Best of Both Worlds

It happened last week while driving on Weldon Road in Georgia.  I had borrowed my mom's car and Savannah & I had made a stop at the Tyrone Publix where we used to do a good bit of our grocery shopping.  Brant wasn't due into Atlanta to join us until the next morning so Savannah and I drove to our old stomping grounds in Stone Mill for the evening to visit some old neighbors/ good friends of ours.  The setting was hard to beat.  On the quiet two lane road in between Publix and the stoplight at the Collinsworth/Palmetto exit, I realized how much I longed for our life back in Georgia.

We loved our humble three bedroom house and acre lot with room to garden/ chop down trees/ have a sandbox/ host backyard swim parties in our inflatable pool.  We loved our neighborhood and in the evenings swinging on the hammock positioned between two trees of the incline of our backyard - giving us a view over the wood fence of people walking and kids playing in the street when they didn't know we could see them.  We loved our neighbors - who have turned into lifelong friends.  We loved the ward and our callings there and the people we made dear friends with.  We loved our group of 'library' friends who we would get together with often and share birthdays, holidays & any other occasion we could think of with (including dollar days at the local consignment shop).  We loved having our dear high school friends so close and having dinners together when everyone's schedule would jive.  And we miss being a 20 minute drive from family and monthly get togethers.

Wait a minute.

I say "we miss".  But maybe more appropriate words is "I miss".

It's true that Brant misses Georgia too, but aside from the gardening, chopping down trees, and swinging on the hammock - this pleasant life was mainly my life.  Well, and Savannah's, but she'll be too young to ever remember it.  This wonderful life was my life.  Because of changes we didn't see happening in the company Brant works for, the latter18 months of the two years we lived in Georgia, Brant spent commuting from Atlanta to Chicago for work.  Translation:  he was gone from home four days a week every week (3- 4 nights spent in hotels every week) for over a year and a half.  And when he was home, it was catch up on yard work/ rest time. And doctor visit times ... because this commuting was wearing down his immune system - and fast.

When we learned that his company was opening a base in Houston that he could be based out of, we both knew that our time in Georgia was coming to an end - and soon - because we needed to move.  After our house went under contract a week after being listed (in a market where our Realtor forewarned us it would take 8-10 months to sell) there was no question for us that we were doing the right thing.

So we packed the rental truck and moved ourselves to Houston, TX.  We found a rental house right away, had help moving in - things couldn't have gone smoother.

And guess what.  Life here in Texas is now our life.  Opposed to how life in Georgia was really my life (with a husband that would come home and visit a couple days out of the week).  And as he sits over on the couch with the netbook on his lap (probably working on his website he's building) I can't imagine going back to the magical life we (I) had living in Georgia.  I can't imagine not having the family outings and time that we have spent together over the past six months we've lived in Texas.  The trips to the library, drives around town, visits to family in Dallas, morning IHOP breakfasts, grocery shopping as a family, going to church as a family, and going out to eat with other couples - among other things.  Not one of these things would be happening if we still lived in Georgia.

So after spending a few days in Georgia last week visiting with friends & family, and as the 'baby sprinkle' that my dear high school friend threw came to an end with all my close Georgia friends there at the Jasmine Tea Room... I realized that we could have the best of both worlds.  We get to live as a family here in Texas, but we get to visit Georgia often too. 

And that isn't a bad situation at all.

Last week at the Peachtree City Library

'The Cousins'