Our Journey to The House on the Hill Begins

This was the original post I wrote to start my blog before the Name Change in the Middle of the Road. I finally was able to sit and scan some old pictures for it.  I may have gotten carried away with my memories of  being able to stay home with my children.  Indulge me please and if you need to, just scroll through the pics real fast!  The year was 1997 and.................

There came a time in my life when the rooms in my Surburbia Brick Home held only the echo of my children's laughter. The kitchen had only memories of afternoon snacks and a table cluttered with homework or construction paper, glue and glitter.

1990ish

The bathroom had no grubby hand prints and no tooth paste left open next to 2 tooth brushes not put away.  The 8' long vanity was an empty void; bereft of that amazing amount of stuff  a young girl hurtling towards womanhood left on it and of the few pieces of boy stuff that got shoved in the corner. The living room sat quietly with fleeting, ghostly images of all those special days staged there.


1994





1990's



1995

1985ish



My children's bedrooms sat empty with everything in place, beds perfectly made and the floors absolutely clean.





The family room became a room to avoid because there were no bodies to step over, no need to say "turn that down", no reason to fuss over messes made and no faces to watch as I sat curled up on the sofa, content with my own little corner of the world.

1995ish

The mornings were no longer a hurried frenzy to get everyone out the door on time,


1996



I no longer lived in my car, running from this to that


1992ish

and I no longer tried to fit more into one day than was sanely possible.

1993



1993

1992

1996

The house was in order, my time was my own and I began to think that the best times of my life were quietly fading into the past.


1976

1977

1979

1980

1982

1985

1992

1993


A quiet panic was flooding my soul and a silent scream began to fill my head with "What in the world am I going to do now?"  To calm myself I began to imagine idyllic walks in the country, a cup of tea on the porch of a beautiful, old, farm house with a dog or two nestled at my feet.  Furry creatures to fill my Empty Nest.
 

 
 
I started wishing for a barn out back for chickens, cows and that horse that I had yearned for since I was a child in that small IL grain town.  A barn with a spot nearby for a gorgeous garden to raise my own veggies to can and freeze.

 
In this tranquil, dreamy state I approached my sweet husband when he was home from the rat race, corporate world;  finding ahead of time just the right words to tell him that I was wanting to indulge in the dream that he had mentioned often through the years.  We sat down together over a quiet dinner and I looked him in the eye and uttered them,  "Let's sell this sucker and move to the country!"

And we did.

to be continued.............