Home is where the heart is.

"Home"...but not exactly home.

It's been a very long day.  A day full of church and packing and goodbyes and moving and riding and unpacking and organizing.

It's been an emotional day.  A hard day.  Saying goodbye to the girl you've shared every second of the past two years of college with when she's going back to California and then who knows where in the world to play pro soccer cannot be easy or emotion-free.  This part of the day hurt really, really bad.  The good news is that no distance can truly separate sisters like us. Especially when there's an invention like FaceTime. ;)

I'm gonna treasure this pic like gold, no lie.

But I don't want to be sad because sad isn't who I am, so let me tell you about all of the good things that happened today.

I was able to go to church one more time and say goodbye to a bunch of people that have truly changed my life.

I had so much help moving that I didn't have to do anything, which is a real blessing because I hurt my back while packing last night.  Justin, Jenn, Holly, Michael, Corey, Mom, and this guy here below were all there.

Getting to see him made today so much easier.  And because we only get to see each other a few times a year now, we treasure each other that much more.  And I got to introduce him to Ryann, who I've long said is basically the female version of him.  I'm so happy to know that I don't have to wait months to see him again - he promised he'd come down to Swansboro and take me out for my 21st birthday in June since it's on a Saturday. :)

My sister and my brother.  Sometimes I still have a hard time believing I have best friends as amazing, loyal, and protective as those two are.

Then, once we got here to the house,  we did lots of heavy unpacking and moving and things.  I'm taking over Blake's room for the summer because this way I'll have a room all to myself and be able to keep it clean, and Chelsea has too much stuff in her room to move it all in here.  Chelsea's got a lot of organizing and stuff to do on her day off tomorrow, but it feels good to be at least somewhat unpacked and in place.

I'll be honest.  Tonight was not pretty.  It took less than an hour and a half for me to break down in tears from all the yelling and tension and stress.  It's gonna be a long three and a half months.

I miss Campbell.  That's where I belong.  Though I'm not sure how it's going to feel when I get back there in August and Ryann isn't there, but at least I'll have my church family.

I love my mom, and Blake, and even Chelsea.  But here's the thing.  Home is where the heart is.  My heart is a lot of different places, but here isn't one of them.

Lord, help me to be the light of Christ to my family this summer.  I need this time to be different.