Every Bit Of It...

Moving out of our house in Oklahoma feels like such a blur now. Weeks have passed... and we've been so occupied by our new "home", that I feel like I haven't had much time to reflect on the fact that we have closed the chapter on our time there, in our first "home".

Our.first.home... the place where we grew in size by more than double. Though we've made "homes" everywhere the Air Force has sent us, those were all rentals... this place was "ours"... even though we know ultimately, it was HIS... He provided/entrusted us with this place for the last 3.5 years... and we loved on it the best we could.

When we found out we were moving to Oklahoma, while in Korea, we decided (with the help/aid of some friends) that Choctaw was the area that we wanted to live in. Without even visiting, we just had a "feeling" it was our type of place... country-esque living near the city, Oklahoma City... and super close commute for the husband for work. After a few weeks of house hunting online, and not entirely impressed with what was available to buy (we were, after all, moving right in the middle of winter)... we decided to take the plunge, and build our first "home" in a neighborhood, where some friends of ours from a previous assignment, were building their first home as well (except, they were on the final stages of building... so they had lots of great information to send our way). They helped scout out plots of land, and we FINALLY decided on the one, just off of a "feeling" that it was the one, and because the contractor at the time said it had the MOST BEAUTIFUL oak tree on it, and no other tree in the neighborhood compared to it. So we started to build our home all the way from Korea... we had about 2 months left there, and I had just found out I was pregnant (with Marley)... 

We were super excited to get to Oklahoma, to see the progress of the house... and when we got there, we were a little surprised as to how much still needed to be done on it. We rented a tiny apartment in the meantime, and visited the house (what felt like) daily... We started working on the yard before it was even ours. After 3 months of temporary living, we finally signed paperwork and moved into our home on March 21, 2013. 

We spent the next few weeks before Marley's arrival, finishing up projects that were on our "wishlist" for the house. We landscaped the front yard (created flower beds that to this day contained some of my very favorite blooms), painted the fireplace white (it was the same red brick color of the outside of our house), had the hubby create a bench seat in the master bedroom and shelves throughout the house to hold books, knick knacks or become photo gallery walls... and of course, spent a good amount of time in the neighborhood pool "floating" trying to not feel pregnant. 

We added Marley to our clan in July of 2013... and Finn in August of 2014... Charlotte became a homeschoolin' kid, mastering Kindergarten-2nd grade and crazy amazing at gymnastics and figured out it was her "passion in life"... We finished our backyard, creating a garden that flourished throughout the years and a ginormous yard for the kids to run, play and jump (spent countless hours on the trampoline) in. Lifetime friends were made (some military, some not)... and a home church was found. Friends/family from near and far came to visit... and we were able to show them all that we came to love about Oklahoma. We survived a deployment, and countless TDY's (times where the hubs was gone for a few days at a time)... and celebrated immensely the day we found out that he was hired for a position in the ANG in Washington (where we could plant roots and never experience a deployment again). We watched our babies grow... only to find out we were expecting 2 more... 

We packed out of our first "home" the last week of June 2016... said our final farewells, relived memories on the front porch as we had our final supper (pizza). It was a beautiful home, for the short time we lived there... and pray it becomes a place that holds tons of memories for the new homeowner. There's not a day that will pass, where we will ever regret living there, or forget how much we loved being the first residents of that house. We more than enjoyed every bit of it...