Home

 

As we inch our way closer to 'home' I am getting all reflective, as I knew I would.

I am so looking forward to getting home, and I am so going to miss our adventuring nomadic life. Somewhat. It's a happy conflict of sorts.

So many things I can't wait to do back in the motherland of Victoria...

:: I can't wait to see how much my nieces and nephew have grown like weeds, and to squeeze their little faces 

:: I can't wait to meet our newest niece, baby Madeline, and give her all the new baby snuggles I've missed

:: I can't wait to have a great Melbourne coffee with my sister and walk 'my' familiar laneways

:: I can't wait to go for a ride with my niece Chloe on her new pony

:: I can't wait to go shopping with my mum and not Matt!

:: I can't wait to drink obscene amounts of tea with Kate at her kitchen table in Boort and natter away for hours

:: I can't wait to get our Tessa back, all floppy-earred and fluffy-footed cuteness that she is

:: I can't wait to have a shower without thongs on 

:: I can't wait to have a glass of red and copious amounts of blue cheese on the deck of Matt's parents new house we haven't seen yet

:: I can't wait to wash our clothes and they actually come out clean!

:: I can't wait to be able to put food in a fridge and guarantee it won't be bruised/cracked/smashed/leaking when I open that fridge again

:: I can't wait to meet Miss Savannah, have a heart stoppingly strong coffee with her fabulous Mama sitting in her kitchen whilst our husbands milk cows or talk grain prices

:: I can't wait to sit by the lake in Boort on that green grass after a day skiing and wakeboarding

:: I can't wait to drink champagne with my sisters and toast all kinds of fabulous things

:: I can't wait to get my sewing machine out of storage and be able to make something other than a crochet project

:: I can't wait to have a barbeque at Lisha and Dan's

:: I can't wait to wear a jumper and boots

:: I can't wait to test out Tom and Liv's pool on a scorching Yea day with the boys

:: I can't wait to see those rolling Gippsland hills again and smell spud dirt and dam water from the irrigator

:: I can't wait to spend Christmas with our families, leave carrots and beer for Santa, have a vegetarian feast Christmas dinner at Shirwell, the turkey and pork at Mum's and celebrate Christmas Eve mass and belt out 'Great day in Bethlehem!'

:: I can't wait to not have pock-marked legs covered in insect bites

:: I can't wait to sleep on a windy night without canvas flapping
:: I can't wait to get my NEW CAMERA, waiting patiently for me

:: I can't wait to bake - muffins and cakes and scones and roast potatoes, oh my...

:: I can't wait to have a nest to feather again

...but, there is always a but...

I will miss our life on the road. Yes, I will. 

:: I will miss being totally carefree, without a mortgage (not that we had one before) or work or commitments or the busyness of life

:: I will miss climbing into our treehouse every night and watching the moon and stars track across the sky with my husband 

:: I will miss making my coffee with my little traveling set up and drinking it overlooking a new beach, new sunrise, new scene every. single. morning while I cook breakfast

:: I will miss the amazing people we meet

:: I will miss the look on people's faces when they ask if we're on holidays for a few weeks and we tell them we've been gone all year

:: I will miss people asking us where we are headed and replying that we're not sure

:: I will miss pulling up and knowing that within four and a half minutes we can be set up with camper erected, bed made, table, chairs and sometimes solar panels out and beer cracked. We are a set-up force to be reckoned with!

:: I will miss watching the sunrise from bed every morning with my husband

:: I will miss being so in sync with each other, the teamwork, the camaraderie that 12 months alone gives you as husband and wife

:: I will miss the time... 

Oh the time. That was what we wanted when we decided to do this - time to think, to plan, to think some more, to talk, really talk about what we wanted, where we would go, how we would live, our goals, our dreams, our future. That is what this year has been about. About us and what lies ahead. Yes it has been about living in the very present but always we have talked (oh Lord have we talked! I am so sick of talking) and really nutted out our next step. A step we don't want to take lightly. We don't want to rush, to push, we like to go slow, take our time and be sure. Just like we thought we were 'sure' before - but hindsight is a beautiful thing. And we learn, and grow, and dust ourselves off and learn some more. 

I am very aware that we will never have this time again - the luxury of just me and him, him and me. Just us. Nobody else. That has been precious and sacred to us, we are blessed. It all becomes clear when you remove yourself from situations, the clarity that this time together has brought has been nothing short of inspiring. We know what we want to do now. We have plans, goals, dreams - just like before, but now it all seems so different, yet so the same. Things come full circle. Life surprises you. What you are looking for often is in the place where you left it. 

And so, we have plans, we have options and opportunities. These I will share with you friends in the coming months as we continue to find our way 'home'. We are still looking, but we are close. Oh so close...

*Photos of what's going on at the moment on our honeymoon adventure - harvesting! Hoping to be done today or tomorrow and back on the road.