9 years ago....

We bought our first home in Black Diamond. Why Black Diamond? At the time, this is all we could afford. :) We had looked in Issaquah and Maple Valley, and found ourselves heading either farther south (or North, in relation to the more expensive areas) and decided on the south b/c we were expecting a baby and family was south.
Nine years later, we've done so many home improvements that our house hardly looks the same as when we bought it. I remeember the house was a horrible brown color with burgandy trim. Dave encouraged me to look beyond the paint color. We've lived through a family room addition, new flooring, doors, decks, landscaping, and so many paint colors inside (and out) that if you peeled the paint away you'd find a dozen layers - from bright green to navy blue, to red. I feel it adequately expresses how we have grown in this home - each paint color seems to define a different place in our lives. When we first moved in, I was so swollen and pregnant, but insisted on the navy blue/Victorian flowery border to be put up in the front room so I would feel at home. For those of you that know me, can you believe it? :)
Dave has done so much to this home... so many long days (and nights) finishing the next phase for inspection with the addition. The house is beautiful and complete (even though he wouldn't say so)... all thanks to his hard work and know-how.
We brought Connor home here - December 1999, to a freezing cold home because we thought it would be wiser to turn the heat off while we were at the hospital for 4 days, not thinking of how long it would take to heat up w/out a fireplace. It was like yesterday. Our navy blue sectional became our bed for the next week, we were both too exhasted and Connor would finally fall asleep I was terrified to move him risking he would wake up.
Now our big boy will be 9 this year, entering 3rd grade next week and while I'm typing this out I can't help but be totally overcome with emotion. He's grown so fast! The memories of him in this home... of his 1st birthday in the kitchen, playing outside in the yard, doing cartwheels on the new carpet, learning to ride his bike outside on the street, 8 Christmas mornings, walking him to school on the first day of kindergarten and terrified to leave him... crying all the way home. Playing with the older boys down the street, and being so excited when they would come over and ask him to come out and play football. Worrying about him when he insisted on playing in the greenbelt next door with a friend, as they worked on creating "fort 5" by cutting down bamboo with plastic swords dressed in camouflage.
We placed our home up for sale two weeks ago... as approximately 9 mo ago Dave and I began feeling like we needed a change. We pursued moving to Oregon, and were sad when we pushed on doors in this direction, and in doing so we felt resistance... almost as if a force not allowing us to move this direction, though we wanted to so badly. But yet we still feel unsettled. So, what seems like an act of obedience or trust in what is ahead for us, we placed a big red and white sign in our yard, with flyer's showcasing our beautiful home. Our home filled with so many memories, so many treasured moments, both together as a couple, then a family.