Not Just a House… It’s Our Home

This photo was taken in September 2004, as the finishing touches were being put on our new house in Purcellville. It was lacking front door paint and shutters here, but that got handled and we moved in shortly thereafter. As of today, we have been in our home for 10 years. Honestly, we thought we’d stay here for about three years and then move on to something with more yard, maybe bigger. But as the seasons changed, the children grew, the trees grew…this house stole our hearts, and we’re still calling it home.

Real estate is so much more than four walls and a bedroom/bathroom count. It’s where your life unfolds, where the sun shines on the good times and the wind and rain pound on the difficult ones. At it’s best, it’s more than an investment: your home is a place that shapes who your children become and defines what contentment and happiness look like. And this house, our family home, is where some of our most precious memories have been made. Here’s some from the first ten years that I hold dear:

• Our youngest daughter taking her first steps in the center hall.
• Reading “Night Before Christmas” by the fireplace, by candlelight, every Christmas Eve.
• Hanging the drywall basement ceiling together without getting divorced. Somehow. 😉
• Using the back 40 as a driving range before all those houses started popping up back there.
• Coffee in the rocking chairs on the front porch in the mornings; margaritas in the evenings.
• That Christmas the whole Elias clan stayed with us…27 people overnight is more than a notion.
• Erika coming down the center staircase in that homecoming dress.
• Looking out the back window to see 15 kids playing on the playset, and only two belonged to us.
• Snowpocalypse 2009, and digging our way next door so that we could talk to other grownups.
• Turning the downstairs into a true mother in law suite, and welcoming her into it.

Sitting on the front steps last night as the sun went down, it was great to think about how much has changed since we first crossed the threshold 1o years ago. We get to work in the real estate industry every single day, so it’s good to take the time to remember how very personal the homeownership journey is, and how much of an impact where you choose to live has on your life.  Happy to say that after 10 years, I’m still in love with the home that we built.

Cheers,

Heather