Richmans back in Richmond

Oh Richmond, how I didn't think I missed you. But wham, the second we came upon the Parham Road exit off of I-64, I felt a jolt of homesickness, a spark of fondness, a longing to drive your roads and relive old memories. In fact, I was quite surprised at how good, refreshing, even, it was to see you. See, I didn't love you when we lived there. I mean, Virginia I loved, but you specifically were nothing special to me. And to be honest, leaving you behind wasn't all that hard. But I guess it's true what they say: the grass is always greener.

Don't get me wrong. I don't hate Knoxville. Despite the quirkiness, I do like it here. We love our house, I have good friends, love the Southern charm, etc. But I've never truly felt at home here. And something about Richmond and going back to our old ward felt so at home to me. And that feeling was incredibly comforting. There was something so enjoyable about seeing old friends, especially those who have had kids since we left and getting to meet their cute little offspring.

Poor Brian. Just about every Sunday someone in our current ward goes up to him and asks him if he's new. I mean, he may miss an occasional Sunday because of work (especially lately), but seriously? We've been here for almost two years! But, take one step into the ol' Innsbrook Ward and fifty people go up to him so excited to see him and find out what he's been up to these past couple years. It was nice. Really, really nice. And it made me happy and made me rethink that maybe that ward wasn't so bad afterall. Sure, it was as cliquey as all get out but it really was a good ward with good people.

Anyway, let's talk Richmond for a second. If you live there and are reading this and haven't been to Sally Bell's Kitchen near VCU campus, run now and get yourself a devil's food cupcake for me. Oh heaven. I have been dreaming of those cupcakes for two years now. Of course I made Brian stop and we picked up a dozen or so. Half of those are now in my freezer for future cravings.  Here's James enjoying said cupcake:

Of course, we also had to stop by our old townhouse. Sometimes we still have bitter feelings about how things ended there (i.e. the buyers not living up to their end of the bargain, etc.) but then when we saw all the "For Sale" signs up and realized some of those homes were up for sale at the same time as ours, we realize how lucky we are it sold at all. Oh the memories in this house. I do miss it sometimes and the sweet moments we had there, especially of the first few months of Jamers' life.

Brian had two requirements in Richmond: eating at our favorite Mexican place (we seriously used to eat there once a week) and visiting the good old VCU School of Dentistry for old times sake. It was good to be back in both places and kind of felt like we'd never left (except for the doubled prices at El Paso--what's up with that?), which was actually a good feeling.


  
Richmond, I have a feeling we'll meet again. It's true, the grass is always greener, but maybe you were more special than I once thought.