Mixed Nuts: When a House is a Home

Quotes

"There is no better way to thank God for your sight than by giving a helping hand to someone in the dark." - Helen Keller
When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, "I used everything you gave me." ~Erma Bombeck
You may never know how strong you are, until being strong is your only choice.- Unknown
Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see a shadow' ~Helen Keller
Promise me you'll always remember: You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.
Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened."- Dr. Seuss
"Life is 10% what happens to you, and 90% how you react to it."
"God doesn't give children with disabilities to strong people: He gives them to ordinary, everyday people, then He helps the parents to grow stronger through the journey. Raising a child with special needs doesn't TAKE a special family, it MAKES a special family."Author Unknown
I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go – Abraham Lincoln
Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man. ~ Benjamin Franklin
There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as if everything is a miracle - Albert Einstein
The journey of a 1000 miles starts with a single step
Sometimes in the middle of an ordinary life, love gives you a fairy tale
Where there is great love, there are always miracles - Willa Cather
The Difficult we can do immediately, the impossible takes a little longer
Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness
There are two lasting bequests we can give our children. One is roots. The other is wings.
Be the change you want to see in the world
Don't tell God how big the storm is, tell the storm how big Your God is..........
Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it
Fall down seven times - get up eight - unknown
Despite our differences, we sink or swim together
Life may not be the party we expected, but while we are here, we might as well dance
"The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones." -Confucius

Thursday, May 26, 2011

When a House is a Home

Today, our real estate agent that is going to sell our property came by to look over the property and take pictures.

This is the real estate agent who actually was our buyer's agent when we moved to Connecticut. We absolutely love her, and were excited that we could use her again on the sale of our home.

Today, as I walked her around the house - talking about what we have done to make the house ours, it reminded me about how more bitter than sweet this move is. For the first time in the 8 places we have lived, I am most attached to this house.

I won't deny that I love this house. I love what we have done to it to make it our home. The people before us might not have loved it, but we do. And we had so many more projects planned for it over the next few years.

But now, it will be someone else's house. Someone else's project. And that is a little sad. For the first time I care if they change the paint. Or don't like what we have done with the landscaping and the yard. That they don't appreciate the finished basement we worked so hard on. Or they don't love that the master bedroom is the perfect size. That the area is quiet, and when I look out any of my 20 plus windows, I see nothing but green. That the trees we have not cut down have meaning to us, and that is why we left them alone. How proud we are of our stone walls on both sides of our property. That Mat worked for a week straight on the firepit in the backyard and it is perfect. That the back porch is big enough for the kids to ride bikes on. That the farmers porch is a perfect size for rocking chairs on a cool summer evening.

So - it is going to be hard to leave. Hard to know that our hard work, especially outside, will be someone else's gain this time. We will be leaving behind a little bit of our hearts in this house.

The previous 7 residences were just houses. This was truly our first home.

So - if you are looking for a great house in a great neighborhood in Salem Connecticut, this property is for you. 9 acres of quiet, green, beautiful land and house.