Reminiscing on the 13th Anniversary of our Home

We may earn money or products from the companies mentioned in this post.

Thirteen years ago yesterday (November 5th) we moved into our home.  We designed it and our contractor friend built it while we lived homeless for eleven weeks.  Yes, that’s what I said.  He built it start to finish just that fast (basement included)! During that time, we lived down the hill with my parents and moved all our stuff into storage. Then one of the kids went to camp and brought lice home, we didn’t know it for 4 weeks, and by then three of the four kids had it.  So that’s what I did for the next six weeks while we waited on the house – played beauty shop every single day of my life.  You wanna talk about nit picking?  I can hang.

Anyway the lice was a side note.  The main reason I mentioned our 13th anniversary in our home is because last summer we finally built the garage we had always planned! We built an apartment above for my parents, and every week something is going on whether it’s a garage door installation or a furnace, gutters, electrical, etc.  This place is hopping with activity, as we still have a ways to go toward completion. 

Unfortunately, when you have lived in a place for this long, there are some major rennovations that need to take place – such as carpet.  We’ve been sitting in the floor all week because we ordered new furniture and carpet for our living room.  The carpet was supposed to come before the furniture – guess what, nothing works how you plan it anymore.  Wait, nothing ever did work out the way I planned it anyway.  We now have new furniture on top of old carpet.  I guess the carpet guy is going to have to move a lot of furniture to get to the floor cause I’m not doing it.

We are talking white berber with little multicolored flecks.  It is as hard as a rock and not at all pleasant to sit on.  When we removed all of the furniture, we discovered a dingy “L” shape representing the flow of traffic around the coffee table.  We knew it was bad, we just didn’t know how bad!

The new carpet is a rust color with a gushy pad and lots of “pile”.  I’m told it is even comfie to sleep on.  And so, if the need arises, Jim can snooze there and I shall not worry. (I’m only joking, hon.  I’ll take the floor.)

The kids were ages 9, 7, 4 and 2 when we moved in this house – so many, many wonderful memories made. Nolan galloping up and down the stairs sounding like a heard of wild elephants.  Hayley and Kylie slinging each other around on their beds upstairs, jumping so hard the living room light shook until Jim would yell for them to stop. Taryn accidentally leaving her baby crabs without food under her sink for a solid week and finding them dead and dried up.  Ray, the hamster, was loose for days in Nolan’s room until we discovered his new domain inside a Star Wars space ship in the closet. Hayley and Kylie’s dream nets over their beds and glow-in-the-dark stars on their ceiling. Jam sessions in the basement studio with Nolan and his buddies.  Taryn and her many sleepovers and birthday parties. Nolan and Hayley’s filmed “newscasts” complete with Weathergirl Kylie and her many missing teeth, proclaiming it would be “a little bit snowy and and little bit sunny”, all the while pointing to Russia and Iceland on her world map. Many hours of practice logged in the music room – piano, violin, flute, guitar, and anything else anyone decided to learn.

My kids have always loved our house – they still do. They never want us to move away after they leave because they want to always be able to return to the home they grew up in with all the great memories. 

I don’t ever want to either.  I just want to make more memories with my wonderful family and watch them each bring their life mates home to meet us, and eventually, grandbabies.  I could look back wistfully, or I can enjoy the present exciting and ever changing days of growth, and anticipate the new era to come. 

I think I’ll do that!  Happy Anniversary to our HOME!