This is it

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6-22-16

This is it.

You can’t quite read it, but that’s what it says at the bottom of the sign in this picture.  It says, “Kara and Mike. This is it.”  It is a sign that we placed at the end of the drive of our reception location 14 years ago on our wedding day.  It was to show people where to turn.

I painted it myself in my parents’ backyard and naturally and quickly chose and mixed the purples in the same way I naturally chose to marry the man I did weeks later.  The purples in the sign were simply “it.”  He was “it.”  This was it.  And I just knew.

Years later, the sign found its spot in the backyard of the house we just sold and this photo was taken right before we packed up.  The sign had been taken down and the kids set up a picnic area in front of it.Continue Reading

Love in the Everyday

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Let’s not be that predictable young couple changing, moving on.
-Avett Brothers

21 years ago today, I went to the prom with one guy and left it with who is now my husband.  And for 21 years, we’ve gone on adventure after adventure together.  We’ve traveled around the world, lived in different cities and states, and ultimately, made our way back to one another, always, and we have made this life together.  We changed but we changed together and somehow, we never moved beyond one another.

This life is more than I ever could have imagined as a girl smitten with a senior in high school, and somehow, I knew, even then, that my life would be forever tied to his.  That might sound crazy, but the soul knows what the soul needs and mine shouted that he was the one for me.

21 years of adventure and we celebrated tonight by getting a babysitter and going to Target alone.  And I swear, I saw other parents doing the same.  Target, alone, was our adventure tonight.  And as he grabbed my hand to walk into the store, there was something so very wonderful about this everyday moment.  There is beauty in the mundane, and mine tonight was the Target adventure with the man I’m lucky enough to hold hands with. Continue Reading

Wherever I’m With You

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I woke up this morning feeling a bit out of sorts about our impeding move. Even though I’m excited to chase our dream, admittedly, I have been worried about moving and leaving the house I have grown to love.

This is the home my dog of 14 years died in.   This is the house our son turned from a toddler to a boy in.  This is the house we brought our daughter home to from the hospital when she was born.  We uncovered stained glass windows and redid hardwood floors here. We’ve celebrated holidays and milestones in her rooms and on her big front porch.  We’ve mourned a death here and the loss of false friends.  We’ve planted bushes and vines and flowers and waited as they bloomed in the spring.

This has been our home, one we’ve grown into, cried and rejoiced in.  Truth be told: it’s hard to leave it.  Even if a change is a good one, sometimes, it’s just not easy.

Early this morning, I was making my daughter a waffle and we were listening to music.   Randomly and rather serendipitously, “Home” by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros came on. Continue Reading

It Will Be An Adventure

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It will be an adventure.”

These are the words I’ve been saying and/or thinking at least 25 times a day.

A few days ago, we accepted an offer on our house and the “sale pending” sign took its place out front.

For those new here to my page, last month, we decided to sell our old and beloved house in a small town in order to chase our dream of returning to a country setting. We grew up very rurally and after years of thinking we wanted something different, our kids have reminded us of the life we really want to live.  Our house sold quickly (more quickly than we had imagined) and here we are:  setting off on another adventure.

This will be the 7th move in 14 years of marriage; we moved with the military and then in other pursuits of our dreams and goals. And, here we go, again. Continue Reading