Sweet Home Alpharetta

So glad to be back home. It’s funny because every time we go to Florida we fantasize about moving to the beach. The boys get involved in the fantasy, as well. Ben wants to buy a boat and take surfing lessons. Brian wants to fish, swim and have warm weather all the time. They want to be homeschooled. I look for inexpensive beach houses that we could fix up. Most trips we even actually look at houses with a realtor. This time though we used the Trulia iPad app which is actually more efficient.

family photo at the capital one bowl game 1/1/2013

Our big plan now is to fix up the house we live in, sell it next August and move to the beach. It’s unanimous we prefer the Gulf Coast, probably Pensacola or Perdido Key. We’ve looked at Catholic schools there and it’s a big enough city for Husband to get steady work. This plan probably won’t happen. But we can dream.

And now that we’re back home I’m reminded of how much I love it here–even though it is cold. I grew up in Alpharetta. Our house is cute and small; and we have horses and cattle on all sides of the neighboring properties. It’s OUR home and we can be ourselves, without worrying about imposing on others. This trip wasn’t very relaxing for me because we stayed with other families–Husband’s biological relatives in Tampa and my sister’s family in Orlando. While both families were spectacular in hospitality, I sometimes felt like we’re imposing.

cousins scootering in orlando

Truth be told, Husband, the boys and I are very, very lazy on vacation. We don’t do theme parks or big special outings. (although we did go to the Capital One Bowl game this trip) We usually simply enjoy one another, hang out at the beach or the pool, read, dream and chill. They wrestle in the middle of the living room, watch action TV and go fishing. I piddle around on my iPad, read the latest Baldacci book, watch them wrestle and fish and sleep.

The highlight of the trip was seeing my sister! It was so nice to have coffee together in the mornings and listen to her talk. My mornings at home are so quiet– it’s just me and God.

me in orlando 1/1/2013 with 2 of my 5 sistahs

So, I enjoyed having her there to talk about the day. Plus, she’s so good for me! She convinced me to ride her bike and be active again. She eats healthy and hardly ever drinks. So being around her makes me healthier by osmosis.

And then my other sister came in town for the day from Jacksonville–so we had sister time on New Years Day! I HEART my sistahs. We call ourselves (my mom and her six daughters) the “goddesses” and although that’s not very Catholic, it fits.

me and Husband at the game DAWGS WON woo hoo! 45-31 (or something like that)

But it’s good to be home. My bed. My things. My dog. My kitchen table. My habits and quirks. And my meetings. I went to the 11:30 meeting yesterday at the Alpharetta Club and it was SO GOOD to be back. This might sound crazy but I try to go to a meeting every day. It keeps me grounded listening to all these other women share about their lives. And it keeps me out of my own head.

we missed our GYPSY girl.

And since I know their stories, it feels like home. It just wasn’t the same going to a meeting in Orlando. The meeting format was different enough to bug me. The people were nice but I didn’t know their stories. Husband went with me, though and that was a plus!

Glad to be home. But still fantasizing about living at the beach. Here is a link to a lot I want to buy and build a house to live in.