7.20.2012

No Place Like Home

Sometimes, a girl just needs to go home.

When life is full of perfectly sequenced moments and you're sure, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that you are on the right path.  

When it's falling apart all around you and you don't know how to glue it back together.

Either way, you just need to be where you began.


The moment I deplane and officially step on Minnesota Ground it hits me.

The cool Minnesota breeze, the calm of the lake.  

Home.


The kids feel it too.

Maybe not the sense of home, but the effects of me regaining my roots?  They get it.  

And it's good.

Less phone, more outdoor adventures.  Less computer, more hand holding.  If we could just teleport Andrew in it would be complete perfection.


It helps me to get out of our small town and remember that the World is a big place.  

That the ideology, gossip, and petty commentary that flies freely in Small Town Georgia isn't real life.

It's easy to forget, no?

But it's true.  

There are all kinds of people and lifestyles out there.  And if you're sitting among people that are causing you drama and strife there's no reason to linger.  There is more then one group of friends, more then one job option, more then one way to fix a problem.

I'm glad for that much needed reminder.  It makes me excited to get back home and be an adult.


My childhood home was sold in the dead of Winter.  

This is my first trip home where I'm not, well, home.

We are staying on the outskirts of Minneapolis in the cutest little neighborhood.  There is some great people watching at all hours out the window of the condo.  Little shops, an ice cream parlor, and a bookstore with chickens roaming the floors all within a 1/2 block stroll.  Totally different then the northern suburb where I spent my awkward years.

And don't even get me started on the parks.

Splash pads and four square?  Now we're talking.


Home.

Even when it's no place like what I have always known as home, there it is.

Waiting with open arms, like I never left.


It's good to be back.

5 comments:

The Edberg's said...

Nicole - while you're home, you should bring the kids to Freestyle Yogurt. It's in St. Paul, but I'm telling you it is THE place to be. I can't go right now because of gestational diabetes, but you should (on my behalf). :-) Check it out online.

Milk and Honey Mommy said...

Nicole,

This post resonates w/me. The only thing is that we haven't been HOME since we moved (three years ago). Oh, we would love to return, at least for a visit.

I am currently experiencing much of the same in a small TN town. I always make statements like, "In the REAL WORLD - like where I grew up - the things I've experienced here wouldn't be an issue. It amazes me about some of the silly things that occur here. There are so many larger issues that matter in the REAL WORLD. Until then, I'm "serving my time on Maple Drive," because I know God has our family here for a reason.

Have fun while at home and take the children everywhere. You can always sleep when you return to GA.

Kameron said...

I know what you mean. Home to me these days is not a place but where my family is. All of my family has moved from California where I grew up but when I see them I still feel like I went home. Have a great time!

Anonymous said...

Nicole, I couldnt have said it better myself.
Hope ya'll are having a great trip. :)
Alicia Polk

Amber said...

Love! : )