home sweet home

i should be up unpacking boxes. but instead i am listening to itunes and savoring so many things that have my heart overwhelmed. a feeling of having my head dunked in icy cold water that is both invigorating and frightening all at once. 

we made it to nashville unscathed. a peaceful drive with four boys and two dogs. a mister behind the wheel of a moving truck and loads of stops along the way. only one little fight. when we arrived to our cottage in the hood, the builder was in full-on-get-it-done mode. somehow he was under the impression we weren't moving for another week. what? so he and his trusty sidekick hustled to get my dream kitchen up and running by the next day when we would unpack boxes.

now let me stop right here to bring you up to speed. this little cottage in the hood sits on just a little over an acre in an urban area of nashville. we scored big time when we found this house 8 years ago, but it has taken a lot out of us too. mostly money.

when we decided to venture northward 4 years ago, we kept our house knowing it was a diamond in the rough. so for four years we played the role of landlords{and sometimes house parents}to a host of characters who lived in our brick and mortar residence{so many lessons learned!!!}

if the mister has it his way, he'll live here til he moves to heaven. and living in a 1940's dwelling may just get me there. don't get me wrong. i loooooove living in a charming{code for how do these faucet handles work}cozy{code for small, not by third world country standards mind you}cottage. and now that our fence is up and our dogs can play unsupervised{until our jack russell learned to jump the fence}, it's been so sweet.

our driveway is visited by friends and neighbors who believe that an invite is obsolete{and i ADORE drop ins-seriously!}

so i am off to unpack more, settle in, grasp our new{old}life. reacquaint myself with why i deeply, deeply love living in such a quirky, kind and eclectic community. and fire up the oven and dust off the pans for some serious baking. i mean, i've got a rocking kitchen after all. {thanks to the remarkable and patient john cox!!!}

o, and i would be remiss if i didn't sincerely invite you for a visit. our back porch awaits. and the bar is set up. wink-wink

xo,

gf  

40 Days

2009

this morning the littlest was eating his breakfast-quietly. i asked, "what goes on in that little brain of yours?" "i'm just thinking," he replied. "i'm thinking about our move. i'm really excited."

i'm going to be honest. i've been struggling lately. like really, really struggling. an ordinary exchange can put me in a tither. like when the vet assistant snapped at me and i, well, snapped back. i think it has a little to do with all i have going on in my life at the moment. traditional wisdom encourages one to avoid too many changes within quick succession of one another. it seems that we in the girl friday camp have thrown caution to the wind as we attempt to see how many changes we can accomplish in very, very quick order. 

i checked my calendar and counted the days. 40 days. i thought of noah. that's the length the scripture tells us he spent cooped up on that large boat with his family and all those animals as the waters kept him afloat. 

40 days was the length of jesus's fast before he went to the cross.

40 days is how long i have til we make our way to the{more}south. 

yep. after 4 years of living outside DC, our little family along with the 2 dogs we've picked up along the way will make our way back to tennessee. nashville awaits. 

last week my Mister along with some cherished friends{josh 1, josh 2, chris, aaron, ryan, sam 1 and sam 2, andrew and mike}spent days cleaning and clearing and wheeling and dealing and painting and sanding and spraying our little-cottage-in-the-hood. it seems that in 40 days we'll be leaving our little cottage-on-the-hill for an even littler cottage-in-the-hood. the hood, you ask? that's our beloved neighborhood of east nashville. only the best place on earth. if you ask me.

i can't wait. really. i can't believe it's happening. but i will miss this place. i will miss who our family is up here. goodness, i will miss the sunset over the appalachian trail. i will miss the DC skyline. i will miss the painstaking loveliness of our darling historic town. i will miss meeting the Mister downtown for lunch and seeing him run into dozens of people who know him, none of whom i know. i will miss the people who have welcomed us into their lives. i will miss the milk delivery and how you can't turn a corner without being face to face with history. i will miss the anonmity of living here. the drive over the potomac river. the quick jaunts to nyc, baltimore, gettysburg, philly.

we have few friends, few commitments, few requirements. this has afforded our family four years of putting down roots in one another. and it has been good. and it has been hard. and it has been lonely. but it has been lovely. and so very worth it. and there are so many other things i will miss. far too many to list. 

in 40 days we'll be driving our {pared down}earthly treasures{anyone want an armoire?} and our most prized peoples back to our old house in our old neighborhood to reminisce with our oldish{we're the oldest of most of ours}friends who await our return. 

like noah on the ark and jesus in the wilderness, we have a long and arduous journey{not quite as arduous-you get the picture}. but this is also our providence. and for that we humbly oblige. and hold on for dear life and hope that our lives calm. we welcome all these changes-and hope for no more. at least for a few months.

2013

xo,

gf

{relieved and saddened. our sweet friends from high school sent word they were fine. my heart aches for those who aren't. boston continues to be marked as a place of much revolution and redemption. sometimes i think we need a tragedy to remind us there is good and that good prevails.}

day 5: an unexpected journey

april 2003: heading to cades cove to start a corner to corner bike ride of the state of tennessee

these three men. three boys who all grew up in the same town. all named michael. they went to high school together. and married fetching girls who happen to be best friends. 

one of the things i miss most from nashville is friday nights. every friday night for about 5 years these three men along with their wives and children, 15 total, gathered for what we very originally dubbed "friday night dinner". the wives organized it of course, but these three men went along, happily. showing up after work at whomever's house we had settled on hosting.tired. but still cheered. the wives buzzing around breaking up fights{usually among siblings}and refilling cocktail glasses. the men sitting on the back porch talking work or whatever movie they were going to meet up to watch later after they had helped their wives bathe and put to bed the babes. their attention usually distracted, sometimes unaware that the children were beating the crap out of one another until one of the wives popped out to say, "honey. would you watch the kids?!!!" 

dirty feet running through the kitchen. chaos. and calm. these men were the calm. and they remain the ones who have steadied the sails that have felt tempest torn. the wives have felt distraught and disjointed whilst these men have set their eyes like flint. i suspect they have felt a sense of foreboding disappointment when friday comes without the plan to meet up for one of mr. jones' famous burgers or a nip of mr. butler's moonshine or another of mr.utley's blazing bonfires. 

i am grateful for these men. all three. and i am grateful for the baggage that comes with them. wives, pets, children whom i love like my own, shortcomings and dazzling talents. 

our last friday night dinner was almost 4 years ago. we stood weeping{the wives, not these three} and vowed we would never forget these sweet years of watching our little ones grow up together and observing the interconnectedness of our lives. and someday i hope we can pick up where we left off...

xo,

gf