A few months ago I mentioned we were moving. Not far, but moving a family of 5 10 feet or 1,000 miles – is still a ton of work! I’ve been consumed with this task. From the packing and cleaning and preparing the kids for the move, the emotional process of closing on our first home all the way through the unpacking, celebrating and enjoying of our new house – consumed. But, we have a house. Our house. And now we are working hard to make it ours!

Tomorrow we will have been here one month. I am AMAZED at how far we’ve come in a month! I have been a machine. Unpacking and putting away non-stop. So much so, that in less than a month the only room with boxes still packed is my office (and the storage stuff). We’ve gotten some art hung, I’ve re-painted a few spaces and I’ve spent hours and hours and hours playing in my yard. The yard you guys, seriously – I am in heaven. We have rented apartments and ant-hill style townhouses our entire relationship. These places have no yard. Our new house? It has a yard. An amazing yard with a million weeds, tons of overgrown plants and grass that needs much TLC – but it’s ours and every minute I spend out there I consider playtime! I’ve pruned, transplanted, pulled up, cut down, rearranged and gotten my hands dirty to my hearts content. It’s been amazing.

But the best part about the yard? Watching the kids play. They run and roll and kick balls and splash in the sprinkler – and it makes my heart so happy. A few weeks ago my husband was mowing our lawn, I was weeding in the backyard and the kids were playing in the water table on the patio; as I took in the moment I started crying. I couldn’t believe how happy I was. It was an incredible feeling to watch my family in a way I had never seen them before. Taking pride in our home, playing in our yard, just being together without doing anything together.

Happiness.

That’s how I would summarize this whole thing. I am so happy. In fact, for a long time before we decided to move, before we found the perfect house, before all of this happiness – I was sad. I was really sad. All of the time. I would lay on the floor and listen to my kids, only moving if someone needed me. I would climb into bed at 7, earlier if my husband was home to put the kids to bed, and I would sleep. I would cry all of the time for no reason. I was sad. I was miserable. I got myself some help. I was seeing doctors and therapists and treating myself with medication, which was helping me on the surface. Helping me cope. But I wasn’t happy.

In the month that we’ve been here, all of that is gone. When I climb into bed, it’s because I’m exhausted after a day of working in our house. When I lay on the floor it’s to play with my kids or assemble furniture. When I cry, it’s tears of happiness and joy as I take in all that we’ve worked so hard for finally being a reality.

This move has truly changed our lives, in such a wonderful way. But, now I’ll stop talking and share a few photos with you, so you can see what it is that has been making me so happy (and keeping me from designing…..)

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Hugs,

Manda
Nibbles Skribbles