Time Travel Tuesday--First Home

This week, Annie is taking us back to our first home. What memories do you have from your first home? How did you make that first house a home?

I want to tell you about the first house we purchased. A little more than a year after we were married, we had the opportunity to purchase a home. My hubby was working in the public school system and heard about a little house that was being renovated nearby. Since we lived about twenty minutes from hubby's work, he decided we needed to check out the house. It was within five minutes of his work. It was perfect for us and newly renovated so we went ahead with the purchase.

We moved into the house in the dead of winter. Never, never do that! It was so cold but we eagerly moved our things right before Christmas. It was a small house, having just 960 square feet. We loved it though because it was cute and cozy. Plus, we weren't wasting money renting anymore. It had two bedrooms, ONE bathroom, kitchen, living room, a room that could have been a bedroom but we used it as a computer room, and a long laundry room. We added a big deck to it about a year after we moved in. The house had been previously owned by an elderly lady who had passed away. She must have smoked like a freight train because it took forever to get the yellow muck off of the few walls that did not get painted in the renovations. Still, we were so happy to have our own place. We quickly made friends with several neighbors. We were the youngest people on the block. Most of the neighbors were at least 30 years older than us. The houses on our street were pretty close together so you really didn't move without your neighbors knowing it. That actually made me feel safe. Our neighbor across the street, Margie, was a nice lady in her 70's. She used to let the kids come over and pick blackberries from a bush in her backyard. The neighbors to our left, the Winters', had a veggie garden and often left fresh veggies on our porch. Fred and Ruth lived on the corner and they took us out for supper several times. It was a nice place to be. It was also two or three minutes from Jenny's house!

We lived there for about five years. The day we put it up for sale, we were kind of sad. It took about nine months to sell the house because, at the time, interest rates were really low and people wanted more for their money. We sold it and moved out in January 2004. Yes, we moved AGAIN in the dead of winter! We have many fond memories of our first home. There's something really special about owning your first home. I don't think you ever forget it. I know I will not forget our first home.