As much as I struggle with going back to Georgia after all of our trips, this one will be the worst.  I can already see it coming.

This is the very first time in my adult life that I've had a taste of normal family life.  We are staying at my Aunt Robbin's house which makes it very easy to pretend we actually live here.  

Living in the same city as my family has been like a dream come true.

In my perfect set up, my Dad and Patricia would be up the block and my brother and Nora would be our neighbors.  I haven't lived within 250 miles from either of my parents, or any other family, for 10 years now.

I don't mean to sound ungrateful.

I have this unbelievable life that I'm sure I don't deserve, but there is something about the thought of being close to family that makes my heart ache just a little.

We are literally one street over from my Grandma and my Uncle Jay.  We can hop on bikes and head over just to say hi.

We can have dinner with my parents.

A day at the botanical gardens with two Grandmas?  Not a problem.

Yea, Andrew's parents are here for a visit too.

So not only am I getting a taste of living by some of my family, I'm getting a taste of what it would be like if both sides lived in the same state.

The kids are going to need a detox from all the attention they are getting.  But I'm not putting up any arguments.  

I hope that someday we can live closer to my family.

I'd love for this to be our everyday.

I am so, so thankful that we are able to take trips like this.  Trips where we can set up shop up the street and pretend that this is forever.

Oh, forget the kids.  I'm the one who is going to need a detox.

Next two weeks, please go slow.