let's talk about our FIRST (and as far as i'm concerned it can be our last) HOUSE...
it's been five plus years since we moved into this home. we started out our married days in a teensy-tiny garage apartment. then upgraded to what seemed huge- our two bedroom apartment in austin. and then came this home.
we were already living in this neighborhood, just a block away with evan's parents while we saved and looked. most mornings i would take baby adelaide for a walk in her stroller making stops along the way to pick up thrown sippy cups and to text evan at work when i would notice a "for sale" sign in a yard. usually i would get a text back along the lines of, "looks nice but not going to happen" or "i checked it out, you won't like the inside as much as the outside." but one december day, i passed two houses across the street from each other with new "for sale" signs posted. of course i sent him a text, and his response was "out of our league" to one, but he gave me a tiny glimmer or hope for the other.
i contacted our realtor and we set up to view many houses that week, including the one that had caught my eye. we looked at more than ten houses the next day in nearby areas, but then we entered the one i'd seen from the outside the previous day.
i loved the layout of it immediately. the corner fireplace and black cabinets in the kitchen lured me in even more. i've always rolled my eyes at all the people on house hunting tv shows that get so caught up on the existing paint that can so easily be changed and how it ruins a whole house for them. but i did the reverse of that and fell even more in love with the house for the way the nursery was already painted with blue and white stripes.
that evening the realtor kindly showed me the house again (and the former owners kindly left again), and this time evan came along. our only complaints were the tile instead of wood floors in the den and the hall bathroom that still sported the original tile.
once we went back and forth on bids (and learned more in a few weeks about real-world economics then i did in a semester of it in high school) the house was actually on its way to becoming ours.
there were so many things i remember from those first days living here:
the kindness of the previous owners leaving a housewarming gift for us, and the way that candle smelled like home to me each time we lit it until the wick ran out.
throwing things out of boxes and into cabinets overnight and hanging so many things right away as we prepared for adelaide's first birthday party.
my thankfulness for landscaping that took care of itself and flowers that surprised me with blooms that spring.
taking a pregnancy test and finding out we would bring another baby home to this house before that 2009 calendar was completed.
there also a host of things i could have never predicted five years ago:
the way i would long for a swing at our house, only to realize after receiving one for a gift that we don't have a single tree to hang one from.
how much fun i would have decorated the mantle above that corner fireplace for countless parties and holidays.
the rinky-dink swing set jim and evan would build in the backyard to hold previously mentioned swing and provide many hours of fun and creativity.
how the dog run that was built before we lived here would be transformed into pirate headquarters for jake and izzy and all their backyard adventures, and eventually be where new neighbors would come and chat with our kids about their days.
the countless walks, wagon rides, and bike rides around these streets that would happen.
that living in a 1950's home makes me feel a little more domestic and a little more likely to wear an apron.
that once occasional coffee drinkers, would eventually make multiple cups a day in this kitchen.
that the kitchen counters are the perfect place to pretend we have our own cooking show.
that one day the tile i didn't care for in the den would become as commonplace to me
as the mismatched tiles in the bathroom counters.
the number of hours we would all log in the hall bathroom through the process of potty training multiple children.
that each cabinet and closet within the walls of this house would be utilized for specific purposes and in such unique ways and so that each thing could have its place.
the initial moments of walking through the doors of this home with newborns and its safe walls for adjusting to becoming a family of four and then five.
how many cozy nights we would spend by the fire watching movies or football, doing puzzles, playing games, and kicking all our feet up on the coffee table.
the gift of watching milestones happen before our eyes and around that same coffee table and around bedroom corners.
teaching my own kids so many educational lessons as well as life lessons here.
how much i would grow to love the windows next to the kitchen table where the kids would wave goodbye to evan as he backed out of the driveway for work each morning.
No house in this world is my forever home
("for this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come." Hebrews 13:14).
but oh how I have learned, grown, cried, laughed, and lived in this special place.
