Blog

Last night, Jeremiah and I had a date while Pace and Mary Aplin had a sleep-over (where they painted pumpkins and decorated sugar cookies) with two of their aunts.  After some vast searching we have found a wonderful! restaurant close to us (the Rawls in Enterprise if you’re local), and I was savoring my shrimp and grits while stealing bites of Jeremiah’s grouper and mashed potatoes.  I like to ask broad questions on dates and last night I said, “If you could have any job in the world–money, education, talent, being in ‘the right place at the right time’ not an issue–what would it be?”

There was some silent chewing as both of us thought hard.  Despite Jeremiah’s frequent accusations, I do not think of answers to my broad questions before I ask them :).  He answered first, “You know, I really don’t think there is anything in the world I’d rather be doing than what I’m doing right now.  I’m…happy.”  I smiled and let his answer sink in deep.  All these years of training and long hours and accumulating debt, were worth it in that moment.  “What about you?” he asked.

Suddenly, I realized that I felt the same way about where I am.  The only caveat I would be tempted to add is that I wish I had more time to write.  I have barely written anything since we moved to Alabama two and half months ago.  But I can now honestly say that I would like to remove that caveat.  I am looking so forward to having more time to write one day, but right now the things that prevent me from writing are my most cherished distractions.  If I’m not writing it’s because I’m raising our girls, or running our home, or (delight beyond delight! and how long have I been waiting to do this?) decorating our home–placing touches of what I think are beautiful here and there (if y’all re-read that last link about the mirror, you’ll be happy to know it has found a wonderful spot to occupy in our new home, and I still love it just as much).  This window is so small when my girls want me to talk with them while they eat their peanut butter and jelly.  Making decisions about what mattresses we need for our beds, or where to find the freshest produce for our dinner, or how to get bittersweet so that I can bring the exact fall touch I want to our home–all these little decisions and daily tasks that make our home…our home, are my privilege to make each day.  To say I’d trade any of those things for more time to write would be untruthful.

The truth is, just like Jeremiah, I am happy just exactly where I am.

{As a side note, we moved into our house and made a trip to Disney World in the last week and a half.  We still don’t have internet set up at our new place, which is why this post has no pictures, and I’ve been MIA.  Our “hot spot” was supposed to arrive yesterday, so I will hopefully be able to get back here more regularly soon.  Thanks to those of you who are still sticking around :)}