Good morning and happy Friday!

We have officially settled in to our new apartment in Oak Ridge and I’m loving it so far. Though, each morning when I wake up, it feels like I’m not quite at home. It’s as though we rented an AirBnB and we are just here temporarily.

I think it’s going to take some time for Ankur and I to really FEEL like this place is home because neither of us have a set routine yet.

But, I’m a-okay with that vacation feeling. It’s nice to be close to so many great shops and restaurants while also feeling that sense of quiet by the lake.

This past week of packing and moving and hauling and unloading and unpacking has kept us all pretty busy. I couldn’t imagine doing it all without the help of our family. They flew in for Ankur’s white coat ceremony which happened to coincide with our move. We are so grateful for their help.

It felt really nice to be able to be with family. It’s been a while since we’ve gone home and we won’t be going back to California until December. So, it made my heart happy to get some quality time with them for a few days.

Both sets of parents and my sister visited us when we first moved here.

My parents visited us in August of 2016. Ankur’s parents visited us in October of 2016. And my sister visited us for Thanksgiving week in 2016.

Back then, I was eager to show them my small town. Not because I felt a sense of pride about where I was living. But because I wanted them to understand what my life was going to be like. I wanted them to sympathize with me. I wanted them to say, “Oh my gosh. How are you going to spend your time? There’s nothing to do.” 

The few times I went home to California during that first year, I told stories of how “deprived” I was. That there was absolutely nothing to do. That a tour of my town would take about an hour at most.

I wanted people to say, “I could never do this.” Or, “I don’t know how you’re doing this.” Or, “Man, you’re a saint for doing this.”

In many ways, I didn’t enjoy this lifestyle. And, in many ways, I was happy to be experiencing it because it gave me this sad sob story I could share with other people. That I was living there and surviving in this deep-red, deeply-Appalachian town.

But this time around, when our parents arrived, I felt giddy. Ridiculously excited. Not because I wanted their sympathy. But because I wanted to show them my home. The home that I was so PROUD to show off. I was excited for them to see all the greenery, all the lakes and rivers and streams. I wanted to show them how connected I was in our small community. And I wanted them to see that southern hospitality that is all too real.

It was such a different experience this time around.

And I think it’s because when I stopped trying to find what was wrong with the place, the good started showing up. And multiplying.

I went from feeling like a deprived human to feeling at peace with where I was. In my home.

I’m hopeful that I can do the same thing now that we’re in Oak Ridge. 

It’s a different place. I’ll have to learn different roads, meet different people, have a different routine.

But I know now that it doesn’t matter where you live or what you have.

You get to choose your happiness.

And, in a few months, when our family comes to visit us here, I hope that I will greet them with pride as I show off all the great things about this place – my new home.

Questions of the Day:

• Have you ever lived somewhere that you thought you would hate but ended up loving?
  
• Where is the most beautiful place you’ve lived?