best of both worlds...?

today i was struck by two very different worlds colliding before me.

first, for a little background, it snowed last night in the greater seattle area. we awoke to 2-3 inches of fluffy wonderment, and i have been enjoying it immensely. the view out our bedroom window is winter wonderland-esque, and something i've been pining and hoping for for months... i've really missed the snow we get back home, and it hasn't helped that ellensburg has had snowstorm upon snowstorm heaping flakes upon it this year. i miss it! so, i was, needless to say, more than thrilled to wake up to matt stomping his shoes off in the front entryway after venturing out to start the pickup and announcing, "anna, it snowed! look!"

later this morning as i was starting the car and clearing it off, i was pondering how the snow made it feel more like home. it was reminiscent of the very snow mornings we had last year in ellensburg, and shoveling the car off before class. i was enjoying it.

and then it happened.

i heard a seagull caw-ing overhead. when i hear that sound it means one thing -- the beach. we hear them all the time here because we are near the beach. that is the good thing about missing things from home -- what we have here is so different that it still makes me feel like i'm vacation at the oregon coast or something when i hear our seagulls. yet, here i was this morning, traipsing around in the snow, SHOVELING SNOW OFF THE CAR and reminiscing about blizzards and white christmases, winter wonderlands, and snowboarding, and loving it. but with the addition of the seagull sounds to my wintry morning, i noted how very kewl it was indeed, to be exactly where i was. it was a reminder that my home is in a new place, and though i miss lots of things from our other home, i will sometimes be able to experience the things i miss and love from there, right here. and for that moment today, i noted that i had things i love from both places all in one place- snowflakes from the mountains and seagulls from the beach.