Home Sweet Home

Despite a passport snafu at the airport (whew was that close!), we returned to Seattle just in time for the election and Halloween, which I was extra excited about since it's one of my favorite holidays and they don't really do much to celebrate in London.

We've been back for about six weeks now and in many ways it feels like we never left. It's amazing how quickly you fall right back into your old patterns...work, gym, grocery store, repeat. Mostly I find it comforting but sometimes I forget that we even left which is a bit odd. Between moving, unpacking, and preparing for the holidays we haven't had much time to experience much culture shock, but I imagine mid-January that should hit a bit.

Hanging out with our Seattle friends and family has to be one of the best things about being back - we really missed everyone. Also, the comforts of being in our house are great. It's been a lot of drama to get there, and after three weeks of drop cloths and ladders, the painters still aren't done, but it will be worth it in the end. The convenience of our lives here is really nice especially during the winter - hoping in our car, letting Morgan outside without a 30 minute round trip walk to the church, etc.

Not surprisingly, we miss things about London too. Firstly, we miss our dear friends John and Sarah who just had their first baby, Levi. We are pretty good about staying in touch and hopefully they'll be back in Seattle by the end of the year. We also miss our daily trips to the fantastic parks and the village living. I miss the diversity, energy and excitement of the city and having everything on our doorstep.

Once the holidays are over, we'll get going on our plans to explore the Northwest as we realize that people travel from all over to come here too and we haven't seen that much of it really.

We feel extremely privileged to have had this experience. While our timing couldn't have been better in a lot of ways, it was really hard at times, and certainly wasn't as glamorous as we expected going into it. However we've had many amazing experiences and met some wonderful people. It gave us a chance to gain a different perspective on the world and definitely broadened our viewpoint. We were honored to have so many visitors and the unique experiences and fun times that we'll never forget. All in all, we will reflect fondly on these 18 months and a grateful for the opportunity.

This is likely our last post on this blog, but I've started a new blog and this one has a slightly different editorial bent, but should you be interested here it is http://www.highheeledcontessa.blogspot.com/