A place to call my own.

One of the best feelings in the world to me is the feeling that comes with living somewhere new. A new apartment, a new duplex, buying a home. The feeling of it is one of my favorite things.

I remember moving into my first apartment. I was freshly 19 years old and my new roommate, a girl who I worked with at Journey’s who ended up becoming one of my best friends, was in Germany for two weeks visiting her best friend. I Was all on my own. I remember the amazing feeling of unlocking the doors to a place that was all my own for the first time and my heart fluttering. I felt like, I have worked so hard to get myself to this place. And these walk in closets rock. I’m on my own. This is awesome.


My bestest friend Jessica and baby Chewy sleeping on the floor of my first apartment.

I remember when Andrew and I were planning our wedding. My lease was coming to an end and Andrew was still living at home and we decided we wanted to look for a place to live. We looked all over for a place to rent and every place we were finding wanted to charge us out our ears in order to be able to have Chewy with us IF they even allowed pets to begin with. We sat down and discussed it and realized that buying a house was going to be a much better investment for us. I remember scouring sites trying to figure out exactly what I wanted in a home, what school districts we wanted to live in, what kind of property taxes we were going to be paying. It was so much work, but so much fun for me. I remember finding so many places that had it but didn’t have it ALL. I knew this wasn’t going to be our forever home, but I wanted it to be wonderful and have all the things I felt were important. I wanted a dining room, Andrew wanted a big back yard. We wanted a spacious living room where we could hang out an enjoy ourselves. And we found all of that in our first home.

Lately Andrew and I have discussed looking into a new home more and more. We know that when we decide to have more little ones, this house isn’t going to be best suited for a bigger family. It makes me pretty emotional, though. This is our first home. It’s the home we lived in when we were married. It’s where I was when I found out Anderw’s father was gone. It’s was where I was when I found out Eisley was growing in my belly. It’s where I labored for hours before bringing our daughter into the world. It’s where we brought her home for the first time. It’s a place we’ve continued to make our own. I know we can’t stay here forever, but it holds a huge piece of my heart. But at the same time, I know that a few years down the road, I will be feeling that same feeling of new beginnings when we open the door to a new home and Eisley runs full speed through the door, blissful.

I can’t wait.

♥ nicole