Toto, we're home!

I'm not in Georgia anymore!


...And now metro DC, NoVa, or simply, Springfield, Virginia feels like home: suburbia USA complete with white picket fence and air quality forecasts.


I'm waiting.. did you ask yet.., why am I back with my parents'.. after graduating college, after working on my own?! I'm a bum and maybe I should be a professional or at least a wife or wait, do I have an engagement ring... Okay, so I am glad that I left Georgia. I will always love my hometown, but not for it's twist on how to live life as a Southern woman... hm, or is that the entire US? I'm a dreamer and an idealist. Which is why I chose to have these weeks with my parents--- living with them while finally appreciating them! Now that's new.. last time we lived together, valuing parents was at the bottom of my to-do list.

This transition has revealed things about myself I didn't know I had knowledge of or even possessed. I have learned so much about Jesus' relationships with those he ministered to while traveling, leading me to consider finding my home in God. It's hardly easy most days, but it's a reality I refuse to drop. Realizing that all of life is comprised of relationships with other people, even if you're the biggest hermit, you still probably have some sort of job, some minimal interaction with people. So I've begun to realize the opportunities here... make every relationship have a purpose, love it and give yourself till it ends or moves away from you. When you seek other people, desiring to share compassion, it's a new world. That's what I've learned. And even though I'm trying to sound like I can separate myself from all of the emotion and security found in any new relationship, I do still miss so many faces, unmatchable uplifting hugs and voices flowing with loving words. I just know a few more things now than I used to about not depending on people to define me.


Alright, those are my thoughts, but what I've been doing is another story. I'm currently painting the interior at my parents' home. I have one of those jobs so monotonous, you have time to think about life, it's actually quite cool. Anyway, that's my part-time "job" combined with amateur chef. I enjoy cooking so much, it's a new love in my life and it's even more wonderful to have people to do it for!! I've also caught up with a few friends in the area, finding peace in the company of people my own age. Today actually, I went into the city to tour the monuments, haha. It was fun but oh so exhausting and crowded. We're going to try and catch a sunrise next weekend from the steps of old, honest Abe.
We've done a teensy bit of travel...

Virginia Beach... away from the hotels and crowded boardwalk :)


SUBMARINE!!! passing through Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel

Mom & Dad at Old Cape Henry lighthouse

Really amazing volcano dessert in Atlantic City... chocolate goodness!

The countdown has begun: less than 3 weeks until I fly away to Washington--- the state, not the city a mere 15 miles north.

So adieu, for now. I'll post more once I begin my nanny duties out west!