Moving Backward and Coming Home

So our big news in the past months is that we are back in our house. You might not keep close tabs on what we are up to, but a year and a half ago, we moved out of our house to sell it and into a trailer on a lot we hoped to build on. The house didn't sell for the first few months, so we took it off the market so it wouldn't languish there through the winter months when no one buys houses. A friend from Canada was moving down here for work, so we rented it to her and we were all happy! Last October, the realtor called and said he knows our house was off the market, but someone was really interested, could he show it? Sure!

Once the contract was signed and sealed, we told our friend she would probably need to find a new place. She signed on a new apartment and our contract promptly fell through. 

Soo.... we had two houses, two mortgages, and two heat bills on our hands in the middle of a bitter cold winter. While it probably doesn't sound logical, we decided that we would move back to this house (space! light! no pipes freezing!) and just shut the water and heat off for the trailer. 

(It ended up that a woman who works with Mum needed a place to live, so she is currently renting our trailer.)

Our moving day picture. Mostly this was a joke to send to Lindsey--that this-is-our-new-house-we-are-so-excited picture that you usually take when you move into a new house. 

It was a long day--we moved most of our large stuff on one Saturday. Tempers were fraying, kids were exhausted, and Justin and I were questioning our sanity. 

But it was all worth it the next day when we had special meeting workers. 

That is our friend Theresa to the right, who had been renting this house from us. 

When I first found out our contract had fallen through I was outraged, frustrated, and ANNOYED. I had everything neatly planned out. How dare anything else happen? After telling myself to get over it, we plunged full tilt into plan B. 

Moving back into this house felt like moving backward, both physically and financially. And moving backward is not something I like to do. 

It was HARD moving out of here. (So much stuff. I hate moving.) And I get emotionally attached to places. This is where my kids were kids! Two of our babies came home from the hospital to this house! So why were we moving back in to it after I felt like I had made peace with selling my kids childhood home? What were we thinking? 

The equity we had in this house was already mentally spent in getting ready to build our new house. When will that house ever get built now?! 

I may have thrown my own wee little pity party for one--actually two (Justin had to attend too--part of the covenant of marriage I am pretty sure.) 

But oh. Once we were moving things in, it was hard to not recognize a feeling of coming home. This is where the jar goes for spatulas and whisks. This is the spot for the kids shoes. And over here is where we put the pen cup and plug phones in.

They were finally back where they belonged. And maybe we were too. 

Because.... 

SPACE! Justin and I could both stand on either side of our bed. Miracle!

BATHROOM! We had our lovely tiled, whirlpool, spacious bathroom again. I no longer hit the ceiling with my elbow in the shower. (Okay, that is a teensy exaggeration, but I did hit the ceiling with my hair and towel, so...)

SUNLIGHT. Do the manufacturers of trailers want people to feel depressed? Is that why they put the bare minimum of windows in? 

The first few days were were in here, it was exceptionally sunny (and cold). I was completely over the moon about the sunlight. 

I kept exclaiming and taking pictures. 

I exulted like no one's business. 

And the weekend Clover and Evan were up? We had our first company Sunday dinner in over a year and half. 

With a large family and college going on, I never had people over to the trailer for dinner. It was crowded and complicated. 

Back in this house, we had Clover 40th birthday party. Well we had cake anyway. 

(She is the first of us Vaughans to turn 40--how can I have a 40 year old sister?!?)

It was nice getting everything ready and having people to our house. I forgot what that felt like. 

Kids, comics, and SUNLIGHT on our bed. Did you notice the sunlight?!? Pretty great, huh? 

I am exclaiming and praising the space of this house, but it still is really a pretty small house. As evidenced when everyone lounged around the living room--no one could walk through without stepping over fourteen legs, give or take.'

So while I love being here for now, the house we want to build is still a very real thing. 

It feels rather surreal to be back in this house. We have owned this house for nine years, but I never went to grad school in this house. I never drove from here to my current job. Elsie never went to school from this house. Large chunks of our history happened in that trailer. 

But I am not going to start getting emotional about that trailer. Because.... well I am just not. I will just think about that shower. And the pipes freezing.