Home Sweet (North Carolina) Home

It's that time of year when people start asking, "Are you going home for the holidays?"
The other day, rather than saying, "No, we're staying here this year," I said what I truly felt (and have felt for about a year and half now), "This is my home."

We're not from Charlotte (much like the millions of people in this town) but it really is our home now. We have family here. We have friends here. We're rooted in Charlotte. This is our home, sweet home.

We were talking about family in our small group the other night, and it was brought up that once you're married, that's your family. You leave your parents and cleave to your spouse. We talked about the hurt that could be caused when (lets say,) the wife says, "I'm going home for _____," (meaning back to the parents' house). That's not the home anymore, the home is where your husband is trying to provide for you and build a foundation for you. Once your married it's your turn to make your own traditions for the holidays and special occasions.

Now, this isn't to say you can't or shouldn't go visit family during the holidays, but maybe, just maybe it would be good to stay home with just your husband (or wife) and (maybe) kids and enjoy creating your own lasting traditions. Don't get me wrong, we miss our families a lot, but this year, we're staying home.

Home in our southern, 50*, non-white-Christmas-decorated, buck-eye-filled home. Celebrating with us, our roommate, and our two kitties. Just us. Sleeping in, pajama-wearing, Christmas-movie-watching, pancake making, US.