Day Four: Creating Home (Attitude & Perspective)

There is an old Chinese Proverb
(or some kind of Proverb)
that tells of a young family traveling between towns.
On the outskirts of one of the upcoming towns,
the family meets an old and wise gentleman.
They exchange a few pleasantries and than ask
"We are looking for a new place to call HOME,
a place where we can find adventure, success and good friends.
What can you tell us of this town right here. Will
it be a good place for us to settle in for awhile?"
The old man, thinks for a moment and asks,
"What was the town like from which you just came?"
The family replies with some frustration and emotion,
"Oh, it was horrible! Everyone there argued, and cheated,
and was always in each others business. We really hated it
there and we are happy to say good riddance."
With determination, the old man said,
"Yes, that is exactly what this town is like too. You should
pass by this old town and move on to brighter pastures."
So the young family said their
Goodbye's and
Nice to Meet You's
and went along on their way.

Some time passed and another young family came
traveling upon the same road and they too, met the
kindly, older gentleman.
Pleasantries were exchanged and finally the father of
the young family asked,
"We are looking for a new place to call HOME,
a place where we can find adventure, success and good friends.
What can you tell us of this town right here. Will
it be a good place for us to settle in for awhile?"
The old man, thinks for a moment and asks,
"What was the town like from which you just came?"
"Oh, it was WONDERFUL! Everyone there was
KIND, HONEST and wanted to SERVE each other
unconditionally. We really loved it there, but alas,
it is time to move on"
With determination, the old man said,
"Yes, this is exactly what this town is like.
You will love it here and should definitely make
this home for a time."
So the young family expressed their gratitude,
and proceeded through the gates of town,
to find a pleasant and wonderful new adventure.

I love this fable/parable/proverb!!
Really what we get out of our home life,
is a lot of the time the ATTITUDE that we put
into it. It really is all about our PERSPECTIVE!

I find myself cringing when I hear younger mothers
speak with trepidation the day when their sweet,
young children become horrible, rotten, disrespectful
TEENAGERS.
I cringe, because I don't know any of this kind of
teenager. They may be out there,
but I haven't seen them.
I love my teenagers,

I love the way they laugh and tease.

I love the way they interact with their friends.

I love the way they help selflessly with ANY thing
I ask them to do.

And I love the look on their faces,
when they notice that you have SEEN their
successes.

I wonder how much this has to do with
Perspective and Attitude?

I think it is a challenge to look at what you are
sitting in RIGHT now,
and enjoy everything about it-
whether it is a car full of car seats,
or a room full of energetic teenagers,
or a home that is more quiet than you'd like-
Not that you don't look forward to something different
in the near future,
but that what you have right now
is just right for now!

"Whether you think you can
or you think you can't
YOU ARE RIGHT!"

Day Three: Creating Home (Give & Take)

Last night I realized that with this upcoming move,
in twenty one years of marriage,
we will have lived in FIVE states!!
That's more states than I even visited in my
first twenty one years of LIFE!!

I am a believer that things happen for a reason,
and that the people who have something you lack,
will enter your life at the moment you need them most.
I actually rely on this heavily when getting ready to
move onto a new home.

My mother-in-law asked me which state was my favorite
state to live in and if I had a choice, which state would
I go back to.
Hard question, because for different reasons, I have loved
each and every place we have lived,
and would probably go back to any one of them if
given the chance.
I have learned something valuable from every place
we have had the pleasure of calling home:

I grew up in Utah, and like a lot of teenagers,
really just dreamed of leaving HOME and
experiencing life & adventure.
Now that I have been gone so long,
I can enjoy so much beauty that I simply took for granted
when I was growing up.
I look at so much that I do now as being a direct result
of the people and influences I had in my early years.
From my childhood home,
I learned the value of family mealtime,
setting the table for your children,
teaching them how to cook and clean.
The greatest lesson I learned from my
mom was the gift of taking a step back from a
TO DO list and spending valuable time with those you love.

