Home Sweet Home

Yesterday, I read Anne's post over at In Residence, and she talked about her recent move to a new/old city, and how it was important to her to find some places that felt like home so she could feel at home after her transition.

It's true, you know. If you haven't moved for a while {or ever}, you might not realize how easily you take for granted the places that are yours. I had lunch a couple of weeks ago with my friend {and former neighbor!}, Julie. She told me how strange it felt to come back to this city after a handful of years away, and while it felt familiar, it wasn't quite home anymore. She has a new stash of places that are hers. 

And if you have moved recently, you probably know the urgency to find YOUR grocery store, YOUR church, YOUR favorite restaurant, YOUR park. Home goes beyond the walls of your house. It's your community, too.

Ryan and I are both transplants to Marion. I've been here {technically} nineteen years {WHAT!?!?!} if you count my college years, which I do. Ryan's been here almost three years now, after marrying me, and this place has become home.

Our Coffee Shop

 We have four coffee shops in town: one on campus, two independently owned, and one Starbucks. And Starbucks is home - not because it's the trendy place to go, but it's where we have gift cards! {They speak loudly!} But it's more than that. It's the place where we've actually made friends with the staff. The place where they know our drinks sometimes better than we know them. It's the place we can find open early in the morning or late at night, and someone will smile and hand us coffee.

Our Church

We never meant for this church to become our home. We walked through the doors about 2 1/2 years ago, fully intending to be there for a brief time and move on to whatever home God ordained for us, as far as churches go. We're still there, we dared to make friends, we got involved, and we have learned so much from the pastors who teach us. I think finding a church home can be one of the hardest things about moving to a new community, so for those of you still searching - keep pushing forward! The right one will be there!


Our Pizza

We love pizza. Truth? We could eat it every single meal for every single day for the rest of our natural lives, which would likely be much shorter than planned because we'd experience death-by-pizza. There are something like 32 million pizza joints in this town and we've visited just about all of them. And because we love pizza, we have no complaints. But we default to Papa John's, because we can get the best deals there. {Shout out to half price pizzas when the Colts and Pacers win!!} We do find it really interesting that the ONLY Papa John's in town is on the opposite side of the city from campus. You'd think the college could support its own Papa's, wouldn't you?


Our Campus

Speaking of campus, we love the grounds of IWU. Stunning, stunning property, thanks to the hard work of the individuals who care for it. We love taking walks there, praying in the chapel, running there, and seeing the life that springs up when school is in session. {Even if we do have to watch more carefully to make sure we don't get run over by zealous drivers!}


Our Shopping Strip

I am one of those rare blessed girls who has a husband who doesn't hate shopping. And every now and then, we'll hit the shopping strip that houses TJ Maxx, Kohl's, Hobby Lobby, and Meijer. It's pretty sweet to just make our way down the row, looking through each store. It counts as a date, and it's one of our favorites.
 

Our Park

I'm pretty sure when I moved to this city the aforementioned 19 years ago, the city park was largely a joke. But my goodness...they have certainly put a lot of effort into improving it in that time, and we love our park. The walking trails, the pretty gardens, the lights at Christmas: it's a beautiful, beautiful place now, and if we move, I think I may have to insist it move with us.



So those are our home-sweet-home places around this fine city. What about you? What makes your town feel more like home?