Home

Home is where the heart is. My heart is spread all over this huge country. My heart is in the capital of Kansas and another of that great state’s tiny towns. My heart is in a bustling Floridian city and in a sleepy farming village in New York. I am right at home with my friends/neighbors/family in the marshes of Georgia. But there is no other home like Smoochy’s arms. As long as we are together, home can be just about anywhere. Right now home is a little mother-in-law cottage in California.

California. Who’da thunk it? When we first started talking about separating from the Navy this was the ONE place we said we did not want to go. The thought of being so far from our families and the high cost of living out here was enough to convince us to stay further East. I will skip the process by which we changed our minds, but needless to say somewhere along the lines we became excited by the prospect of heading west. So, in the great tradition of the Gold Rush; we mustered our adventurous spirit, pulled up stakes, and headed west.

Now that we are here, many of our original concerns have manifested. Buying a home isn't a good idea for us right now. Who wants to mortgage half a million dollars for a house the size of a postage stamp? Also, the distance between our families some times makes me feel like we are living in a different country. While I am preparing our supper my folks are brushing their teeth for bed. Well, Dad’s in bed reading his latest book and my mom is furiously cutting out stuff for her kindergarteners’ craft projects; but you get the point.

Some days (especially the last few), when I get to thinking about all of Normy’s aunts, uncles, and grandparents who so badly want to be a part of his life I wish we lived someplace more central to all of them; someplace where we wouldn’t be thousands of dollars in airfare or thousands of miles in highway out of reach. Couldn’t we ALL relocate to a new town together? All the folks from Kansas and Florida could meet in the middle someplace and take over a whole neighborhood. Like in Charleston, SC! (Right, Kate?)

But before you all start thinking I am unhappy here, I’ve got to tell you. The Smoochy’s are thriving right where we are. Perhaps this time we are spending as an autonomous unit is strengthening us in some ways. The Jacobs are my whole world, and we are coalescing into a rock solid little clan. That’s pretty cool. We are working on so much positive way out here. Smoochy feels fulfilled and challenged by his career for the first time since he graduated college and that is making EVERYONE around here happier! We are setting ourselves up in many ways. We’re saving money, Smooch is working on a pretty impressive resume, and we are all learning how to be self-sufficient. (OK, we were both already strongly independent and self-sufficient people) ;-)

The truth of the matter is that we are doing what we need to right now. In the future I would like us plant roots in a place that’s not so far away from everyone we love. But in the mean time, Smoochy and I are blessed to be right where we are now. Together. I wish I could figure a way to post Itunes on the good’ol blog, because I would like to dedicate the following song to my lovin’ husband (Who has been so patient with me, who returned to California ready to go back to Florida!):

“That’s Where It Is”
By Carrie Underpants Underwood

In the circles I've been running,
I've covered many miles,
And I could search forever for what's right before my eyes,
Just when I thought I'd found it,
It was nothing like I'd planned,
When I got my heart around it, it slipped right through my hands,
Here with you I feel it,
I close my eyes and see it,

In a midnight talk, in a morning kiss,
When I'm in your arms, that's where it is,
When we're tangled up and can't resist,
When we feel that rush, that's where it is,
That's where it is

When I'm crashing through the madness,
Not sure who I'm supposed to be,
When I'm caught up in the darkness,
It's your hand that's leading me,
You bring me back to solid ground,
You lift me up right here, right now

In a midnight talk, in a morning kiss,
When I'm in your arms, that's where it is,
When we're tangled up and can't resist,
When we feel that rush, that's where it is

It's a life time filled with tight embraces
The biggest things in the smallest places,

In a midnight talk, in a morning kiss,
When I'm in your arms, that's where it is,
When we're tangled up and can't resist,
When we feel that rush, that's where it is

In the sweetest smile, on a night like this,
And a tender touch, that's where it is,
When we're tangled up, and can't resist,
When we feel that rush, that's where it is,
That's where it is

*This song's much better heard than read