This Old House

A storm came two nights ago...and with it took most all of our appliances and electronics . I thought it fitting since we are moving...we will need all new stuff. It seems that everything in our home dug their heels in and refused to move...I'm not sure I blame them. I will miss our place too.

We have bought a house together. Even as I type this, I am tearing up about the situation. Although I am very excited about our new home, I will miss our cottage here terribly....the home we were never going to leave... It represents so many things accomplished over the years. My independence(my only "a femme sole" purchase), my largest and most expensive gift for my son(so he would have a yard to run in), my marriage to God's greatest gift to me, and our little baby girl we have watched every day grow into something so magnificent, we really couldn't have imagined her any better. All of these things we are leaving in these walls...our memories, good, bad, and sad...go with us..but the remnants that happened here stay here....and that tugs at my heart like nothing else.
Everything in it's place and a place for everything...Our new house will be better for us. Our little home now, sadly, is ill equipped to house 3 growing children, two adults, two dogs, and two households of furniture. It has no place for anything...except our hearts but It was time...we knew it was coming...we explored every option we could to stay and we delayed this until the very last minute. However, I do admit, having space to move about and a place to put everything will be a nice change. Our one bathroom situation has been for the past two years, difficult, to say the least. My near teen son and potty training daughter had to come to an understanding quickly about personal space...forget the two adults who need to brush their teeth and shave every so often.

There are some perks to a bigger place...but I am moving slowly through my house now...packing it carefully...so not to shock my system.

Before I started today, I decided to photograph some things that we shouldn't forget

Our oak tree:
the one they said would never weather the storms,

always hung, looming over the top of our house,
protecting it really...
it was never a threat at all we discovered.

Mother Mary watching over our kitchen:
protecting all who bravely ate my food...










Our confederate cream jasmine covering the ugly black iron:My husband's late father suggested it to me, saying that it covers excellently and is nice to smell in the Spring when you walk out your door. He was right.





Our door knob: touched everyday by each person that is cherished in this house.

Our angel
hanging by the door:
protecting us as we come and go

Our street: Where Kate learned to ride her scooter
and Austin his bike.

Our house numbers:
painted after two storms blew away our address markers. These weren't going anywhere.












My babies' "height chart" in the door jam:this goes with us no matter what Tom says.

Kate's "birdfeeder":

right under her window so
she can watch them eat...

Our wooden floors I refinished myself:
Tom, with little faith in my abilities at the time,
insisted I stop and put the carpets back...
I, of course, did not....

This old house has seen us through many things, protected us from the storms, held strong like the bunker that it is...never disappointing us when we came home to it, walked into it, ate in it, fell asleep in it, played outside of it, made and brought our babies home to it, cried in it, laughed in it, stayed up late in it, celebrated in it, mourned in it...it will be hard to let it go....if I can. I don't intend on kicking and crying as they drag me away from it...but I'm not making any promises.