I love this house and I will miss it.
Today is moving day and I am excited, exhausted, nostalgic and sad.
Walking downstairs this morning, it hit me: last night was my last night here.
No matter how frustrated I have become with this house in the last few months due to its lack of space for Lucas, it’s cold, hard slat floors, it’s barely large enough to turn around in kitchen and it’s distance from good friends and family, we have spent four wonderful years here.
I was proposed to in the dining room.
I became a wife in the backyard.
I saw my parents for the last time in the living room.
I’ve enjoyed meals prepared by my husband, lots of takeout and countless bowls of cereal from the bar in the kitchen.
I’ve walked hundreds of miles on the treadmill in the office.
With my husband by my side, I have cried myself to sleep out of immeasurable grief within the safety and comfort of our bedroom.
We became parents in this house as we paced the floors comforting, soothing and getting to know our newborn.
We turned the upstairs guest room into a nursery and have read, sang and fed our son in the rocking chair in his room night after night for the past 18 months.
We’ve watched hours of mindless television catching up and trying to decompress from our busy days in our family room.
We’ve played “choo choo” and cars in every. single. room.
We have walked to and from the mailbox in hopes of running onto our neighbor’s cat, or better yet, one of our great neighbors.
We’ve hollered at one another at the top or bottom of the stairs, tripped on items that needed to go one way or the other and met each other halfway.
We’ve entertained family, celebrated birthdays and made new friends on our patio and watched a beautiful olive tree grow and bloom in the side yard.
I will carry with me all the warm memories this home has provided and hope that it’s new residents will treat it well.
I love this house and I will miss it.
Here’s to the next chapter…
This post was featured on the BlogHer Home page, in the featured members section on January 5, 2011.
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Aww moving is always hard. We are excited to be going into a new phase but we worry about our treasured memories contained in our old.. Good luck on the move hun
Best luck with your move. It is great to make new memories and start in a new space with clean slate. Remember you can always come back even if it is in oer 20 years.
What a beautiful post. We move a lot and its always so hard. The memories will only grow in your next home!
Wow, moving day is here! Such a big step for your family, but I think it's a whole new chapter. The best thing about memories is that you take them with you.
Take care of yourself! Moving is hard work.
Awww! This is such a great post! Full of memories and a lot of touching moments. But you will create just as many memories in your new home, Tonya!
just stumbled this!
Oh Tonya – – this post made me tear up. Best of luck to you on your next great adventure. I wish we could've gotten to know each other better while you were living so close! I will continue to read ALL of your posts on
Letters to Lucas. You are a very talented writer and hella funny!!!!
This was beautiful Tonya…and a post I'm sure you'll read again and again over the years. Looking forward to hearing more about the move…good luck with everything!
Congratulations on your home. I'm excited for you!
And it's hard leaving an old home behind. No matter it's issues, it was HOME.
How lovely. I hope your move goes smoothly – welcome to The OC!
As much as I'd like to move out of our teeny house, both Sage and X were born in it. Not sure if I can ever leave.
This post is so touching. Good luck for your moving day. I know how much you love your house. I'm sure that a lot of other lovely moments are awaiting you in your new home. And Lucas will appreciate having more space to play in 🙂 He'll soon be inviting his BFF over!
I look forward to seeing pictures of your new home.
Thinking of you xoxox
This makes erveyithng so completely painless.
Love this post! Stay tuned for my post tomorrow.. i am going to talk about it and the things we talked about last night before we left.. I'll really miss this house too. So many memories in it. RIP Encinitas House! : (
Great post…made me tear up. I can completely relate. When my Grandmother passed away we bought the house she had lived in for 40 years and moved back to our hometown and had our first baby there. When we outgrew it, I couldn't get rid of it so we rented it out and moved to a bigger house. I love that house and understand. 🙂
It's amazing how a house can be so full of memories. Memories that make it a home. We really want to move but when I think of all the things that have happened in this house, I'm sure it would really hit me hard if we did. Hope you are having fun creating new memories in your new house.