Do you take sugar?

I was making myself a cup of tea this morning when I realised I needed to top up the sugar bowl. I had pulled the sugar out of the cupboard and ready to pour when I found myself stumped by the familiarity of what I was doing.

We have had that sugar bowl for as long as I can remember. The sight of it - white with pink design, sugar encrusted around the edge and a perpetual white mound in the middle - is intrinsically linked with my memories of that kitchen. Neither of my parents have sugar in their tea and yet that sugar bowl has always been there, patiently waiting for someone to need it.

So why did it make me stop today? And why am I waxing lyrical about a sugar bowl?

It was how simple it was. Knowing where the sugar is and topping up a sugar bowl I've been topping up for probably my whole life.

A lot of people said to us that we would hate coming home. That after a couple of weeks, the novelty of seeing everyone again would wear off and we would find ourselves longing to be back travelling. This has probably been the truest testament to how different Tom and I have been to the people we met during our six months away. After almost a month of being home (two for him), neither of us has wanted to be anywhere else.

I wake up every day and happiness washes over me. I don't know how to explain it but I have a bone deep feeling that I am exactly where I am supposed to be.

My sister rang me a few days ago, almost crying with excitement to tell me all about her latest module marks. She ended the call by saying, "I should probs ring Mum now. She's probably going to cry." I laughed and decided not to mention I had been close to tears for most of the conversation too.

Seconds later my Dad rang, letting me know he would be popping to Asda before coming home. I hung up and smiled because I really couldn't believe me luck.

Luck that brings me back, weirdly, to that sugar bowl.

One thing I learnt while I was in New Zealand was that 'home' really isn't just a house somewhere. It's a myriad of things: people, feelings, objects, smells, memories. It's everything and anything and it makes my heart burst with happiness that I'm back surrounded by everything and everyone I love most in the world.

It feels so good to be so happy that even just topping up the sugar bowl fills me with gratitude.