Home...is where the heart is!

Home...that's where I am right now...okay, not my home in Hermiston, but, my parents home where I grew up. As my sister and I were driving to Richland yesterday and I was soaking in the scenery, I started to think about all things that said "Home" to me. Seeing the grass beginning to turn green, baby calves everywhere, snow-top mountains in the background....an excitement always begins to stir within me. It's funny how you can leave your famiy home to start your own, but there is still always a part of you that is that small-town girl. Richland is mostly a retirement community now, and I don't know anyone who lives there....but, there's a safe, warm feeling that comes over me as we enter the valley. A feeling of comfort and serenity....a feeling of familiarity and knowing. (Knowing that time there will be simple & quiet, slow and predictable). My family's home is filled with memories of the years spent there growing up (fighting with my sister over the use of our one bathroom, flipping wet kitchen towels at my brother while we did our "dish chores") ...Now, a few changes are happening...my parents are in the midst of remodeling. And, my favorite bed is gone...making my bed last night a sleeping bag on the floor :D One plus, though, is there is going to finally be another bathroom...Yeahhhhh! The things I love about home are simple...it's where I was nutured and given the basic principles upon which to base my life. I love the fact that you can leave the door unlocked and be safe, that there are no traffic lights, and that my Mom's cooking is better than anything in the world!
Home to me is also my very own home established with Mr. PPRM! It too creates a sense of warm feelings...and happiness! It's here that I feel complete! Our little fixer-upper has been our home for almost 16 years...it's been a place that has held our dreams, watched us change into the individuals we are today, and is my favorite place to be. What says home to me about it??? Mmmmm...maybe it's the creak in the living room floor, or the 80's style mauve (now, bleached pink from the sun) curtains, the groan the front door makes as it opens...or maybe it's the Love, tears, hard-work, and time spent there??? I just love walking through the door and know that no matter what is happening in our lives or the world around us... I'm cocooned in my safe haven. I Love the view from our kitchen windows, I Love sitting on the front porch on summer evenings soaking in the sounds, smells and view, I Love that it's a place where Mr. PPRM wants to be :D I always want my HOME to be a place filled with God's love, a place that is inviting and when others come, that they feel nothing but comfort and a great sense of peace. My heart is at home here!!! What say "Home" to you??? Where is your heart happiest??? May your homes be filled with many Sweet Blessings...that will forever live on in your memories and hearts! Sweet blessings!