Honey! I'm Home!!

In the words of my favorite late night comedianne Chelsea Lately, "What---a whirlwind!" After a month of waiting, packing and stressing the moving process is complete. We have been in possession of the house for almost two weeks and it already is already feeling like our home. But it came with a hefty amount of time and energy invested. With the help of our friends and family, this house has truly been made into a home. From Mom cleaning out the shelves and taping off rooms to Dad diligently detailing the paint around the ceiling to Craig's Mom cleaning and painting baseboards and even to MeMa butt scrubbing the floors...we could not have done it without everyone's help. We now have a houseful of furniture and a turquoise and silver decorated Christmas tree - complete with turquoise tree skirt and blue and silver presents wrapped neatly and lying underneath. Many pictures have been hung, new bedding has been bought and the mammoth baseball card collection has found a home in the new "trophy" room.

And through this entire stream of highly stressful housing events compounded by a tragic death in my family, the ending of volleyball and beginning of basketball and two sinus infections...not once did we fight. Sure, I got stressed and vented - even some tears were shed. But there were no blow-ups and I'm very proud of us. But not surprised really. We're not that kind of couple - maybe it comes from being on so many sports teams growing up, but we really have a "team" mindset when it comes to being with each other. We both trust each other and take turns leading and following, as well as knowing that we're stronger if we work together and compromise.

I really do love the house...it's just the right size for us. When first faced with the prospect of "cohabitating" with him, I was scared to death - to nightmares actually. Nightmares that boiled down to my fear of losing my independence. Everyone has those times when they just want to be alone doing whatever they want to do. Whether it's watching mindless TV, playing video games or blogging...it's important to take the time to maintain your own space. And in this house, I definitely feel that we have the space to be ourselves and on our own...but he's not that far away from me and that's the way I like it. Tonight after cooking a great dinner (Yes!!! I cooked!!!) I kissed him and left him happily settled on the couch mesmerized by the History Channel. I came upstairs and after taking one look at my beautiful jet bathtub I knew exactly what I was going to do after a hard day of raising the youth of America and cooking dinner. I lit my favorite candles, turned on my most relaxing Beatles playlist from the iTunes, grabbed a glass of wine and the latest issue of Glamour and I settled into the most fantastic bath ever. I know that these times will not last - we will eventually have little rugrats running around and I will be thankful for five mintues to myself to put on makeup and brush my hair. But I also know that there will be nights when he will know that I need an hour for a bath and relaxation and corner the kids into some sort of game or activity.

I am not nervous at all about us living together anymore because I think that it truly is the best thing for both of us. I'm so excited to provide a "home" for him - he's been living in apartments and between my apartment and his mother's house for so long. I know that he feels so accomplished in the fact that he "provided" a beautiful home for us (even though it's all 50/50...but the caveman in him needs to feel that he has provided for his lady...whatever). And I just want to take care of him and provide the sanctuary from the world that he desperately needs sometimes.