a tale of two fathers

one never graduated from high school. one graduated with a masters from vanderbilt. one grew up extremely poor and set out early to work hard despite all he had working against him. another grew up without a mother and set out early to find family, to make a place to belong. one was blessed with two daughters. another blessed with four sons. 

these two men. the most important in my life, may seem very different at first blush. they have seemed almost like opposites to me for the past 20 years. it's only in the last few years i have been able to understand how very similar they are. 

both love their children dearly.  both have moved heaven and earth to create a beautiful place to call home. both love a good adventure. both would rather be outdoors than anywhere else. both have that entrepreneurial streak in them something strong. 

both have worked fiercely, often to their detriment, so that others could eat, sleep and dream. both are reminders to me that imperfection can be honed and whittled and fashioned in a way that shows the Creator's genius, not ours.

happy father's day to the first man in my life, my father.

and happy father's day to the last man in my life, my Mister.

xo,

gf

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