Home is Where the Heart Is

Well, I've been in Boise for three weeks now (HOLLA long A VACAYYYY!!!), and I depart tomorrow. It's been amazing to say the very least. Leisurely strolls with Mom and Cooper (See our new dog!). Playing cards with the Kastma family. Small vacation to Portland. Coffee at Rembrandts and The Flying M. Dancing the night away with friends. You know. And I've loved every minute of it. This vacation has made me appreciate Boise much more then I ever did as an ungrateful teenager (how did no no ever slap me upside the head and tell me to get over myself!?). Maybe it's because most of the stores and restaurants I frequented were all about sustainability and buying local, as there seems to be a burgeoning push in this direction--and these things always excite me (easily pleased). I'm not sure if Boise was like this when I was in high school, and I never noticed it, or if it's recently grown this way--or maybe a little bit of both. Or maybe it's simply that I've learned to take pleasure in those "small" things--these are the things life is made of after all. As my neighbor and I sat over our cups of coffee--he with a mocha and I with a latte--we discussed what it means to be truly happy. How do you find that peace in the midst of the chaos that is life--between the demands of job, family, friends, meaning? I think I'm discovering the answer to that more and more--it is taking pleasure in those simple things--the foam on your latte (yes--it was REALLY that good), the joy of talking with a friend, delighting in a book, the leisure of sleeping in late when you can, being still. Maybe this trip hasn't been so much about Boise itself, but about slowing down, re-evaluating where I'm going and why, and taking some time to breathe.

I suppose there's a reason they call it "The Gem State" and also a reason why I live in the "Treasure Valley."