Home Sweet Home

Eric and I stole away to do some camping for the weekend and I have to say it was the perfect trip at the perfect time. The weather was fabulous, the scenery was beautiful and the location was full of sweet memories (it was the State park where we got engaged two years ago). It was great to get away for the weekend, just the two of us, and forget about reality for a while. It took me back to that giddy period right after we first got engaged, ahhh memories :-)

All that being said it is the most incredible feeling to be home again. Am I crazy to think that part of the joy of traveling is the relief of coming back home? I have been thinking a lot about my true nature, trying to know myself really well and there is a big part of me that is just a huge home body. I like to get away for a short while and then retreat back to my nest. Eric and I are both Cancers in the zodiac and I always think about how we are so true to that in so many ways. I know that signs of the zodiac are just for fun but it really is incredible how many Cancer characteristics describe us to a T. One of the biggest things I've noticed is that we love making our home a wonderful retreat, we both really value home and family.

Getting away is probably the best way to make me appreciate my home all over again, along with all it's little homey touches. What is it about your house that really makes you feel at home? Here are some of my top things that make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside when I'm home:

Number 1: Our cats. Nothing makes a house a home like having little furry babies around. We miss them when we're gone and they definitely make our home worth coming back to.

Number 2: Candles. If you've ever been to a party at our place you've probably noticed we have a million candles burning. We love having candles around, especially of the scented variety. 

Number 3: Our bed. Especially after camping, nothing beats sleeping in your own bed. Bed by Ikea, quilt by Urban Outfitters.

Number 4: Lighting. As anyone can tell you, lighting has a huge influence on the look and feel of a place. For me nothing says home light the warm afternoon light coming through our giant front windows. 

Number 5: House plants. Something about having these little living things that depend on you for survival gives you sense of purpose and ownership in your home. 

Of course sharing you home with the right person is also a huge factor in loving where you live. I'm fortunate enough to share my home with my wonderful husband. Not only that, but the other people who mean the most to me in the world, my Mom and Dad, live just a few houses over. What more could a girl ask for?

Post Move Updates

The move is complete and we are spending our first real, non moving weekend in the house. Of course there is still a lot of work to be done but it's nice knowing that we can take our time a bit more and do some fun things here too. We are now official residents of Marietta having changed our address with the post office and started our trash service here. We still have no internet (right now I am using a neighbor's unprotected wireless network which sometimes works and sometimes doesn't) and we have a few other loose ends to wrap up (like the lack of stove/oven), but mostly we are all settled in. It has been really fun to decorate and organize as well as to watch the cats explore and become comfortable in their new home. I have to say that I am so in love with this house it's ridiculous. Every time I wake up here I am amazed that I get to live in such a nice house, and what makes it even better is the amount of work we put in to it to make it nice, it's very satisfying.

Here are some pictures of the cats settling in from the past week. I have a lot of posts coming up since I haven't done much because of our lack of internet. Stay tuned for more :-)

The cats enjoy having furniture again, here is Westley lounging on the living room sofa.

Bedroom, mostly put together and art on the walls. I am so happy with the color in here, it's very peaceful for a bedroom.

Dining room-cleaned up and ready to be used (if we can get the cat off the table).

Reese peeking down from the loft on her first day in the new house

Silly Cats

The cats are acting nuttier and nuttier as thins disappear from the house and the deep cleaning begins. It is probably not a very good testament to my abilities as a housekeeper that the cats are terrified when they see me pick up a broom. It happens so rarely that they know it means either A: company is coming over or B: we are moving! I snapped a couple of cute pictures of Willow and Reese in the midst of all the moving chaos tonight (Westley is smart enough to spend most of his time outside and thus stay clear of said chaos). I couldn't help but share these :-)

Unlike Willow Reese is not completely terrified of the cat carrier. I pulled it out early to give the cats time to adjust to it's presence before the move and while Willow still avoids it like the plague Reese thinks it makes a comfy bed.

Willow likes using the packed bags and boxes as furniture, it's not like she has anything else to sit on.

More updates are coming soon. Probably this weekend (or whenever we get internet set up at the new place). Happy Wednesday everyone!