My Visit "Home Home"

Of course this post is pretty late...what can I say, I write when inspiration and motivation meet for me...and unfortunately usually that's late.  I'm a procrastinator.  It's part of my charm.  Anyhoot, so I call Hawaii home because it is my home, and I'm blessed to be able to call it that.  But, my family are my roots, so home home, as I like to call it, will always be wherever my family is, hence the title of this post.

My visit home was...in one word...beautiful.  I can't say enough how great it was to see my family...both, those related my blood, and those related by love.  I started my visit by driving myself home from the airport.  Gotta love my cousin who pops out the car, hugs me, tells me she loves me, and asks if I want to drive!  haha  After some deliberation, I decided to change my plans and surprise my sister-in-law (sister-in-law to be at the time) by going to her bachelorette party.  So, after dropping my cousin off, driving home, kissing the guys at my house, eating and fumbling around in my closet for something to wear, I managed to look presentable after over 12 hours of flying time, and little to no sleep.   And my beautiful mom and I were off.  Considering my sister-in-law's reaction to seeing me in her living room was, "what the fuck are you doing here!!", I think it's safe to say I pulled off the mission of surprising her, and the fact that my presence made her, and my brother happy, was the perfect start to my visit.

The following day I was off to see my LS and my beautiful niece.  The three hour drive was worth every second of it.  And as an added bonus, my LB, another beautiful friend turned family, was able to come by too.  I hadn't seen her in so long, and the fact that she took time out to see me made my heart smile.  Catching up with them was awesome.  And, seeing my niece made my day.  She is getting so big, and every moment I have with her I cherish.

Back to my parents house I went the next day, but I bought with me one of my favorite people in the world.  Unfortunately I don't have a pic of us for this visit, but it's not needed.  The visit was perfect.  I love when after so long you're able to introduce someone important to you to the most important people in your life, your family.  That's what I was able to do, and the introduction was as easy and natural as I knew it would be.  He now not only has me as his family, but my entire family, and that's beautiful.  Not to mention, he got to have some delicious food at our family gathering...including this awesometastic cake my cousin-in-law made!  It was so good, I had her make me another one before I left.  Ah, the benefits of living so far! 

The rest of the week went by in a flash.  Unfortunately the weather changed some of my plans, but that's ok.  I fully believe things happen how they're supposed to.  I did manage to get to Philly to see three beautiful people, and have one DElicious adult milkshake.  My friends taking time to see me is means more to me than I can tell them.  Things change...so much has changed, but I wanted to make sure they knew I still loved them just the same, and hopefully I managed that.

The rest of my time home home was spent with my family, doing things for the wedding, and then, finally, the wedding day itself.  A beautiful occasion that deserves its own post.

It feels weird not to know when the next time I'll be visiting is.  Since moving, I knew I'd be home in September for the wedding...and now...it's just kind of a, "I'll see you guys soon" type thing.  I so appreciate every minute I have with my loved ones...and, it needs to be said, ALL the food I ate!  I may not know when exactly I'll be seeing my family again, but I know that it'll be soon, and until then, I carry them with me daily....all of them, crammed tightly into my heart.

Here's hoping next year I'll be able to bring my parents out to visit :)

And the adventure continues...

Stay tuned...