32 days 16 hours and 14 minutes...

It's official! We've been settled (settling) into our new home for over a month! In some respects it seems like we just arrived (Does unpacking ever end?) and others like we've been here for years. I suppose the latter is the benefit of having lived here once before. It amazes me how the brain stores and recalls information (like the precise location of my favorite bagel place EVERY Sunday) and how quickly it can readjust to surroundings. 

Whenever we first move into a new place, which has happened eleven times since we were married, there are the awkward moments of not being able to locate the appropriate switch to turn on/off lights, continually pulling out the wrong drawer for a spoon, and stubbing your toe on some piece of furniture. Yet here I am just over a month in and I can turn the lights off, I found a spoon (very important since ice cream consumption is serious in the south) and I haven't stubbed my toe in weeks. It feels like familiarity and to me that feels like home. 

Although there have been so many transitions; from biking to work to walking five feet, from the mid 60's to the mid 90's, from constant noise to constant animal noises, and shrimp n grits (go to Milton House). It's been renewing to see God show up in the midst of the chaos and reaffirm us. It hasn't been easy to let go of some of our favorite pieces of city life but we've been reminded of a longer term vision and the place this chapter holds in the grand scheme. A routine is forming. 

One of my favorite times of the day is the early morning as I sneak out onto the deck and watch the sherbet sun peek through the forest behind the house. The birds chirping constantly and the crisp morning air before the heat takes off. It has been the perfect place to find my footing before the day is underway and prepare for the journey ahead.