All these photos were taken on the same patch of beach during a two hour stretch of time, during a homeschool co-op beach day.  It’s amazing to be on the beach while storms roll past: In all directions around us, the sky darkens and brightens as storms move through, rain in the distance shifts in location and intensity, colors change from deep, dark blue to bright sun to diffused post-storm light, and the clouds reflect beautifully over the ocean and in the tide pools.  Sometimes our patch of beach stays protected from the rain, and sometimes, like on this day, the storm greets us.  Just a few days prior we went to this exact spot and were met with a blue cloudless sky, hot sun, strong waves and high tide.  On this day, it was completely different, with clouds, breeze, rain, low tide and gentle water.  That’s why I love the beach– it’s never the same, always moving, always changing, always offering me new things to be amazed by.

Although I’d like to say we have done this family-running-around-the-beach a lot in the weeks since Matt’s been home, and that life is blissful and amazing all the time now that we are back together, it just wouldn’t be true.  In truth we have had a mix of ups and downs with readjusting to life as a family, the constraints of work/sleep/schedule/time/decision-making, and trying to find our (umm, maybe it’s mostly MY) openness to life as it is now.  I guess I had it all figured out in my head that having Matt back would mean going back to the way it was before deployment, during that time when our purpose was to make our time together as amazing as possible as we moved toward being apart (and for some reason I always seem to remember the past as being much awesomer than it actually was).  Yet now it seems things are different in this new phase of life, and we are back to the trials and joys of learning to be together as a couple and a family, of being vulnerable, of speaking up for what we want, of letting go of control, of listening and compromising, of waking up to expectation and resentment, of remembering how to be human and connect with another person.  Having him back, for me, is another wave to ride in my life, a wave that takes time to re-figure out but that I am certain we will remember how to ride.

We said good-bye to the ocean with Jean on her last night here.  We went at sunset to watch the magic of the water and sky, and it was very good indeed.  I want to remember to get out of my house and witness the sunset more often, because it’s worth it.

We will surely miss you, Mama Jean.

It’s nicknamed Boneyard Beach, and it is truly spectacular.  I can’t wait to go back.

Matt’s mom, Jean, came to visit at the end of March.  We went to the beach, more beach, the woods, several historic forts, St. Augustine, the thrift store, her sister’s house a few hours south of us, and several more days at the beach.  You’ll be seeing photos here over the next few posts of her visit, as I did bring my camera on our adventures as much as I could.  On this particular evening, after a nice day at the beach, we decided to head to the river to watch the sunset (our ocean offers breathtaking view of the sunrise, but for the sunset we head west to the river).  It was a gorgeous night with lots of water play– by the way, there is water EVERYWHERE here in Jacksonville, people fishing all over the place, and it is just so beautiful.

Matt deployed June 20, 2012 and returned home to Florida on April 7, 2013.  Each of us has stories to tell about our adventures, things we learned, ways we struggled and ideas about how to move forward.  Our family has more adventures ahead, and I sure hope we can do them together.  It’s definitely an adjustment right now us to get used to the new normal around here, but having Matt home is so very, very good for us all.

]]> http://www.allthethingsweareblog.com/2013/04/13/homecoming/feed/ 3 http://www.allthethingsweareblog.com/2013/04/12/sand-water-pooch/ http://www.allthethingsweareblog.com/2013/04/12/sand-water-pooch/#comments Fri, 12 Apr 2013 18:06:33 +0000 jessica http://www.allthethingsweareblog.com/?p=1876

I’m a bit behind on my blog right now, so over the next week or so you will be getting an onslaught of new posts from the past couple of months.  In these photos the kids and I were enjoying one of our many lovely afternoons at the beach.  This time we brought Addie, our pup, for her first beach experience and she was wild with excitement.  The water is still cold but the kids love it anyway– for a few minutes at a time.  The weather is slowly getting hotter and the water warmer as Florida’s beach season begins.

She’s about to turn 8 this weekend.  She’s growing older, taller, wiser, more mature, and more lovely every day.