Thursday, July 1, 2010

A few of my favorite things....

I have 2 homes. My actual home (where I was born, raised and went to college, where my heart is) is in Michigan - Zeeland and Holland, Michigan, to be exact. But for the last 6 years our family has lived in Oak Harbor, WA. A part of my heart is there now, too. Friends, a church, our first house, life experiences, joys, pains, the place where our kids have grown up so far....

I have realized that it is strange to me that when I am in Oak Harbor I talk of going back "home" to Michigan. When in Michigan, like we've been the last 2 weeks, I talk of going back "home" to Oak Harbor. It is confusing really. Where is my REAL home?

Well, obviously my "real" home will someday be in the presence of the Lord in heaven. (Definitely looking forward to that!). But for now, here on earth, I have 2 "homes". I guess I am lucky for that.....

Goodness, this whole post started because I wanted to share a few fun things about being back in my "Michigan home" and I took off on a tangent. So, here are a few of my favorite "Michigan home" things:

Thunderstorms. Wow, I think we had about 4 of them (including 1 tornado warning, which was a bit scary) while I was here. Glorious. I LOVE thunderstorms. They are one of the big things I miss since living in Oak Harbor, WA, where there are no thunderstorms.


JP's Coffee Shop. When in college, I would take study breaks here - sometimes my dorm room or the library were too "quiet" and I needed some background noise and distractions to help me study. Plus, their Creme Caramel Latte's were the best (and they still are - I have had at least 4 of them while here):

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Downtown of Holland, MI - some of the best shops, window shopping and people-watching are here. My mother-in-law said she's a happy woman when she can weekly take a stroll downtown. I am in complete agreement.


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Not to mention, they have a great "Street Performers" night every Thursday night during the summer months:


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And of course, Lake Michigan.

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And yes, for those of you who have never been to the West Michigan lakeshore area, there are WAVES (even some pretty big ones) and SANDY beaches (not too unlike the ones in Florida or California). The best part is that its FRESHWATER, so no saltiness here like in the ocean

But best of all, our families are here. Our kids have had a great time with their grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. The time went too quickly.