It's a typically frosty day in January, but our rambling old farmhouse is warm and cozy. It's laundry day, and I set the iron back into its rack with a soft, satisfying thunk.

I breathe in the fragrance of warm cotton as I hang up Honeybunch's freshly ironed shirt next to the others.I walk into the upper hallway, where the aroma of roasting beef wafts up from the kitchen below.I'm happy. Content. I'm where I want to be, doing what I want to do, what I've always wanted to do: Making a home.I've spent the past 25 years being a reporter, observing and writing about the events that shape our lives. It's a profession that has taken me on a roller coaster of emotions, from sharing the joy of students beaming with pride as they accept awards to the devastation of families struggling to cope with the senseless deaths of loved ones.In between are the often boring but more-important-than-you-think municipal budget meetings, the routine mechanisms of government, and the slow crawl of legislative proposals becoming law.I've documented the kindness of people who foster the pets of soldiers called for duty, and the astonishing talent of local children who excel at music, math or mechanics.I've written about elected officials who volunteer endless hours to making their communities better, and those who enter public service to exert power, whose goals seem to be to do whatever they can to hamper improvement projects and waste others' time by relentless petty bickering and dishonesty.I've reported the relentless drug-driven ruination of too many young lives to count, recorded the desperation of their families and the frustration of judges who see the same faces in their courtrooms time and time again.Journalism has defined my life. It has lifted my spirits, made me weep with sadness and outrage, and sometimes terrified me.I've loved every minute of it.But at heart, I've always wanted to be a homemaker.On Jan. 30, I'll begin that life, retiring from my career as a journalist to devote myself full-time to taking care of my home and family.I'll miss my work family, but as I begin this new chapter of life, I'll cherish the memories of a quarter-century of reporting and writing.