Home is Where the Heart is

For the past 2 nights, I have stayed with my mom and step dad, because I don't particularly like being home without Kyle overnight. It was also really nice to get out of the house with this snow storm.

They have moved out of the house, that I "grew up" in, but it was still nice to feel at home. It made me realize, it's not about the house, or the things, it's about family. Things are different, and it's not exactly the same as when I grew up with everyone home and the noise, etc, but it was still home. To be honest, I feel that way many places, at my dads, at my in-laws, and even at some good friends homes. It's a wonderful feeling too, knowing I can go open the cupboard and look for a snack, or grab a drink, or go upstairs to use the restroom instead of the one mainly for guests. They may seem silly, but those little things make me feel at home, no matter where or who I am with.

This past week I talked to my dad, and he told me that they sold my grandma's house. It really is a good thing, and we are thankful it sold to a family. However, I got a little teary eyed thinking about never going back. When my grandma knew we were coming, she would sit in one of the front bedrooms on the bed and just wait for us. She would always be there to greet us at the door. The same hugs, the smile, the same smells. I actually feel like I'm there now. I would spend a week with her in the summertime, playing rummy, bingo, and getting to keep all the change from her change purse and cash it in for dollar bills. I could ramble (which I already am) for a long time about the memories. I love having those memories sitting around her table talking, or playing a game.

Today I was able to facetime with my other grandma and we were talking about my grandma's house selling, and she was happy to hear about it. We then got to chatting about the house she was in for awhile and all the memories there too. It was fun, and there were a lot of things I remembered, that she didn't. Like the turkey giblets on Thanksgiving, using my aunts scuba tank to cool us down on hot days, and listening to Point of Grace CD's. I hope she enjoyed talking about it as much as I did.

All these memories, and just over the past few days really has me thinking about Zola. I want to always be striving to making memories with Zola as a family. I want her to love coming home after school, after sleep overs, and especially in high school and college. There may be times she doesn't want to leave her friends, and I understand that, but I want her to want to be home with us more often than not.

We all have memories, whether they are good or bad. My hope and prayer is that the good out weigh the bad always in our family, extended family included. Family is important, they are for the most part always there for each other. Part of that though, is creating memories. So, tomorrow we will create some more.

2014

I highly doubt I need to tell anyone that life with a one year old is busy. In case you don't know though, it is. It is so busy, but so fun, and makes all the moments I used to have to myself worth it. On top of having a busy 15 month old, I started doing some therapy 2 days a week with one of my favorite families outside of my own.

Besides being busy with Zola and work, we have been busy with the holidays, and family get togethers. As well as trying to spend time with some friends. Lately, one of our biggest questions we have been getting is, " Are you going to adopt again?" Our answer is always yes, but usually what followed the first question is, "When?" That question we haven't been able to answer because we truly didn't know. Our story is so different that I guess I never really thought that people would ask when and are we adopting again. We don't mind it at all, we just didn't have a solid answer.

Kyle and I have talked and talked, honestly it's probably a once a week topic in our conversations. We said we would wait until January to talk about it, but our conversation came a few days early. Kyle and I are so completely content right now, and we truly feel that God is blessing us with that feeling. For 3 years we have longed and waited for Zola, on top of our adoption waiting, we tried to get pregnant for a year. We are plain and simply content. We are excited to take vacations this year, and make memories with Zola and with each other in 2014. For 2 years, we didn't take many vacations so we could save money, and save our days off for our travel to Ethiopia. We are excited to see what this year holds for us as a family.

There may be some people who think we are selfish, but we won't apologize for spending these moments, and let me tell you they go so fast with our sweet girl. We will adopt again, but we will be taking 2014 to save, make memories, and enjoy Zola. Our hearts will always be in Ethiopia, so maybe that will be next, but maybe it won't? We are still praying about what's next, but also enjoying this time of contentment. I truly believe God wants us all to be content, each person's contentment is different, but I hope in 2014, you can find contentment in some area of your life. :)