{"id":379534,"date":"2013-08-11T16:17:00","date_gmt":"2013-08-11T16:17:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/2013\/08\/11\/im-home\/"},"modified":"2013-08-11T16:17:00","modified_gmt":"2013-08-11T16:17:00","slug":"im-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/2013\/08\/11\/im-home\/","title":{"rendered":"I’m Home"},"content":{"rendered":"
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I\u2019m home, Journeyers, literally and figuratively.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n

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We\u2019ve spent a fair amount of time on the road since last fall, following our three children to and fro.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n

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Though I feel at home wherever I am<\/span><\/a>, it sure is nice to be able to plant myself in my office chair and sleep in my own bed.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n

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This week, I got together with a friend to catch up on life and to do a little creative writing.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n

I spent three glorious hours just visiting with another girlfriend on my deck, gabbing and soaking up a little sunshine\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

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Right now, I\u2019m writing from a comfy sofa in our three-season room, my chimes singing along with the gentle breeze blowing through the open windows.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
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Warren and I went four-wheeling with the kiddos and Fave\u2019s girlfriend and her mother who are in town for a visit…<\/span><\/div>\n
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My two college kids are home.<\/span><\/p>\n

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It\u2019s nice to have my brood assembled under one roof, even if it is a little messy and only for fleeting moments of \u201cHi!\u201d and \u201cBye!\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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\ufeff<\/div>\n
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The photo of their bedrooms is, however, only for effect. You see, their sleeping quarters were always their private space. Though I did mention a time or two that their place might be getting a little groady, I never set restrictions on how they needed to keep it, other than \u201cno food or drinks, \u2018cause I don\u2019t want bugs or critters.\u201d<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
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The rest of the house, though? Training grounds. That\u2019s a win-win situation right there: They learn. I work less and<\/i> feel good about it.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
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I\u2019m learning to melt into that strangeness of them being home but not present in the house for more than a few minutes here and there.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
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I want more time to watch them play and laugh and joke and bring me baby toads like this little guy, one that Big Guy rescued while he was mowing the lawn.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
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I want more time to actually see these great young men and women morph before my eyes, as opposed to hearing it across the airwaves.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n

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Though that part of me wants more, I\u2019m eternally grateful that they learned their lessons in independence well<\/span><\/a>.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n

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And speaking of education, I\u2019ve had quite an eye-opening week thanks to Trish recommending I read one of Melody Beattie\u2019s books on codependency.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n

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Journeyers, I think I could well be one of Beattie\u2019s poster children for Codependency.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n

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Now we all know what drives the control-freak in me and a maddening fretting over everything<\/i>.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n

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\u201cThe codependent is someone who\u2019s always worrying about saving the world and helping other people and trying to make everything happen for everyone and thinking \u2018if not me, who?\u2019 and\u2014Hi, my name\u2019s Annah\u2026\u201d I said as I was sharing my newfound knowledge with Fave and his companion.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/a><\/div>\n
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She covered her mouth and stifled a laugh, and a broad grin claimed Fave\u2019s face as he nodded in recognition.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Four pages, Friends, four<\/i> pages.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n

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In those first four pages I saw myself.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n

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And immediately I felt free.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n

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FREE!<\/span><\/i>, Journeyers!<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n

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You mean I don\u2019t have to be in charge of and responsible for everyone and everything, anymore?<\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n

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Hallelujah. Praise Jesus <\/span><\/i>and Melody Beattie.<\/i><\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

I have an entire post I want to write on the subject and 266 more pages to read, so for now, I\u2019m going to wrap this post up and go spend the rest of the day with our guests, more glorious sunshine, nature, and prepare to celebrate Beauty\u2019s nineteenth birthday.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Happy happens, Journeyers. Between the sheets and the pages of a book. In forests and fields and friendships\u2026<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

What about you? What Moment(s) brought comfort or peace or joy to your heart and your life this week? Share them here and change the world, one instance at a time.<\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n

Soon\u2026<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/span> <\/div>\n
\ufeff<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m home, Journeyers, literally and figuratively. We\u2019ve spent a fair amount of time on the road since last fall, following our three children to and fro. Though I feel at home wherever I am, it sure is nice to be able to plant myself in my office chair and sleep in my own bed. This […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3939,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[316,999,113,317,162,154,1000,63,320,366],"class_list":["post-379534","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-happyhappens","tag-codependency","tag-family","tag-finding-happiness-in-your-day","tag-happiness-happens","tag-home","tag-melody-beattie","tag-parenting","tag-random-happiness","tag-shit-happens"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Adirondack-Chair.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379534","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=379534"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379534\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3939"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=379534"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=379534"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=379534"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}