About three weeks ago we moved into a new place here in Mexico City.  With another little boy on the way we wanted to upgrade to three bedrooms and something with some outdoor space for Eli to get out and play.  After lots of calls and going to see a few places we found just what we were looking for about a five minute drive from our previous apartment.  We have settled in easily and so far we are loving the extra space and Eli is loving the shared yard in front of our house and playground right inside our complex.  Also, our five minute move away from the main roads has made us feel like we are in more "real" Mexican neighborhood.  We are now in walking distance from the main square of our little area of the city, there are cobblestone streets, and lots of little family owned places to explore.  We have really enjoyed walking around and getting to know our new neighborhood.

Within that main square area is the local Catholic parish and they have been in all out party mode for the last week in celebration of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary.  The fair starts just a block from our house and wraps around down to the church.  I have nothing against fairs and we have taken the opportunity to go over and explore, enjoy the food, and let Eli get a pony ride, however it's the fireworks/firecrackers that get to be a bit much.  For the last week there has been an incessant "bang, bang" (as Eli calls it) going on at random times anywhere between 6am and 10pm.  At times there has been constant noise for up to 45 minutes straight and the majority of the time we just get the noise without any of the pretty lights in the sky.

Somehow Eli has developed an immunity to them and manages to sleep right through all the noise.  What a blessing!  However, our dog has been on edge constantly and none of us can manage to sleep through his barking when he really gets going.  Sorry neighbors...maybe he'll get used it at some point.

All of this to say, the fair ended last night and I will be perfectly happy if I do not hear any more fireworks for quite some time!

In doing a little internet research on the celebration and the local church I came across this You Tube video that someone took of the church and a bit of our neighborhood.  I thought you might enjoy getting a little picture of where we live:

P.S. Still no new baby.  We're still waiting, and yes, getting a bit impatient.  Maybe he'll be timely and arrive tomorrow on his due date!

One year ago today, on my 28th birthday, with our car packed to the brim, we set off for the first leg of our journey to Mexico. One year ago today I was full of excitement and trepidation as we began a new stage of life.

It has been a year of adventure, a year of growing, a year of ups and downs.

Today, on my 29th birthday, I'll go to dinner at a traditional Mexican restaurant in the historic center of Mexico City and then attend my first Quincenera (yeah, it randomly falls on my birthday). Today begins the last year of my 20s. Tomorrow it is one month until our second child is due. Tomorrow we will get the keys to our 5th home in not quite 7 years of marriage.

Maybe one day our lives will slow down. Maybe one day we'll settle into a single location. But this isn't that year. This year the adventure continues.

Our first "home" in Brooklyn, NY

Americans love their clichés about home.

Home is where you hang your hat.

Home is where you lay your head.

Home is where the heart is.

There’s no place like home.

My definition of home has been gradually evolving over the last several months.  For five years, without question, I would have said that home was Reno, NV.  Reno is where we lived.  Reno is where everything we owned in the world was at the time.  Reno is where we own a house. 

Then we packed up our stuff to moved to Mexico.  We put everything we could possibly cram into our little SUV and the rest we put in storage in Reno.  We lived with family and friends for about two months.  We moved our lives to Mexico.

While we were visiting Reno over the holidays a friend at church started to say welcome home and then stopped.  Do you still call this home?  I paused for a moment.  Yes, I still think of this as home.  But, why? 

Home is where you hang your hat.  Sure, a lot of our stuff is still in Reno, but the most important items – the ones we couldn’t live without are in Mexico.

Home is where you lay your head.  I admit I’m pretty attached to my own bed, but the bed I’m currently sleeping on is not the same one I slept on in Reno. 

Home is where the heart is.  Well, there are actually little pieces of my heart all over the place.  There’s a piece in Maryland where I grew up and where my in-laws still live and graciously let us stay from time to time.  There’s a piece of my heart in Texas where the majority of my extended family lives and I have so many wonderful childhood memories.  There’s a piece in Pennsylvania where I went to college, grew into an adult, and met five amazing girlfriends whom I know I will have for the rest of my life (they currently hold pieces of my heart in Pennsylvania, Indiana, Colorado, and Georgia).  There’s a piece of my heart in Brooklyn, NY where Dave and I lived for the first year of our marriage.  There’s a piece of my heart in Reno where we lived for 5 years, my parents live, we still have many friends, and Eli was born.  And there’s a piece of my heart in Mexico where I’m currently living and growing.  The list goes on.

There’s no place like home.  If my home is in so many places, how can there be no place like home?  In the end I’ve come to realize that home is wherever I’m known and loved.  It’s wherever I am with friends and family and most importantly with Dave and Eli.  It has nothing to do with the stuff I own and is not tied to any specific place.