Happy House Anniversary

I think I posted these pics once on the old blog. But it's that time of year again, so I'm reposting them for those of you who missed them, or who just miss seeing them. ha. It just so happens that March marks our 9 yr anniversary in our house. Our first house. This house in which we chose the lot, and chose the floor plan, and chose the colors of the carpet, and walls and stucco and brick. We lived 45 min away and would drive down as often as we could just to look at our dirt. And then our hole. And then our footings. And so on and so on until we finally had a house to look at! It was an unbelievably exciting time for us. I think we started the whole process in October or November sometime and then moved in in March!

It's just interesting to me how faaast these 9 yrs seem to have gone by. As seen above, Isaac was 11 mos old when we moved in (and I had very short hair - haha). Abigail was almost 3 yrs old. It's crazy to think about.

Also crazy to think about all the plans I (we) had for this house. We had a page long list of things we wanted to do, ranging from adding a peephole to the front door, to the landscaping, to eventually finishing the basement. And I think (if I'm remembering correctly) that we also had some sort of fantasy of saving up money and actually buying furniture and decorating each room the way we'd actually want it, one room at a time. Let me just say, that has never happened. At all. My house is still not the way I had wanted it, really (so don't judge me too harshly if you see it). I don't have furniture I like. I haven't even hung up all our pictures (they are sitting in a stack against the wall in my closet). And there are some things that make me long for a different house altogether.

I had thought at the time we bought this house that it would be fun to use our "house anniversary" each year to do something to improve, repair, or fix-up the house. We've never done that either.

This is all slightly discouraging to think about at times.

Most of the time I just try not to think about (that may also be part of the reason none of these things ever get done).

But the reality is, life just hasn't always gone the way we expected. When does it ever? And our house is just a very visible, tangible sign of that. I am trying very hard to accept that. Time, money, energy, ambition, and ability have all had drastic shifts in priority over the last 9 yrs. I am not exaggerating when I say that my "realistic expectations" have been lowered substantially and sometimes all we can do is get through and nothing more. Not painting, not weeding, not scrubbing and organizing, not thinking about decorating or rearranging or even deciding on a place to hang up pictures. I can't even explain it fully. But that has been our reality.

I have to be content that I have 4 beautiful children - two of whom were welcomed home from the hospital to this very house. Our house has been full of memories of raising them. Full to the brink and overflowing with 6 individuals and their needs, wants, emotions, frustrations and dreams. Much laughter, many tears, music, screaming, stories and disasters. All kinds of good and bad.

But I have good food to give them and most of anything else they might need. I have a wonderful house to shelter them and a yard for them to run in. I have more than enough material blessings.

Life is good.

Really good.

And that's what I'm celebrating this year on our House Anniversary.

(oh and we were given a gallon of pretty paint by one of our neighbors, so we're thinking we might try to paint our bedroom this weekend (or sometime soon). That can be our celebration. And we might also need cake. Definitely.) :)