Bloom where you are planted...

Summer this year went way to fast.  Once school was over, we headed back to the states, and the place that we call "home" ...California!

Once again I was amazed at how easy it was to fall right back into life there.  The feeling of the sunshine on our faces was a refreshing welcome, as was the warm hug of a long time friend!  We have been away from our U.S. "Home" for four years now, but we are still welcomed as if we have never left.

The days flew by as the boys fished, body boarded, soaked up the sun and spent many sleepovers catching up on lost time.  My days were filled with running kids around and enjoying my old stomping grounds, but I most looked forward to the evenings laughing and reminiscing with my friends.

As I boarded the plane back to Germany, I began to tear up a bit...It was hard to leave my friends, the sun and the ease in which I functioned while home, but there was a part of me ready to get back to my "other home"...I was blooming there as well.

I am incredibly lucky to have the best of both worlds and I don't feel like I need to move to California to be happy...I have found a happiness where I have been planted and know that my roots in California will continue to grow deep as well!

The Hotel California...

Remember the Eagles song The Hotel California?  The final line of the song; "you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave" seems very fitting at this point in my life!  I feel like I can't "check out" of The Hotel California.

It has been three years since we pulled out of our driveway and left this amazing state behind, but when I come back, it feels as if I have never left.  I think a part of my heart was left here.  Tony Bennett may have left his heart in San Francisco well, I left mine in Orange Country.

It starts right when I walk out of the airport and see the palms swaying in the sun.  Then it continues as I drive down the highway and smell the song scent of the freshly cut eucalyptus trees, and oh when I see the ocean...it is all over.  Oh don't get me wrong, I willingly left Orange County, no one forced me to go, but I do long to come back...eventually.

I have spent the past three days in California enjoying the sun, the ease and enjoyment of the shopping and sights and sounds of Orange County.  Enjoying the laughter and companionship of my dear friends I was home.  Thank you friends for always welcoming me home with open arms and making it so difficult to check out of The Hotel California.

longing for home...

"peace, that was the other name for home." Kathleen Norris

i'm feeling a bit homesick today. as anyone who ran into me today knows, i very easily could have jumped on the next british airways flight home.

it wasn't as bad as when we first arrived, but it was there. i missed the ease of things. i missed a glass of wine and a hug from my best friend. i missed turning on the air conditioner, and i missed running to the grocery at 6:30 p.m. and finding meat to cook for dinner.

when i feel homesick, i tend to curl up on my couch, and watch my favorite american television program.

what do you do to help make you feel a little less homesick?

http://expatexplorer.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/top-five-tips-to-beat-homesickness.html

where are you from?

"where are you from?"

the lady asked an easy question, didn't she? but what happened next is what happens a lot in the expat world.

"california" the oldest expat answered

the youngest expat just looked at me as if i should answer.

"where are you from?" i asked him.

"well, i was born in indiana, then i moved to california, then colorado for 6 months and now germany. i guess my home is here, or california?"

i couldn't answer her question, i really have no idea.

they say "home is where your heart is." my heart is in a lot of places. i am "from" colorado, but have lived all over america, and now we are in germany. every place that i have lived holds a special place in my heart.

i have cried many tears every time that i have moved. tears on my first move, the move from the state that my children were born.

the hardest move was from where my children spent most of their lives, and my last move away from my family, yet again.

when and if i move from germany there will be many tears, but i have learned one thing in all of these moves...i am from all of these places. each one has added to me and my family, and helped to build us all into the people that we are! so i guess the next time someone asks me "where are you from?" i will answer "denvindiacaligermany"