The Newness of It All

This is my first posting, and I'm not exactly sure what I am doing, but I am going to try to make this a blog that you would like to read. My husband Patrick and I recently moved to St. Louis, Missouri from the Hampton Roads area of Virginia. The house on the left is my "witch's cottage" that we are renting here in St. Louis. We have gone through a lot of changes in the last few months, Patrick just retired from the U.S. Navy after 20 years of service, he got a new job, and we moved to a city we were not expecting to move to. I'm not sure where we thought we would be, but knew we would go where his job took us, as it has for the last 13 years of our marriage. We have spent the last 13 years moving. Alot. We have lived in the Pacific Northwest, (Seattle is where I am from), Seoul, South Korea, Washington D.C., Gaeta, Italy and Chesapeake, Virginia. I really don't know if we are done moving, but I will admit that I am tired of packing and unpacking boxes! We have a lot of stuff.

This is starting a new phase in my life. I never thought I wanted to be a housewife, that was not what I was raised to be. But, I am finding that I actually kind of like it. Sometimes. I still struggle with not making any money of my own, or not feeling as though I'm doing anything productive. After a lot of soul searching I have found that I enjoy staying at home and providing a nice home for my husband. When I work, Patrick and I do not have very much time to experience the things that we enjoy - travelling, good food and each other's company. We decided that by my staying home, I could cook, exercise, knit, read, write that book I've always wanted to, meditate and generally be a more grounded and happy person. Well, that's the plan at least!

I'm hoping to use this space to share with all my friends the recipes that I'm trying and liking. The books I am reading, the projects that I am creating and the person that I am hopefully becoming. I wish that I could have you sit at my table and enjoy a cup of tea and talk about these things in person, but for now this is the next best thing!

(This was originally done on December 26, 2008 - see my mistake)