Moving

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We sold our house on Mahan Loop yesterday. The first house we ever owned. I still remember how blessed we felt to get that house. We’d been looking at either junkers or very small houses because that’s all that was in our price range, and no matter how badly we wanted to get out of Newberg, we didn’t want it badly enough to put our money down on just anything.

Then 983 Mahan Loop came on the market. We looked at it for all of twenty minutes and made an offer. It was above and beyond anything we’d seen yet, in size and quality, and we just loved it. It needed a lot of work, but with the help of Eric’s family and mine, we got it painted and cleaned, and from then on it was just turning a blind eye to the unpaintable caulk and the nasty trim. The pretty blue walls and the wide-open floor plan made that easy to do, for me at least. Eric commented about the trim probably at least once a month. 🙂

We lived there for just over three years. That house saw us go to Australia and back, the trip of a lifetime. It saw me surprising Eric with not one, but two, positive pregnancy tests. It wrapped around us, cozy and dark, as first one boy and then the other burst into this world. We moved into that house as a couple; we moved out as a family. That house saw Eric grow his business, so much so that the lack of parking was one of the biggest reasons we decided to move on. It saw baby showers and Sunday lunches and late-night conversations. It hosted various of our out-of-state siblings and their families. It listened as we learned how to be parents. (It heard a lot of late-night crying.) It became our home, a safe place, a place to always return to. For a while every time we walked in the door, Alec would say excitedly, “We’re home!” ...continue reading →

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In moving, there comes a strange moment when you can’t remember which house you’re in, what you would see if you looked out the window, and where you would be if you stepped outside. . .

And then you realize you’re not actually in Gervais, you’re in Newberg, and you still have half a day of packing staring you in the face. But you smile anyway and reach for another fistful of Lucky Charms and another wrinkled sheet of wrapping paper, and you pull yet another mug from the cupboard and put it in yet another box and are so grateful that you have a husband and that he has brothers and that they are the ones who will carry all these heavy boxes out of your pretty little house for the last time.

I like moving. ...continue reading →

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I should be packing. Or cleaning. Or at least trying to decide if dark green would really be a better feature wall color than the blue we picked out (we settled on the blue). But instead I am looking through old pictures and thinking of sweet days in the "honeymoon hut" we are about to leave.

I'm thrilled to be moving. God gave us this house, and now He's given us another house, and we are so grateful. But Newberg's been too good to us to not feel at least a twinge about leaving.

We've loved living here. The landlords are great, the neighborhood is quiet, and the coffee shops are numerous. Safeway and Fred Meyer (and maybe most importantly, McDonald's) are just down the road, and those places are important to satisfy our rampant watermelon and ice cream cravings. 🙂 Plus, our cute little house is now jam-packed full of memories, from before we were married to now.

Yes, I'll miss Newberg. ...continue reading →