Home is where the heart (of Texas) is

This summer we'll be moving to Waco, Texas. Hello bluebonnets, heat, succulents, and southwest art and culture—just a few of the things with which I'm looking forward to becoming right neighborly. 

Why Waco? Cody is entering Baylor University’s PhD program in Religion! We’re very excited for him to begin climbing this last educational mountain before he can start his career, and feel terribly blessed that he has been invited to do it in such a great program and with great professors. Cody is ready to dive in. As a family, we’re also preparing for the tough job that PhD work will be for all of us. We’ve been working on schedules, routines, rhythms, and expectations, and are learning daily new ways that we can work together better, spend time together, and for us all to get our times of rest. We’re a work in progress, but... progress.

We leave Germany on July 16th, will spend a month living with our families, visiting a few friends, packing up for our cross-country move, and celebrating my brother-in-law’s wedding. It’s going to be a full and action-packed month, and we are so looking forward to reconnecting with the people we love most. I’m hoping that the excitement and comfort of it all will ease us out of Germany and soothe our broken hearts. We love it here. I mean, we really love it here. 

I am currently buckling down for the inevitable culture shock of returning to the states, and trying to embrace this upcoming opportunity to prove to myself that we can still live adventurous, active, and interesting lives elsewhere. Just because we learned it here, doesn't mean we have to leave it here. After all, it's like 90% attitude and 10% location, or at least that's my theory. Still, never in a million years would I have guessed we would be moving to Texas. In fact, when Cody was applying to schools I said, “You can apply to Baylor, but I’m not going there. I’m sorry. Texas is the one place I’m not going to live!” Well, you see how that turned out. By the grace of God, and the knowledge that one of the most beautiful people I know lives in Waco already, I’ve had a heart change. I’m still nervous about the transition, and have a lot of outstanding questions about what life in a Texas town will look like, but I am confident that God will take care of us and show me new ways to live better and embrace the differences that come with living in a new place. Again, 90% attitude. Plus, I've heard from pretty much everyone who knows a thing or two about Waco that it's a fantastic place to live, particularly if you have kids. 

So, Texas. We’re looking forward to getting acquainted with you.

P.S. With all of this upcoming change and moving, I'm starting to look forward to being stateside and having some of our stuff back. Living simply is excellent, but it doesn't mean no stuff (long term, anyway) it means the right stuff. A few things I'm excited to throw my arms around and fill our new Texas home with are plants plants plants and baskets baskets baskets. Two of my very favorite things to fill a home with and two things that I've almost entirely lived without this year. Hope you enjoy this mood board of some of my favorite home goods. Tell me, if you could choose just one thing to decorate your home with what would it be?

1// Bolga basket 2// Leather fly swatter 3// Wesco tea kettle 4// Five Hardy Hard to Kill Houseplants. 5// Wool blanket 6// Stelton pitcher