I Love My Home

In May we hit the 5 year mark of when we moved to good ol' Idaho Falls.  We moved here right after McKay graduated from Utah State and received a job offer here in Idaho Falls.  

When we moved here I was 7 months pregnant with Adalyn and was just about finished earning my CDA (child development associates).  We knew a total of 4 people who lived in Idaho Falls (McKay's aunt and uncle and their girls).  We first moved into a cute town home on the other side of town.  We lived there for 6 months and then bought our first house in December.  We have lived in this house since then.

Moving to Idaho Falls was a big change for us at the time.  Not only did we not know anyone, but we also no longer had homework and school life to keep us busy.  Our evenings were ours to do whatever we wanted to do.  And for the first time in my life my days were also mine to do whatever I wanted.  I did not have a job for those first few months before Adalyn came along and I remember those summer days were some of the longest ones of my life.  Trying to stay busy, yet I really having nothing to do.  I was really big and pregnant so walking, shopping, or really doing anything was tough so I struggled to find things to do.

I remember visiting with a friend at one of my baby showers right after we moved to Idaho, we were talking about moving to a new place.  She said it takes about two years for you to really feel "at home" in a new place.  I seriously wanted to cry when she said that because at that point two years felt like an eternity! haha!  I had not even been married that long and I felt so desperate to find my "home" again.

But looking back... my friend was right.  It has taken us several years to settle into our surroundings and to feel like Idaho Falls is truly our home.

I wont lie, there were several years of wishing or wanting to be somewhere else.  I have lost track of the number of times that we have discussed moving or finding another job.  Not because we were unhappy with our situation, but because we just wondered if there was something better out there.  When my parents sold their home I REALLY wished that we were in a position to buy it from them, but the timing was not right (probably would have never been right).  We were always looking for the next best thing.

But over the past year I have reached a wonderful place and I feel so much peace and happiness in our sweet little town and in my cute little home.  I really love where I live and I am surrounded by wonderful friends and neighbors.  In the last couple years we have had some wonderful families move into our neighborhood and it has been so fun to get to know them.  I also feel like we have finally grown into our neighborhood (if that makes sense).  When we first moved here I was 21.  I was so young and Adalyn was only 4 months old.  There were not a ton of people our age and in our same stage of life.  Fast forward 5 years... now there are so many families around us that have kids the same ages as our kids and who we have really been able to connect with.  It is so fun!

I love so many things about our house.  It is my happy place.  It is far from perfect and may not have the most amazing decorations.  But it fits us well.  I adore having pictures all over my walls of my kids and family.  I love that my kids get to share a room and I love that we have room in the basement to expand later on.  I am grateful that McKay gets his three car garage for his projects and I love that a king size bed fits in my master bedroom.  I love that I can watch the kids in the backyard from any angle in my living room and kitchen.  I love having a little fireplace and mantel, I love, love, love having my laundry room right off of my kitchen (such a mom thing to say!), and I love having a fun little backyard for my kids to play in.

We had no idea what we were doing back when we were shopping for homes.  The only piece of advice that both sets of our parents gave us was buy the nicest house that you can afford.  Also stretch your budget a tiny bit and you will grow into the payment.  In the end that is the advice that we followed when we decided to buy our house and it served us well!

We are grateful for such a nice community and home to raise our children in.  I realize daily how lucky we are to have so much comfort in our lives.  I am also so thankful for McKay who works hard to provide for our family.

My dream is to someday live in one place for a very long time.  I love the idea of really knowing your surroundings.  To have my kids grow up with the kids around them and to truly get to know our neighbors and friends as family.  Who knows if Idaho Falls will be "our place" but I wouldn't mind if it is.