In the words of Of Mice and Men, "This one's for you."

Where is home?

Huntsville? Rome? Jones Valley Dr.? FBC Huntsville? FBC Rome? Berry College? Morton/Lemely? Dana? Scotland? Dundee? Heathfield?

As we started our freshmen year at Berry College, my roommate--Marley--got a little plaque from her mom that says, "Home is where your mom is." That may be a true statement, but I don't want to think about being away from home for 5 months. That would be such a lonely experience.

I have come to the conclusion that home is where I feel accepted. Somewhere that I am never lonely--which is different than being alone. I can be perfectly happy alone and not be lonely. Home should never be lonely. However, I reserve the right to change this definition when appropriate as my experiences broaden and as I grow as a person.

I can safely say that as I've embarked on this journey, I have felt at home. From the moment I got to Scotland, I've been accepted. I have a great group of friends here that I can just be "me" around. I was at Berry for 2 years before I found my little niche of friends from a variety of corners around campus, whereas here it only took me a week. But it's not just my friends here that make me feel at home, it's everyone in the States too (I am now referring to the USA as the States because as a girl from Chile pointed out to me, America could mean South America too--I shouldn't just assume North America is the only America...). From skype to e-mails to messages to letters (my personal favorite--thank you Sydney and Katherine!!!!) and especially facebook, I've never felt more at home in my life. I had no idea I had so many friends and people that cared!

Ok, so this was a really emotional post. I apologize. I just want to show my gratitude for everyone. Nothing goes unnoticed, so thank you.