home.

it is one of the last few nights that i am sitting in our very first home.  andrew and i have been here almost 13 years.  it doesn't seem possible to type that number.  13.  lucky 13.  and for the most part of those 13 years we have been lucky.  blessed is probably a better word.  we've been blessed.  we walked into this house two 23 year olds wide eyed and clueless to what would lie ahead.  at that age it all seems possible.  marriage?  ha!  easy.  parenthood?  please, no problem.  being home owners?  it's a new house, what could go wrong?  we found out all these things, and plenty more, are far from easy but worth all the blood, sweat and tears that go into it all.   

in this house we became husband and wife (that's right, we bought it before we got married but don't worry, i had a ring before i signed the papers...not that it matters.  i knew we were both here to stay from day one).  we became pet owners, and found out that is not as easy as we thought.  our bo-girl is still here with us.  we like to consider her our first child we ever brought home.  we also found out we were going to be parents, three times, here in this house.  we found out the good (so good...like amazingly good), the bad (being parents is really hard!) and the just flat out, no parent should ever have to deal with, not fair, part of being parents.  really not fair.  and through it all we've come home to this house.  our home.  it has seen it all and kept us safe.  i have more memories here that i will take with me when we leave than i ever thought possible.  but, this house.  this incredible house that we have poured our heart and soul (and a lot of our money, most of it not by choice) now belongs to another family.  i'm not going to lie, it hurts.  a lot.  but all good things come to an end and even better things lie ahead.  

thank you good ole' deerhaven trial for being so much more that just a house.  you were home.  a great home.  may your new owners love you as much as we did and then some.