Week 12: My homes

My Homes: How many different homes have you lived in throughout your life?

Compared to some, I haven't lived in too many places. When I was a little kid, we lived in a double wide trailer on Thunderbird Street. I shared a room at the front of the house with Jessica and Sterling had the other room that doubled as my mom's sewing room and my dad's gun room. My parent's bedroom was at the back of the house. Even though I was little when we moved, I can still picture that house in my mind.

I can see the hall tree my dad built for my mom in the entry way. To the right was the dining room with the built in china cabinet that my mom's china doll, Sarah Jane sat (I was terrified of her and always ran past her to get to my room). The kitchen was behind a wall separating the dining room and it had white and green linoleum. Connected to the kitchen was a small laundry room and a side door that led to the dirt yard outside. The kid bedrooms and bathroom were down the hall. To the left of the entry way was the living room. It had paneled walls and a wood burning stove that my dad built a beautiful hearth for. My parents' bedroom and master bath were just on the other side of the living room.

When I was 7, we moved to the other side of town into a house that had enough bedrooms that Jessica and I didn't have to share. I won't go into detail about this house because that was the question a couple of weeks back. I lived in that house until I got married.

When Nathan and I got married, we moved to Salt Lake City so Nathan could attend LDS Business College. We had a one bedroom apartment off of Redwood Rd. It had a tiny kitchen and was over all very small but it worked for us. We lived there for one semester but struggled to make enough money to pay our expenses. From there we moved back in with my parents for a couple of months.  

After moving back home, Nathan and I decided to move back up to Washington where Nathan had more job connections. We lived with his parents for a month while Nathan found a job and we looked for an apartment. After that, we lived in a 2 bedroom apartment in Redmond. It was a very nice apartment and worked well for when my family came to visit. I really liked it there. Nathan and I had a very happy life and I could easily go back to it, if I didn't have five kids. ;) We lived there for about a year and a half and then decided we were ready for our own walls.

Next, we moved to Snohomish County to a town called Monroe. It's a beautiful town set near mountains and a river. Nathan's sister Yvonne was there and so we were excited to be so close to family. We were also very excited to be buying our very first house! I was 21 and Nathan was 24 when we moved in. We were so young! Our house was a split-level set on a cul-de-sac. It was very basic and if I think about it, had a floor plan very similar to our apartment except it had an extra bedroom and a basement level. It was a nice house and a good starter home but the split floor plan was a big pain, as were our neighbors. We lived there for 2 1/2 years and finally decided to move closer to Everett to be near our friends.

House #2 was in the town of Mill Creek, also in Snohomish County. It had a nice open floor plan and a big kitchen. I loved the open staircase and how easily the girls could run around. I disliked how tiny the bedrooms and closets were and how small our yard was. We really loved the area though and at that point thought we'd live in Washington for a long time. So when Gavin was on his way we decided to sell our home while the housing market was hot and move to a larger home with more storage and bigger bedrooms and yard. We wanted a house that we wouldn't outgrow, as we thought Gavin would be our last child. We lived there for 3 years.

Our last Washington home was about a mile away from the previous house. We loved the area and loved being close to our friends so we decided to stay close. This house too had an open floor plan and big kitchen but the bedrooms were much larger and all had walk-in closets. The backyard had a nice large deck and swing set. It was a very nice yard to spend time in. We truly thought we'd be there forever until Nathan received a job offer from the Church in Salt Lake City. After only a year and half in our home, we moved to Utah. Our children were 6, 3 and 1 and sadly only Ainsley has memories of Washington.

We've been here in our Utah home now for over 8 years. We've almost lived here as long as we lived in all of our homes in Washington combined. Although I never imagined myself raising my family in Utah, because we truly liked Washington and the people there, Utah feels more like home than any other place we've lived.

I have a saying on my wall that says, "Home is wherever I am with you." It's so true. I could live anywhere and be happy, as long as I have Nathan and my kids by my side. A house is just a house. It's the love that's in it that makes it a home. :)