Our House

"There is nothing like buying your first house"....so I heard many times as Chris and I were buying our first house a little over 4 years ago. The house we currently still live in.

I remember how all my friends and family thought it was such a big deal. We were the first out of most of my friends to actually buy a house and everyone thought it was so cool. During the whole process I remember feeling really grown up and a sense of becoming an adult, but it didn't seem like such a huge event to me. It just felt like the next step in growing up and in my relationship with Chris. We knew this was not going to be the house we were going to live in forever, but it was a great starter home.

From day one we talked about how we would make it "ours" and how we could update, change, fix, improve, etc, various aspects of the house to make it a home and for resale value, of course. Once Mackenzie was born, our house shrunk, literally, overnight. And it has continued to shrink every month since then.

Chris has masterfully organized the attic to get the most out of the space, but even now, that has run out. The guest room has become the storage unit for random bits that we need too often to put in the attic, but not often enough to really find a permanent home for them. Despite having had 3 yard sales, the closets are stuffed, all beds have plastic storage bins under them, furniture has been sold or given away, and the house pack rat (me) has really learned to just trash the stuff I would normally keep. Because of all this we constantly talk about needing a bigger home...moving on to bigger and better things.

But recently, I've started to appreciate our house for what it is and love it while we're here because I know we will look back on this house with wonderful memories. This was all brought on as my sister sold her house and the reality of actually leaving it hit her. I started thinking, "How am I going to feel when we move?" I realized how sad I will be. I know some of you are thinking "It's just a house...don't let your possesions own you." But for me, it's about the memories we created in this house. Just about all my family member's sweat is in this house from when they came to help paint EVERY INCH of the interior. Chris and I started our life as husband and wife in this house. We brought a beautiful little girl into this house. We are watching her grow up in this house.

I feel lucky that I am able to recognize and appreciate what I have when I have it and not once I've lost it. And it goes further than just the house, I am appreciating what I have inside the house...my wonderful family! I hope I can continue to remind myself of this as other things get me down. So I guess I owe my sister a big "Thanks!"

Thanks Mendy!!