I have since learned that not everyone knows their
cousins, second cousins and second cousins once removed
(nor do most people even know that there
can be second cousins once removed)
and because I knew all these amazing relatives,
I learned the importance of family.

In Arizona I learned the importance of enjoying your
young children while they are actually YOUNG.
I had a great friend who somehow had grasped hold
of just how quickly 18 years passes by and from her
example I quickly developed habits of playing and
relaxing with my kiddos.
In Arizona I also learned to really HONE my
breadmaking skills & I left Arizona with
three of the best bread recipes ever-
of which, all three I still use.

I have always teased that Minnesota is where I finally
learned how to give a hug! I have never been a good
hugger, especially to friends or acquaintances. Silly reasons,
but I was too self conscience of any extra flub I might
have had, if I had showered that morning or
will someone think I am weird giving them a hug.
In Minnesota, I met some very kind and caring people
and from them I learned to truly enjoy the gift that
another persons genuine touch can be.
I also learned how to enjoy hosting big parties,
how to share holidays with friends and most important-
I learned that HOME isn't just about blood relatives,
but a lot of times, HOME is made up of the family
that you get to CHOOSE (your friends).
Probably the most valuable nugget of life lesson
I took from Minnesota is the importance of balance
in HOME and LIFE. I have to say,
I live and breathe the by the value of balance.

California has been very good for me. From the
moment we got here, I have felt like I belonged.
Here I learned to up my game when it came to
feeding myself and my family. I learned that being
pushed much harder than I thought possible, is
actually good for me.
And I learned that Health has as much to do with
lifestyle and choices as it does with genetics
(some days I would argue more so)
and more importantly,
I learned the value of talking about your issues,
not complaining,
but talking about what ails you! You just never
know who needs to hear your story or why.
But I have to say that my most valuable
life lesson learned in Cali is the good ole'
value of a girlfriend.
I have learned to enjoy myself in anyone's
HOME, as long as I am sitting around a table,
eating salads or other bunny food,
with several women I love, adore, admire and enjoy!

My life is rich because of all that I have taken from
each state and the people that have been part of
my journey no matter where it is I reside.
HOME is my cookbook, filled to the brim with
recipes from my favorite people.
It is the stories that I remember as I have
gathered these recipes.
HOME is the dishes and placemats I use daily,
and the people that surround my table for
meals or snacks.
HOME is the art that adorn my walls,
almost always of the people I love,
the places I've been and
the words that remind me of both.
HOME is the laughter,
the crying and the imagination
of friends, neighbors and guests that
fill my house on any given day.
And HOME are the memories that stick with me,
every day of my life,
because of the people I have met
on this journey called LIFE!
HOME is the story that is shared between
two great friends.

What gifts has life given you that have built your HOME?
Better yet, what gifts have you given
life that have created HOME for someone else??

Day 2: Creating Home (& Defining Home)

I feel like humming a few bars of The Brady Bunch theme song:
Here's a Story
of a Lovely Lady,
who was bringing up three very lovely girls,
and this lady,
had a handsome husband
and they also had a very handsome son,
but their family,
that they thought was complete
got bigger by adding two.
Another girl,
followed by a boy
and than their home was bursting at every seam.

Well I think somewhere along that process, I lost the tune,
but it sounded cute in my mind ;)


Anyway- the point is,
A few years ago, my husband and I were living
quite content in a cute farm style home
that we had custom designed and built.
Oh we loved that house,
but two little surprises later,

we found ourselves feeling crowded.
So....
We went land hunting,
& Builder shopping
& Architect planning
& we came up with this...

It took us NINE months to design & plan
and another SEVEN months to complete,
but we had a beautiful, wonderful, fully loaded
DREAM HOME on 4 acres with 2 ponds
and tons of Midwestern Trees-
all perfectly designed for my BIG family of 8!

I was imagining graduation parties,
Wedding Receptions, Grandbabies
and Family Reunions-
this was my never to leave,
absolutely WONDERFUL,
Just what I have been hoping for
and dreaming of my whole life
HOME!!

