heres to summer nighs. i hope its better than the last.

recently i have really been feeling as though i actually do have a new life ahead of me. a new season as some might say. after my trip to california, i really feel a sense of peace unlike any i have felt in quite some time. i dont know if it is the relief of things not being as bad as i once thought. or the meetings. or just being around all of the people i love. i know it has been a huge help for me to be around patrick and nicole and christy so much. they are all such important people in my life. i am so lucky to be able to spend most of my time with them. i have a wonderful family. although there are times when i am sad. sad about the friends passed. the fun times passed. i know that i have more to come. this is the first time in a long time that it actually feels like summer. sneaking into hot tubs. jumping from sand dunes. all night sleepovers. going out to dinner. riding with the windows down. summertime clothing and music. i am just so pleased with life right now, at this very second. as crazy as it sounds i almost dont want my time in atlanta to end. i want to camp ut at 198 atlanta ave for the whole summer. have sleepovers and cookouts. go tanning with christy and shopping with nicole. and do extreme sports activities with loft 302. i have always been told, and known so, that i am not very adventurous. i am trying to do things i am not supposed to be doing. like climbing over very high fences in the middle of the night and at least climbing the sand. [when i climed over the ledge and jumped, i sunk into the wet sand and couldnt find my sandals for about 5 minutes. zack brown and matt hau had to come to my rescue and help me dig them out. i ended up throwin them in the woods and going the rest of the night barefoot.]
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and it's only doubts that we're counting
on fingers broken long ago
i read with every broken heart
we should become more adventurous
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i also spent the night at the loft and had a wonderful late night talk with kyle until about 5. making new friends is really wonderful. even if all they are, are just friends. pat and i went to the humane society and i want to have 400 dogs and 5000 kittens now. i think i am going to visit there once a week and play with a dog. or maybe volunteer. i think i would like that. im thinking of getting a waitressing job because i need more money. three jobs, alright! i received this email from my mom, and even in my good mood, it made me cry. if you have ever been to my house, you will know how much it means to all of us.
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Dear Sarah, Patrick and Lindsey,

This morning I was thinking about the house and all that it means to sell it. We all know it is not the typical house. Literally, figuratively and spiritually. What has gone on in this house over the years has very much to do with who you are today. It has become a legacy that you will carry with you. Stories you will tell your children.

There has been so much life, love, and restoration here. It has been a safe haven for many, but especially for us as a family.

I know what that feeling is when you walk in the front door. Kind of like walking through the wardrobe into Narnia. I am washed over with comfort and longing when I pull into the driveway. There is a wonderful casualness and whimsy that permeates the whole property. I will miss it. I will miss how it just draws people to the front door and they spill out their life. It has been such a wonderful fantastic experience. What a gift! I thought I might be unemotional about leaving but writing this, I see that is not true. I know it will be hard for all of us. And while I may not be in Suwanee any more, you will not be without a home base. It will just be elsewhere. And there will always be room for you.

I hope you can forgive me for selling the Rhodes House, but it is time. Understand this, though, the spirit of the place, the feel it has, it is here because it is inside me. And where I move to, it goes with me. I believe that with all my heart. And that is not to say that it simply is a cool house and no one else has one like it.

This is a new season for all of us. We are all embarking on new territory. I love you all so much and want us to stay connected in the way we have always been. We are a blessed group to have so much love and peace between us.

Love always and forever,

mom