It's the little things I'll miss the most

Twelve years ago, Bryon and I moved to the suburbs.  We never dreamed we would outgrow this house and ever move again.  However, Bryon's hot rod passion called for a bigger garage.  After looking for two years, we finally found our dream house...again.

Twelve years is the longest I've lived in any one house my whole life.  Twelve years' worth of laughter, tears, heartache, rejoicing, remodels, and discoveries have gone by.  I didn't think I was that attached until we started packing stuff up to list our house for sale.  I'm sure I'll be more than just a little emotional on the big day.  But, if all goes as planned, in one week we will be moving, hopefully for the last time.

What I've realized is that it is the little things we've done to this house that I'll miss the most.  My gas stove that took me forever to pick out will soon be a distant memory, but it's the drawer under the oven that will stay with me.  After replacing our oven with an upgrade, we realized the space under it no longer was the same size for the existing drawer.  So, Bryon made a drawer with a stainless front just for that space.  It's handy being married to an engineer sometimes!

I will also miss the wallpaper in my powder room.  It was one of the first projects we did after moving in, as the existing wallpaper had to be covered ASAP.  My mom had done a cool technique on her bathroom that I wanted to try.  The wallpaper comes in a roll, and you tear it into "rock-shaped" pieces then apply to the wall.  Mom graciously agreed to help lend her expertise and man-power.  Everyone that visits comments on it, and I love bragging about how my mom and I DIY'd it.

My mom, the decorator! 

Of all the paint colors we picked over the years, my favorite is still the one a decorator friend of mine helped us chose for our master bathroom.   Bryon surprised me one weekend, painting it himself while I was away for a family reunion.  I love the color and plan on painting at least one room in our new house the same shade, Silver Streak by Benjamin Moore.

The perfect shade of blue

We've planted many things in twelve years, only to have half of it die on us.  The tree on the south side of our front lawn is the FOURTH one, as all of the ones before it bit the dust.  Green thumbs, we are not!  Of all the plants, it's the Hundred Year succulent that I'm most fond of.  After planting it, I had my doubts that it would thrive.  But, it was definitely in it's happy place, as not only has it grown, it has also reproduced a baby Hundred Year right beside it.  My dad had to educate me on the plant, as I had no idea what it was when I bought it.  He said it will bloom once then die, usually in a hundred years.  I thought I would live here long enough to see it bloom, but that isn't going to happen.  I might just have to drive by every now and then just to see how our Hundred Year is doing.

Being married to a mechanical engineer, we rarely hire any projects out.  Bryon is a classic DIY homeowner, so I've learned a TON about home improvement.  My favorite project we did together was the "coyote fence" around the plants by our pool.  I had never heard of such a thing when he was telling me about his plans.  Nor had I heard of a drill press before, but I quickly learned.  We managed to build the fence using the drill press, miles of wire, and cedar posts.  I have loved the final result.  So, while the palm tree garden is full of plants we picked ourselves, it's the fence around them that holds a place in my heart.

Of all the rooms I'll miss, it's the nursery I'll miss the most.  My whole life has changed in that room.  During my last few weeks of my pregnancy with Shelby, my nesting mode was channelled entirely into that room.  I woke Bryon up one morning with my loud painting at 6 AM.  He managed to get out of bed and help me finish painting it the most delicate shade of yellow that I love.  My mom even got in on the action, helping me paint the ceiling.  I spent many sleepless nights feeding my babies in that room.  I paced the floor bouncing Haley for hours trying to get her to go to sleep.  I've converted cribs to toddler beds then replaced them with bunk beds in the six years it has been a nursery.  Truth be told, I've probably shed more tears in that one room than any other place on earth.  Lack of sleep can do that to a person.  Yep, it's the nursery I'll miss the most.

Don't you just love that yellow wall?
Oh, and the baby is pretty cute too.

We've added an attic in the middle of summer (by "we", I mean 95% Bryon and 5% me), replaced all the floors (cream carpet and kids do NOT mix), painted and repainted walls, bumped heads of the exact shade of green we wanted for the kitchen (Garden Wall was the winner), sewed curtains and accessories, built a pool "house" (really just a shed for the equipment, but I like to say "house" instead to sound fancy), had the fence replaced twice (ouch!), and made some pretty incredible memories here.  I can only imagine the adventure that awaits us in our new house!