home

Home is truly incredible. A snapshot:

Tonight Ashton cooked chicken and crescent rolls for dinner and I microwaved the precooked rice (that stuff is amazing!). We sat at our everyday meal table that glows from the overhead lamp in its little octagonal alcove off the family area. We joked and raised our glasses for a toast initiated by my brother J.P. Tim and I did the dishes while J.P. put on a hat fresh prince style. All of a sudden, we were singing the Fresh Prince theme song word for word. Dad drove to pick up Mom from a late night at work, meanwhile Ashton played the piano. Mom entered shortly after and was excited about the meal Ashton had prepared. Tim, J.P., and I went on a starbucks run to get gingerbread lattes and peppermint mochas. We returned home and snuggled up for the evening in. First we watched an old episode of The Office. I began making chocolate chip cookies and we put on It's a Wonderful Life. With the smell of fresh baked cookies filling the house, the fire burning, family on every side keeping me warm, and the sense of leaving once again I began crying silently as George Bailey began to realize how... well... wonderful his life was. Once the movie ended we all said goodnight to one another and exchanged "I love you"s. I let those words sink in because hearing them feels so much better in person than over a phoneline.

an archive picture of the beautiful people I love from our time in Paris:


Pretty ordinary, but actually extraordinary. This isn't the experience for the majority of people and I'm so thankful for my family. Tomorrow I'm driving back to a place that still feels unfriendly and foreign sometimes because I'm missing these wonderful people. Nothing else matters that much on nights like these. Things like careers, deadlines, rent, money, plans, aspirations, etc. Love that comes unearned, regardless of achievements or failures, is so precious and beautiful. Why can't I just stay in your arms a little while longer?

Obviously I had a nice break. I hope everyone else enjoyed the time off and their loved ones.