{new beginnings}

It seems that just about everyone I know is starting a new beginning. Beginning with Lee and I. We just moved away from our beloved home in Arizona to start a new adventure in California. But not just anywhere in California, Folsom, California. Yes, as in "I'm stuck in Folsom prison and time keeps draggin' on...." Folsom, California. It's beautiful, green, close to Napa, San Fran, Tahoe and just about everywhere that's amazing in Nor Cal. Lee accepted an amazing job at Intel and I am hoping to start a job a really cool place as well. Things seem to be falling into place for us and {hopefully} settling down. But we aren't the only ones whose lives are changing. My bf is getting married this fall and I'm sooo excited. More than I should be. And I'm the Matron of Honor {makes me sound old, bleh} which is, well, an honor. Other friends and family are moving, traveling, expanding their families and getting new jobs.

The main change for me, at the moment, is saying good-bye to my home in Gilbert. My family is moving out of the home I grew up in for 10 years. Ten years doesn't sound like a long time to live in a home, but for me it was. It's the longest time that I have ever spent living in one place. It is home. I grew from a young teenage girl into an adult while I lived there. A lot has happened to me over the years that I spent living and growing there.

I have become quite attached to that home. If you know me, then you know how attached I get to things, to objects. Every object has a story behind it, some kind of meaning. I have a hard time getting rid of things because everything I own has a meaning, purpose, or story (I'm a self-prescribed semi-hoarder). So you can only imagine how I would get attached to a house. Attached to all of the holidays, special occasions, not-so-special occasions, every day happenings that occurred there. Attached to the memories in every room. Even attached to silly things like the view from outside of a particular window. It's hard to say goodbye.

But, as I've been reminded, home is where your family is. It doesn't matter if it's on the same street, in the same city, or even in the same state, it's where your family is. And where your heart is. So wherever my family is moving to, that will be their home and my home away from the home that Lee and I have made for ourselves here in California. I will always have the memories and pictures from my home in Gilbert. Although I won't ever be able to go inside of it again, I can always drive past it and be reminded of all the time I spent there with my family.

So here is to new beginnings and fresh starts for myself, my family and my friends.