What I've Learned About "Home."

In case you didn't know, Ryan and I had been house sitting at my parents' place while they visited my sister in Europe. Well, we are finally back into our humble little abode after two weeks of "living in luxury" complete with our own pool, grill, and even horses in the backyard...and we miss house living already. Even though it took a couple of days to get adjusted to our new routines (horses fed and let out, check the radar to make sure the horses wouldn't be caught in a bad storm during a Target run, bringing the horses back in for dinner before eating our own, staying up until 11 to feed them again), I think we both really enjoyed spending time there. So much so, that I didn't even really miss our apartment at all. And I love our little apartment.

For some reason, I kept thinking about how that could be. Even when I visit my parents back at home, after a day or two, I'm itching to get back to the familiarity of our place, back into our routine. So why wasn't that the case now?

That's when I had a bit of an "a-ha!" moment - it's true what everyone says: "home isn't a place, it's a feeling, it's who you're with." Our apartment might be where we live, but my home is wherever I am with Ryan and our fruit loop pooches. I didn't miss our apartment because everything I needed to feel "at home" was already with me. It's wherever we can set up shop with our nightly television shows, or cook dinner together, or talk about our plans for the future, or scratch our dogs above the tail (their fave). 

I can't sit here and pretend that I know everything about life and relationships, but I think it's safe to say that if you ever have that feeling, where it be with your boyfriend or girlfriend or friend or cat or goldfish, you're on the right track.