AND THAN...
the pipes burst
and it FLOODED
and it did it again,
and again,
and again---------
and 2 months after moving into our dream home,
we covered everything in plastic
and locked it all up,

and moved out!

My number one goal, when we moved out
was to make this chaos
as peaceful and pain free as possible.
I had a friend who warned me
that this was the type of family trauma
that divorces were made of
and sedatives were prescribed for!
So with nothing but family unity on my mind
we set out for temporary accommodations.

After ten weeks, 6 hotels and 21 hotel rooms,
and with a major lawsuit pending,
my husband and I had a lot of time to realize
that HOME is right where you are,

Annual Bike Parade, 1st Minnesota Home

 as long as you are surrounded by the people
you LOVE

Bunker Beach, MN- Favorite Watery Home for 6 summers

and they are thriving,

A happy Home Dweller

and they are close to you,

Games at Father's Day BBQ

and they know that in your arms

Who cares, as long as Dad's got a close grip

there is safety and security

With this new found understanding of what makes a HOME,
we moved back home.

It was short lived as my husband took
an out of state job. So 18 months later,
we moved from this perfect dream home,
large, spacious and BEAUTIFUL

to something not quite so much!

And just for drama (and reality)
in between the two,
we had another 12 week stay in hotels.
Yes, we understand what it takes to make
Home out of a Hotel Room!

trying to keep with tradition, despite HOTEL living...

... we decorated Easter bags and had a strange Easter Egg Hunt,

Can I say when we moved in to our Cali home,
we had a bit of an adjustment period,
and a ton of tears,
and a lot of "what were we thinking".

Though the house was not nearly what we had left behind,
the neighborhood made up for it in spades.

Here for a week and we feel like we've been friends a lifetime

And we began to realize that a HOME
extends far beyond the sticks and bricks
used to construct a house.
It is the laughter on a very crowded trampoline,

it is a DOORBELL that rings every day at the
exact same time each day-
friends ready to walk to school together.

First Day of School at our New School

 It is the first tolerably warm day after
a really long hot spell,
when everyone can't wait to MEET UP outside,

These Roads Ain't meant for Drivin'

and it is definitely the Neighbors
gathering outside for a
NEIGHBORHOOD PARTY

 And than, 
my husband dropped another bomb,
"What do you think of Texas?" says he
"Sure" says I
So here I am,
2 years after moving into this house,
in a down market,
selling another home
most likely at a loss,
with a SMILE on my face
(I think I am a glutton for some kind of self destruction)
But I am excited,
because I get to define HOME again,
and it seems like every time I start over
in a new HOME,
in a new place,
I learn something else about HOME! 
But please,
just for good measure,
wish US luck :)

Day One: Creating Home

Hey Friends,

I am taking a fun opportunity to link up
to some great gals on a 31 day Journey.
How fun to see 31 Days in October through
the eyes of so much amazing talent and
so many wonderful ideas!
I'm excited to announce that my 31 days
will be focused on Creating Home!
Whatever your home looks like,
Whoever is there with you,
and Wherever it is,
I hope you will be inspired to be take a
mindful and deliberate approach to
creating the HOME you have always
dreamed of or admire from afar!
My guess is that you are not far from your dreams,
you may just need to focus in on your treasures.

When I first decided to participate in this 31 days,
I had great dreams
and visions
of what I could do
with 31 days of inspiration and creativity...
and than along come reality!
I got hit with a huge curve ball,
smack in the center of my face!!
Can I pause to say this happens to me A LOT!

The curve ball, my friends, came in the shape
of a JOB change for my husband
and a quick and sudden move that
we were NOT expecting.

Though you may not be moving
1400 miles, 23 hours and 4 minutes away from
your current home,
I think my journey will help you enjoy
right where you are.
I hope over the next 31 days
you find for yourself what HOME means to you
and than together we can go out and
GET BUILDING!
& remember-
JOY is always the best part of the JOurneY