Our Moose In A Box: "This is our land!"..."Yes it is!"

It's an understatement to say that we're enjoying being back in Michigan and catching up with friends and family here before heading to the Quad Cities for the holidays. It's so wonderful to be back! On repeat in my head is a scene from one of my favorite movies, Moonrise Kingdom. The two main characters are twelve year-olds who run away from home and set up camp in a cove which they claim as their own and name Moonrise Kingdom. As they enjoy their freedom they jump off of boulders into the cove to swim, one yelling, "This is our land!" and the other responding with "Yes it is!". I can relate to their crazy happiness in feeling at home.

So what have we been up to in Michigan? A lot of course. We've had dinner with my parents. We've tried a 20 year aged beer with some lovely friends. We've had a few more dinners with even more friends. We've rock climbed at our climbing gym multiple times. I've gotten a much needed haircut. We've been to Lansing a couple times. We've bottled a beer and a cider. We've learned how to make pots on a pottery wheel with some good friends. We made it to an extended family Christmas Party. We've gone to church with friends. We've had some brunches. We've caught up on people's lives and scheduled more meet ups to come. We've baked our cherished homemade bread. We've made Christmas cookies. We've figured out health insurance for next year. We've done our Christmas shopping. We've gone back to O'Hare to pick up my sister. We've watched the new, highly-awaited Star Wars movie. We've caught up on TV shows. We've even had a bit of time to relax.

No, we don't know yet when we're leaving for the next segment of our trip. At some point in January we're California, Utah, and Colorado bound. But for now, we're just feeling oh so content being back in the Midwest.