Yesterday, May 18, 2017 marks 10 years since this day:
Hooray! We just bought an ugly kitchen. Closing day 2007.
Ten years since we excitedly closed on the ugliest house on the nicest block. We were 28 years old, childless, poor and probably had no right to pay so much for a house that needed so much. But as you can see from above, we were happy, clueless and ready to roll.
In less than one month, this house will belong to someone else.
Next month we are moving to a new house, about 20 minutes away from this one, but miles closer to where we want to be long-term. A big yard, a much larger house, an award-winning school district.
Because these last 10 years? We’ve grown two human beings. We’ve lost and gained new jobs. We’ve grown up.
Easter 2013
We’ve had happy times and sad times. We’ve taught two kids to ride bikes, to eat their veggies, to look both ways before crossing the street. We brought home a playful, adorable puppy, who has grown into a slower, chubbier, older, but still so happy and lovable dog. Basically, every single thing that’s happened in the last 10 years has happened in this house.
And now it’s going to belong to someone else. And that’s really hard.
But sometimes the hardest things are the things most worth doing. We’ve worked and saved and sacrificed to purchase a home for our family that is what we’ve always wanted. Finally, a two-story house so we can watch TV as loud as we want while the kids are in bed. A huge yard, with a beautiful pond where I envision us sitting on the deck watching herons and ducks and frogs visiting. Our kids are smart – scary smart – and we want them to have all the opportunities in the world to become what they’re going to be, and we are hopeful that this school district, and this community, will help them get there.
So this is the right decision for us.
But it’s still really hard to let go of this house that we put back together after years of neglect, that we know like the back of our hands, that feels like home.
I’ve written about our home remodeling projects dozens of times on this blog. Check out our progress over the last decade here, here, here, here and here.
And wish us luck on this new chapter. Because, you know we weren’t about to buy a move-in ready house. That’s just not in our DIY blood. So stay tuned as I hope to chronicle this new chapter of us remodeling our forever house.
AWholeNotherStory 