There's No Place Like Home

Abigail's new ruby slippers - she hijacked the iPhone to take this one herself.

Today I missed Kansas. Oh how my heart ached to be back in Topeka.   I miss my good friends there.  I miss the fall - crunchy red leaves, apple picking, visiting the pumpkin patch - you know, typical mid-western stuff.  I miss my old ward and neighborhood.
It all started once I read THIS post.  What a wonderful opportunity my dear friend has to see a temple being built, to offer service to those working on it, and to make such neat memories with her kids!

And then I forced myself to count my blessings.  I love our new home in Palmer.  LOVE. IT.  We're surrounded by mountains lightly dusted with snow at their peaks.  It's inspiring even to little Abbie, who commented at how beautiful it is here and that Jesus must live in those clouds up by the mountains (she knows he really doesn't live on a cloud).  We get to watch the sun peak over the Chugach and turn the sky pink and yellow in the mornings as we drive the very short distance to drop Madeline off at school. 
After drop-off, we swing past Jeremy's office and wave hello through the car windows.  We get to have lunch with him every day.  Everything is so close and convenient. 

We didn't know we'd really end up here.  The last few months have been quite unsettling.  Moving 3500 miles back "home" only to feel that it's not "home" anymore was the worst.  We went through the motions of establishing roots: Jeremy looked for a job, he leased an office space, we even started building on our property.  With the living situation (we were staying with my parents in their 2 bedroom/1 bath house), Madeline was enrolled in public school.  I cried a lot that day about that decision.  Feelings of guilt and inadequacy overwhelmed me as I realized that I couldn't juggle homeschool, living out of a suitcase, building a house,  and having a 4th child in just a few months.  I swallowed my pride and let reality sink in that that was the best decision for Madeline, and she has loved Kindergarten since the first day.

Jeremy and I made a trip to the temple to sort out all the chaos.  We realized we were not doing what we were supposed to.  Our old home is not where our new home should be.  We felt good about being in the Mat-Su Valley.
  It felt like home.  We felt peace.

Jeremy promptly started looking for a job in Palmer and was hired days later as a law clerk in a small firm (right across the street from the courthouse even).  We waited for two weeks to get into an apartment here - Jeremy was in Palmer, we were in North Pole.  He drove up on the weekend and rescued us and we stayed in a hotel in Wasilla (15 min from Palmer) for that last week until we finally got into our new home.

We're settling in quite nicely and are just enjoying being our little family again.   
Things worked out; they always do.  Thank goodness for prayer and for personal revelation. 

Thank goodness we get to keep writing new chapters in our life and that we get to continue to make memories with our kids!  Life keeps going on.  I've got wonderful memories to look back on and experiences I am happy to have enjoyed.

I may miss Kansas, or Hawaii, or even North Pole at times, but I am happy to be right here: our home.