Home is Where the Heart Is

As most of you know, (let's be honest, probably ALL of you, since I only have a few family readers :) ) Ryan and I bought our first home here in Bolivar. The past few weeks have been filled with painting, cleaning, loading, unloading, laying floors, cleaning, dusting, staining, scraping, sanding, lifting, pitching, and little sleeping. We are both sore, tired, and running on a dangerous mix of caffeine and adrenalin. But it has been worth it. We have space; we have a bathroom with heat (well, actually 2 and 1/2); we have a kitchen big enough for 2 to cook in; we have an UPSTAIRS; we have walls painted with color; we have a neighbors with tended lawns and INTERNET..we have ALOT to be grateful for.

As I was cleaning dishes one final time in our cozy little rental on E. Freeman St. tonight, I began reminiscing about all of the memories those walls hold. Our first Christmas...our first anniversary....our first big "married people" fight...our first dinner....our first house party, our first time handing out Halloween candy and not being the trick or treaters ourselves...our first round of illness...my experience(s) with Ryan's sleep-walking/talking escapades...our first pet together...our first tornado scare in the rental...

I remember the day we moved into the rental. It was exciting, stressful, the beginning of a new era for Ryan and I. We made it work. We were proud. We were content.

And that is why I am so thankful for this new home...It marks yet another new era. It's exciting; it's scary; it's alot to be grateful for. Its walls contain a blank sheet for sweet memories to come.

May your homes be filled with love, laughter, and happiness. If only our walls could talk...