A Home.

It's somewhat ironic that when something big is about to change in your future, it causes you to look backward.
We are about to move into our first home. Yes, we've "lived" in many houses, but there is a marked difference when that piece of land and everything on it belongs solely to you and yours. It's such an incredible feeling and I cannot wait.
However, it has caused me to look back at all the memories we've created along the way.
Trent and I first started out in an apartment above 4 boys. Trent knew the guy who bought the house, Ladd Marshall, and so we rented out his top floor...which had NO air conditioning. Even the swamp cooler was a joke. We would sweat if we put covers over us in bed. Our butter melted if we left it on the counter. Chocolate candy melted. Everything had to be kept in the refrigerator. It was nuts. We shared the washing machine and dryer with the boys downstairs. Makes coordinating laundry times a little difficult when sharing with 4 other men....
Then we moved to a nice apartment in the basement of an old couple. Berkley and his new wife. It was on a hill on the east side of town. The master bedroom was huge to me. I could even fit the pack and play in there! (Talk about 'big' in relative terms...) We lived there until we finished school...and brought our firstborn home to that apartment. I even remember watching a BYU football game with Berkley and it must have been awhile since he had watched a football game because when he saw a black player on the BYU team, he said something to the effect, "They let black kids play now? Wow! Times have changed."
After moving to Las Vegas with our newborn to find a reporter/news anchor job for Trent, we ended up back in Utah while Trent studied for the LSAT. There were lots of park visits when we lived in the West Jordan apartments so that Trent and Brenden and I could run around some green grass for awhile. However, going up and down 3 flights of stairs with two children (Kyleigh was brought home to this apartment) and groceries to haul...quickly turned into a priority to find us a new place to live. (Compacting the problem was our tiny 800 square foot place no longer fit 4 people. We had to turn sideways to get to our bed due to the way the pack and play was placed in our bedroom.) Brenden spent two years in this apartment. I wonder if he'll remember any part of it?
There were many visits to Salt Lake City to walk around Temple Square while we lived in West Valley City since it was fairly close. Oh how I loved any and every time we would walk around Temple Square. That is probably the thing I miss most about living in Utah. We shared a duplex with a couple downstairs. The Dunns. Great people. The backyard was HUGE! Trent's favorite backyard of all time. Trampoline, lots of grass, concrete area for little tykes car. I remember feeling like the ceilings were so tall in that place and it opened everything up and I felt like I was in a mansion compared to the cramped, low basement and top floor apartments we just came from. The walls were a bright turquoise, so we painted those brown. Brenden's room was a bright orange, so that was turned into a tan color. We had great neighbors, despite the city being known as one of the most dangerous ones in Utah. But, when the Dunns moved and an alcohol drinking couple moved in downstairs, it was time for us to leave. (There was a stairway inside the home that could be accessed to and no one outside would know if there was any trouble. I didn't feel comfortable with such meager means of security, so we moved...)
Lehi was fun to be able to not share a wall (or floor) with anyone. I no longer had to worry about if my volume was too high on the tv. Or what time of night it was when I started to run the dishwasher or washing machine. I could bang the floor with toys and not wonder if the neighbors were home and bothered with our noise level. It was so great! We set up a tent in our backyard and popped popcorn to watch movies in our backyard. We got a year pass to Thanksgiving Point and visited the place often. The first night we stayed in our new home, we kept the windows open...but quickly changed our minds when we realized how close the train tracks were when a passing train made known its presence. Brenden began Preschool at Lehi Elementary. He had a great time there and learned how to speak with the help of some great specialists. We threw our first Halloween party...in our own place!
Then it was a move to Akron, Ohio. Where? Exactly.
I had no idea where that city was or what it was like. But we packed up every article of belonging and shipped it all with us to Ohio...the Buckeye state. (Do you know what a buckeye is? Or what it looks like? I do, now.) Akron was very good to us. Our neighbors, Dave and Debbie Derr and Dan and Kim Thomson could not have been any better. A handpicked selection would not have warranted any greater people than what we drew with these families. The house was old and smelly. (I feel like alot of my stuff is still trying to dry out...) But it had character....until our landlord's parents came to 'modernize' everything. So we lived through MONTHS of renovations. Painting walls and cupboards in the kitchen, paint the playroom from its yellow color, our room from its orange color, soften the green in the baby's room, and strip the wallpaper in B & K's room as well as the wallpaper in the 2 bathrooms. Oh, and paint the basement wood paneling. Then, new countertops in the kitchen and some landscaping. We got to know the Mummas very well. And how glad we were to do so. They can make a great Chicken Cordon Bleu. We tried to take advantage of living on the East coast and visit as many sites as possible while there. We saw Niagara Falls and waved to the Canadians. Visited Palmyra and saw the temple and Hill Cumorah as well as Grandin Building where the Book of Mormon was first published. Kirtland and John Johnson various times. Philadelphia and New York. Brooke and Todd Cook lived nearby Philly so we stayed with them and even went to an amusement park that they recommended. Kids had a blast. Washington DC was probably our favorite. Soooooo many museums. And the history is very rich. Mount Vernon will always be my personal favorite. Trent enjoyed it immensely as well. He said he wouldn't have minded to stay at least an entire day there. The property is expansive and I came away wanting to become more self-sufficient like ol' George.
Akron was the place where we stuck around for the longest in our married life. However, it was also the shortest amount of time we got to see Trent. Many days, the kids never saw him before they went to bed. Trent had class about 2-3 nights a week for the last two years and mutual on Wednesdays. Saturdays was always either a study day or a time with Trent to visit whichever Metropark he wanted....we had plenty of those to choose from. The summers were sticky, hot. The winters were icy cold. Fall was beautiful but was over far too quickly. Airplane and Space museum in Canton was a hit. Amish country always lent itself to some beautiful vistas and a few pastries to bring home.
Not many people have fences out east and the backyards all blend together. In Akron, specifically, there were no sprinkler systems...that would have been redundant. But then you had to deal with more things growing in places you didn't want them to in the first place.
Now, we look forward to putting down some permanent roots. A place where the kids will make memories, hold traditions, and recall specific events. It is a wonderful thing....a Home.