It has been six months since we moved out of our second home or "Marsh Madness" as we nicknamed it. It's funny how quickly something can go from being Home to being somewhere you don't belong. We loved this house, and sometimes we hated it (let's be honest it was a 1970's split entry and there wasn't one square corner in the entire house) but for 9 1/2 years it was home for us, and a million memories were created within it's walls.
We moved a 7 month old baby girl in with us, and later brought a newborn son, and finally another daughter home to this house. Each of our children took their first step in this home, left for their first day of preschool from that house. We walked those halls many nights with a sick baby, kissed a thousand boo-boo's better, and swept countless fruit loops from that kitchen floor. We shared nine beautiful Christmases together next to a crackling fire in that house.
From that garage Rob worked on our vehicles, and many others as well. He repaired and cleaned mowers in that driveway, and cheered and yelled at the TV in the family room through football and basketball games year after year. There might even be a ding or two in some walls after a particularly frustrating loss...
I loved our garden, it was my daily therapy to go spend 30 minutes pulling weeds or watering plants, checking to see if anything was ripe. I could head out there ready to scream and somehow find peace in that soil. I also loved working in that kitchen. I wasn't much of a cook when we moved into that house but by the time we left, I have to say I was much more domestic. I was canning, and making everything from scratch! ( I still don't sew, nor will I ever.)
We loved working on this house, updating it room by room. I'll never forget the day that Rob asked what I thought about moving a ceiling fan from one spot to another, I told him it was a good idea. The next day I came home from work to find a hole in the ceiling and Rob in the attic moving wires.
We remodeled the kitchen, a bathroom, we built a second bathroom in the basement, we replaced every single door, we painted and repainted every room, we spent hours in that yard, built a shed, put in a vinyl privacy fence, rebuilt the deck, added french doors... we had a blast. It was ours, and it was such a joy to sit back and enjoy the fruits of our labors (aka Rob's labors, let's be honest he did 90% of the work).
We loved that it was located in a cul-de-sac. We had the best neighbors, and all summer long the cul-de-sac would be filled with children playing running from one yard to another. The adults would chat in driveways or over the fence, and frequently come over to help each other with various projects. In the winter time there wasn't much change, the kids would just bundle up and find the biggest pile of snow to sled down. If we weren't fast enough to clear our driveway, someone else would surely do it for us. That's the kind of people that we lived by.
During our time in this home we faced many difficulties, trials that threatened to tear our family apart. We are so grateful that we were able to go through these challenges in this home, because the neighbors, and members of our church were incredibly supportive and sure helped to lighten our burdens. We are all better people because of the examples that many of those neighbors and friends have set for us.
Now, don't get me wrong- I am happy to be where we are now. This was all part of our plan. Rob made a huge sacrifice when we decided to purchase a home. After nine months of searching it became apparent that we would have to make a decision between a house with horse property and a house with more that 2 bedrooms. For the sake of our family, Rob gave up having his horses close by so that we could have a home large enough for a growing family. It was agreed that this would be our 5-10 year home and then we would move back into the country.
So, here we are, about 2 months away from moving into our new home and we're thrilled. We're excited for this next step in our life and we are really looking forward to making a million new memories in the new house. There are wonderful neighbors to get to know out here (although they're a little further apart than our last neighbors) but we look forward to developing new friendships with them.
However, a home this wonderful does deserve a tribute.
So here's to you Marsh Madness: You built us into a family, and you brought people into our lives that we will cherish forever. We will never forget you, we will always be thankful for our time with you, and you will always have a place in our hearts. It's our sincere hope that the next family gets everything out of you that we did.
