This "Old" House

We are in full swing of packing and moving. Roscoe doesn't know who to bark at anymore and Finley doesn't know what to play with as most of the stuff he likes to get into has all been packed up.

Over the weekend we took down everything off the walls to spackle and paint and started packing up things and sorting all the items we will be moving ourselves (the china, important paperwork, special pictures, all Cale related items, etc) and I was just reminiscing about all the memories we've had in this house. So, venture with me down memory lane for a bit. . .

We bought our home in May 2009, but didn't move in until September of that year. Miles deployed at the end of May and I was in South Carolina attending a course. While there, I would drive down to our new home over the weekends to mow the lawn and slowly unpack. My mom came out for a bit to spend time with me in SC, but also help me over the weekend down in GA. My mom is an avid gardener and I have inherited her love for planting and working in the yard, but certainly not her knowledge or talent. She helped plant our first plants and put the touches on making our house a home.

 

Packing up the dining room reminded me of Thanksgiving 2009 when both sides of our family came out. All of the men in the family went to Shooters, a local gun store and shooting range. I mean, the holidays are all about bringing family together so you can better prepare for the zombie apocalypse anyway, right??

 

In the spring of 2010 when I was pregnant with Cale my sister Kate flew out for a weekend to help me set up the nursery. Miles was deployed at the time (yet again) and we had a wonderful weekend together. One of our projects in the nursery was to hang up the cross stitch that my grandmother (who passed away in 1994) made for me when I was a baby. It had been hanging in my house back home as long as I can remember, but when I was pregnant, my mom and dad carefully took it down and mailed it so that it could now hang in the new baby's room. It was quite the endeavor to figure out how to gently hang it without damaging the delicate fabric on the back, and to get it perfectly balanced and straight on the wall.

 Clearly this was the best picture to go with. 

Wouldn't you agree Kate?

I have so many memories of preparing that nursery - the first time as I did it in innocent anticipation of my first baby, and the next time with great trepidation, but also a glimmer of hope which prompted me to prepare for my second son, just as I had my first. When we found out Finley was a boy of course we were ecstatic for many reasons, but one small, trivial reason was that I wouldn't have to take down this decal above the crib - another agonizing project to ensure the lines and spacing were just right.

The nursery is probably the room I will miss the most. But, there is a lot more about the house I will miss based on all the memories associated with it. I will miss our garden in the back yard that we made for Cale:

 

Picture from Cale's First Birthday in Heaven Celebration in June of 2011

I will miss the times that Daren came over for dinner or just to hang out. . . or to get his head shaved in preparation for Ranger School.

I'll miss our neighborhood and the nice mail man who lets Roscoe climb up on the steps of his truck to get pet. I'll miss our convenient and super friendly grocery store, and the nearby park and nice bike paths. I'll miss so much about this house, and this life that we've known for the last three years. But at the end of the day, it is just a house. And I'm taking with me all the wonderful memories created in it. Like this one . . . my all time favorite.

Here's to happy memories yet to come. . .