Every Friday as we look at all of the green and international weddings being featured on Making This Home, I am filled with joy and great memories.  I also get a little sad.  One day soon, I know I’m going to be heading thousands of miles away from my family.  Many of you have probably experienced the same thing at some point.  It might not be as drastic as moving overseas.  When you’re close to your family, any move feels big, though.  

I’ve never really known how it felt to be away from my family before I went to Berlin.  You know Martin and I are constantly moving.  It’s just that my family is SO big that no matter where I lived, someone in my family had always been close by.  If I got homesick in college, I visited my cousin.  When I spend the summer in DC, I could slip away to the country.  Then Martin and I could drive 60 minutes to another cousin’s for Easter.  It’s like my parents never had to worry.  They always knew that someone in our family would be nearby.

Then I moved to Germany.  You can probably guess: no one in my family lived within 90 like I was used to.  No matter how much I distracted myself with learning a new language or remodeling our 36 square foot kitchen, deep down I felt oddly alone sometimes.  I didn’t have any of those people around who knew me when I thought neon pink and green sunglasses shaped like stars were the coolest thing.  There wasn’t anyone in Berlin who loved, more than almost anything outside, the exact same spot in the exact same woods as me.

Until now.

Meet my uncle and his super cool wife.  They’re moving to Berlin at the end of the month.  How cool is that?

Some bloggers’ hearts patter when they see beautiful photographs, the perfect dining room, or amazing fashion.  Not me.  It’s all about the fam.  After all, they’re the cornerstone of any home.  We’re already talking about Thanksgiving and Christmas together.  I love that about family.

Anyone else have ironic yet wonderful family stories?  How about fruitcake stories?  (We’re also trying to make sure my grandma doesn’t succeed in getting any Christmas fruitcake to Berlin…!)