I've lived in my house for 10 years, got married in May... and when my wife planted veggies in our back yard, and they started growing, it gave me the most amazing feeling of... belonging to the home, like I'd just moved in.

Anyone else experience this?

I think we all - or some of us, anyway - still have at least remnants of a self-sufficiency instinct left. It's why we garden, though we can technically buy the same veggies in the store cheaper, and why we haul buckets of water to chickens in the dead of winter when you can buy eggs for a dollar a dozen and chicken for two bucks a pound.  For sure, some of it is about quality... homegrown produce, meat and eggs do taste better, and I think they're better for you.  Yeah, some of that is probably an "it's better because I grew it" trick our brains are playing on us, but that happens for a reason: it's our instinct trying to tell us we're doing the right thing.

Just a wild guess:  I bet you're expanding the garden a little bit this year, ain't ya?  

LOL Wife unit is getting a cold box for Christmas! She's nagging   trying to convince me to get into beekeeping, too!

Kudos to wife

If you think beekeeping might be imminent, the time to start shopping is now.  The supply of package bees dries up very early in spring; you really need to pre-order in fall or winter if you hope to find any commercially.  If you have a local source you might be in better shape, but it still wouldn't hurt to touch base and get your name on their waiting list.

You've probably already seen it, but Kitties-with-Sigs Beekeeping thread is a good jumping-off point.

I've seen it. I am also studying a Youtube series about the first year of beekeeping.

I may not be able to keep bees where I am (HOA).

Improving the land and growing plants makes it "yours". The phrase "putting down your roots" didn't come from nowhere.

All of the above. See sig line.