Ben and I have lived in our home for seven and a half years. It was our first home that we bought at the height of the housing market to renovate and flip for a profit (like a lot of other naïve 20somethings). And while the quick flip didn’t happen, the renovations did! Ben built a beautiful deck, a fence, and an amazing custom shed. We replaced all the windows and I painted every inch of the trim white. I also painted the outside of the house and every inside wall at least once. We tiled and updated both bathrooms and the kitchen. We completely transformed our backyard planting hundreds of plants, adding a rock garden, fruit trees, a rose garden, raspberries and strawberries. And while I was pregnant with Josh, we even laid bamboo floor all by ourselves. We learned A LOT about renovations in this home!
More importantly than all the work, this was the place we brought our three sweet babies home to. It has been a haven of wonderful moments and memories. It has housed spit up, diaper changes, sleepless nights, potty training and fits. Those aren’t what I remember the most, though. I remember the laughter, wrestling, hugs and kisses. I remember the boys learning to crawl down the hallway and turning the corner into the kitchen to find me. I remember handing Seth and Sam their bottles at the kitchen sink and watching them toddle back to their cribs. I remember Joshy learning to crawl and desperately trying to get into Seth and Sam’s bedroom to play legos with them. I remember quiet evenings, just Ben and I, sitting outside at the fire pit, proud of what we made into a home. It’s the home where I learned to be a homemaker and a mother. And the home where Seth and Sam learned to build legos, read, and be a good big brother to Josh.
I could spent pages and pages listing my memories, and maybe some day I will. But now, let me tell you a bit about what we’re going to!
We’re moving to a small town Northwest of Portland called Scappoose. Ben and I have been looking at properties up there for more than a year, and our “perfect” home finally came up for sale in April. I say “perfect” because someday it will be—with A LOT of work. Yep, that’s right, we’re moving into another fixer-upper, and this one we’re not just battling 80’s pink and purple tile. We’re talking full-on 60’s motif: the kitchen has brown and yellow tile, and there’s a bathroom that’s we’ve affectionately titled the “Sunset” bathroom due to pink and blue tile that’s covering every inch of the walls and counters. But, it has good bones.
AND it’s on .68 acres and is a whole 600 square feet bigger than what we’re currently living in. Oh, I breathe a sigh of relief when I think of the amount of space. It has four bedrooms, plus a playroom. And the boys can run, play, and build dirt piles for days—and I’ll still be able to have my pretty landscape and yard. Oh we are so excited!
So, in less than two weeks, we’ll be on to our next adventure! We’re looking forward to living in a smaller community and a bigger home with outdoor room for the boys to run. We’re so grateful for God guiding us through a pretty stressful home selling/buying experience and learned a lot of very important lessons (maybe some day I’ll detail the whole story—it’s been a rollercoaster ride!)
Sammy dressed up like a girl (the toys are his earring, and the blanket his skirt)
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