Farewell

Last Sunday we turned over the keys to our first house. 

As I finished cleaning it and walked through the empty rooms, the memories made in our great little house on Stowe Springs flashed through my mind: the day we closed; the day we brought Addie home; Chris' HUGE graduation party with about 40 people crammed into our living room; the day I met my neighbors across the street (pregnant with a broken leg!); my newborn baby boy in the bassinet in the living room the day we brought him home; burning my hand and spilling hot oil all over the kitchen; lots of linoleum scraping to prep for our new floors; plenty of frustration with our air conditioner; snow days and ice hockey in the streets; converting a boy's nursery to a glamorous girly nursery in anticipation of our second baby; bike rides and swing set fun with neighborhood kids; and lots of gatherings and parties and friends and family. Eight years in our first house together were packed with joy, tears, challenges, laughs, and experiences I would never want to alter.

I'm not sad to leave our house. We had been anticipating a move to somewhere with more property, more space, and nicer upgrades. We always knew our first house would be left behind one day, and we thank God for the resources and opportunity He gave us to find the house we had hoped for. At the same time, I treasure this first little house with its proximity to our church building, the spacious closets that held so much stuff I barely have space in my bigger house to hold, all of the upgrades and changes we made over the years as we had the money and time to do so, and great neighbors we could never replace.

Saying goodbye was bittersweet, but we open a new chapter for fresh memories and gatherings and redefining home in our new house!