Looking Back on the Year That Was

I actually meant to get this post up on the 21st, but with having to finish up my Christmas shopping and running errands to help AJ out with his secret santa gifts for work the days just went by a whole lot quicker than I had planned.

This time last year AJ and I were moving and settling into our house. It's hard to believe that it's been a year already (seriously - where does the time go?). We closed on our house at 4:30 on Dec. 21st and then I picked up the keys the morning of the 22nd (from the shadiest real estate agent I have ever known). It was so completely overwhelming at the time to think of ourselves as homeowners...and I guess if I'm being completely honest, it still is an overwhelming feeling. We joked at the time that this was our Christmas gift to each other for the next 30 years (yeah, there's a lot of truth to that statement). I was as big as a house (literally) and really frustrated with how little I could actually help with the whole moving process. My sister Val was a rock star and made sure that we were packed and ready to actually move in...not to mention helping me paint Keegan's room, along with painting his bathroom all on her own (and yes I painted even though I was only a month away from delivering) and the members of our ward we totally amazing. The youth helped paint our bedroom and they had us moved and ready to go in no time a few days later.

Home ownership brings a whole new set of worries, problems and issues that we never had renting. There's also a whole lot more stress over plumbing problems and utility bills and mortgage payments, but it's pretty rewarding as well. I recognize that AJ and I are pretty lucky even owning a home at this particular stage in our life, and we feel really blessed that we were lucky enough to even get into a house, let alone one that is as big as ours is and in San Diego nonetheless.

I looked for pictures of our house from when we were moving in and I couldn't find any (I think my sister Val has them somewhere since she was really the only one who had the foresight to take pictures). Not too much has changed from when we moved in...there's a little bit more furniture now, and some of the windows have changed, but essentially it's just like the day we moved in...and yet there's a different feeling to the house every time I walk through the door. Maybe it's because there is more furniture, or because there aren't boxes everywhere, or because we now have a year's worth of memories, good and bad, to look back on...but the house just isn't a house anymore. It's our HOME, and I have to admit...it's pretty amazing.