Goodbye, Little Stucco Townhouse

Four years ago, Justin and I made an exciting move. We bought our first house. It was a little stucco townhouse at the end of a row. It had lots of natural light, needed nothing but a few coats of paint in the upstairs rooms (they were purple and pink), and had a fenced in patio. 

In retrospect, this house has been through a lot with us. 

We had our first wedding anniversary in this house, and our second, third, fourth, and fifth. I learned to garden in this house. I turned my boring cement patio into a lush green garden and we ate regularly from it. We both changed our careers in this house. We lost special people in our lives while living in this house.

Justin and I both went through the hardest years of our lives as we grieved a lot of hard things together, both fought major depression, intense anxiety, financial issues, and illness together. 

My mom set foot in this house only once. When we bought it, she was already too sick to do much. She sat on the couch in the living room and told us the truth she'd never wanted to say to her kids..."I'll be gone in a few months." We cried together in her car parked in front of my door, as she told me how hard it was to not be able to say the words she needed to anymore because her brain was getting jumbled by tumors and her language was all messed up. 

I was laying on my bed in this house when she and I had our last phone conversation. She told me, "I'm not worried about you, you've become a wonderful adult." Conversation was too hard, and she would get mixed up too much, so we stopped our decade-plus long routine of weekly long phone chats.

The walls of this little townhouse have been our sanctuary for four years. It has been our refuge from the storm as we holed up to protect ourselves while we suffered, worked, and began to heal. This house did so much for us, that we weren't expecting, and as a result, it helped us become better than we were, and to get back on our feet. Now, we must part ways, and let it be someone else's sanctuary, as we live out our dreams in a new home.

The best part?

Change. So much is changing for us lately. We're getting healthier, happier, and healing. And as a result, we need something new. We need a fresh perspective on all accounts. 

And...

I'm going to have a yard!!!! No more gardening on cement! I can't wait to show you all what I do with my garden there. 

Also, a fun addition to the blog, the house needs a little love, it's almost 50 years old, and as a result, we'll be DIY-ing some rehabs along the way. It won't be anything huge right away, but I'll be sure to post progress as it comes! 

Goodbye, Little Stucco Townhouse. Thank you for everything. We'll always be grateful for you, and look forward to our new lives in our Little Brick House. 

*For privacy purposes, I haven't included a photo of the exterior of the house. For lazy purposes, I didn't photograph every room looking fancy before we dismantled them.

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