We are home!
Portland, Maine was amazing.
Many of you all asked about how this house swap came about...well, last December while visiting my parents in Texas, I was reintroduced to the daughter of family friends. Julie and her family live in Portland. In the course of conversation, I mentioned that I had always wanted to visit Maine. She echoed with her desire to visit Virginia. We joked that we should just swap houses for a week.
Later Julie emailed me to see if I was really serious about the swap and the search for a date began. 4 months later, we were in Maine and she and her family were in our home in Virginia.
The boys and I (and Whitney, our kidsitter who tagged along since S couldn't come this time) visited two beaches, ate Maine lobster, wandered around Old Town Portland, found Bull Moose Music, picked blueberries at a local farm and generally enjoyed the cooler weather.
Yes, we brought home Maine blueberries.
Round, weathered rocks. And pockets full of shells.
But more than the tangible souvenirs the now sit in our windowsills (and in the freezer) we bring home a fullness of spirit.
My boys feel like Lewis and Clark having read their own maps and explored an uncharted coastline.
And I am feeling empowered (having driven all the way to Maine by myself). More hopeful and sure of everything I know to be true. Elated to have had a secret (sshhhh!) meet up with a friend. More committed to eating right, allowing my little men to be who they really are, thankful that we are a family who stick together through thick and thin.
I have plans of extending our garden because of Julie's amazing site. (more on this later) I am dreaming about might be in store for our family after our retirement from the U.S. Navy in a few short years. Land? A farm? A camp for kids? The beach? The mountains?
It is a wonderful place to be...so solid in what I know, but full of questions for the future.
How is it that hitting the open road gives you all of this and more.
Where would you go if you could house swap with someone?