Welcome to your new home

Welcome! I’m so happy you picked this house. I don’t know who you are or where you’re from, but I’m glad you found a home. I know you don’t know me, and for all you know I’m just a person behind a keyboard. Well, I grew up in this house. I wanted to share some stories about the house. You have no idea what the walls would say if they could talk, but I do. I lived it.

First I want to start by saying I hope you have kids. If you’re young, and thinking about starting a family this is the perfect home for you. If you’re an older couple, I hope you have grandkids who will get to know our lovely neighbors. This was the most fun place to live growing up. I moved here when I was 4 years old. I moved out 16 years later. Trust me when I say you will not regret it.

To give you some background, I want to tell you about growing up here and details you may not notice have meaning. You see, this house use to not look like this. There use to be walls up, a dining room, living room, kitchen, and three bedrooms. We have torn down walls, built an island, added a bedroom and even removed a huge oak tree from the front yard.

Growing up here was something special. In that very kitchen, I tried eggs for the first time, and I must say, I was not a fan. I learned to ride a bike in that very neighborhood and in late years rode dirt bikes around. If you walk far enough, you’ll see a tree by the creek that my sister, a neighborhood friend, and I carved into. The older kids use to tell me the creek was called “Witch Creek” to scare me, don’t worry that’s not true. If you walk even further you’ll be lead down a driveway and you’ll see a huge house with a fence in the back yard. That fence use to have horses that I would secretly care for whenever I got the chance.

I was grounded many times in this house. Once, in the back bedroom on the left, I glued pictures to the wall, and got my sister and I in trouble. I got in fights here, lost my favorite animals here, cried here, and fell in love here. I lost friends here, found out about illnesses here, and learned so many life lessons. This house was a big part in helping who I am today.

My family and I use to have huge life talks at 3 in the morning that involved yelling, crying and hugging. These talks were some of the most important ones. We had movie nights and bonfires. We use to have a trampoline and a swing set, but the swing set fell apart, and the trampoline became too much work. We have spent 16 years growing, crying, laughing and loving between these walls. I hope you do the same.

In the side yard, every year there are purple flowers that grow. These grow right outside my bedroom window. Under these flowers lie my favorite dog buddy and our family cat, Sally. Sally was a boy, and my brother named him when he was little. Buddy was my best friend. He was always there when I needed a cuddle or protection. I hope you guys get a dog or have one. In the back yard, there is a small area of grass that has a cat buried under it and my dads wedding ring that went missing after it fell out of the kitchen window when he was doing dishes. That cat wasn’t ours, and it’s a very funny story, but it’s better in person.

I spent late nights in my room during my teenage years wishing for more. Wishing to move. Wishing to run, but I’m so glad I didn’t. Because without this home, without my family, and without these memories, I wouldn’t be who I am today. In these walls, my family has been saved, we have been miserable, we have wanted more, but we’re so happy that you are here now. I hope you create a lifetime of joy like we did.

Please, stay up late talking. Have bonfires and big birthday parties. Hang a tire swing in the back yard. Tell your kids, the big light is always first base. Turn the backyard into everything your imagination can create. Play tag, but don’t throw rocks. Play in a Barbie house, but don’t use scissors to cut their hair. Play basketball and have dance parties in the driveway. Live, cry, and love in this house. I know these may not make sense, but these are key parts of my childhood. There is so many more memories and lessons I could share, but I’ll have to keep those for myself. So with all of this, I live you with some advice: dream big, have fun, and build the life you’ve always dreamed of. You’ll be so happy you did.