It was 550 square feet and it was technically a garage.
The “dining room” was a 3 foot by 4 foot square that no table would ever fit in.
You could be cooking with one hand and doing laundry with the other because the stove and dryer were 14 inches apart.
Our office was in our living room and we had one closet… one closet to store all of our wedding gifts, camera gear, clothes, and so much other random stuff.
Our Cal King bed barely fit in our bedroom and you couldn’t turn around in the restroom.
Oh, and it had termites.
It was our first place.
It was the place we came home to after our honeymoon.
It was where we designed our website, picked our logo, and started our own business.
It was the place we decorated our first Christmas tree together.
It was where we brought the sweetest black and white puppy home to.
Most importantly, it was ours and it was home.
You all know what I mean when I say that word. There’s just something about home that feels good, that feels right. I even posted an instagram the other day because I was feeling so nostalgic about the place I grew up: the place on Terry Avenue. That place still feels like home in some weird way.
When we decided to move out of the place on Kensington Drive, I was excited for our new place, the neighborhood it would be in, the extra bedroom it had, the garage, the new kitchen, and the square footage. I even liked the name of our street: Elfin Forest Road. That’s pretty awesome, right? But, with all of the excitement of leaving our first place came this sadness that I couldn’t shake. I felt like I was leaving part of myself, part of our love story, part of us behind. And, in a way, I was. I’ll never forget that cozy little place because it was our first place, and because it was imperfectly perfect for us at that time in our lives.
You’re probably wondering why I am sharing this since I left our love story off in 2008, but this has been something that’s been so fresh on my mind the last few days. We are going to be moving out of our town home in a few weeks into a live/work loft in Carlsbad! We are beyond excited, but even as I write this, there is a part of me that feels sad: sad to leave this place that has become home to us. I will miss this little place on Elfin Forest Road and our little “Pleasantville” (as everyone who visits us likes to call it). I’ll miss the beautiful hiking trails and taking Molly Mae on walks down our tree-lined streets. I’ll miss being steps away from the grocery store and hearing the annoying Jr. Highers skateboard by our balcony when school gets out. I will miss it all, but we are so blessed to have been given the opportunity to move.
I would love to hear about your homes. If you’re a newlywed, leave a comment about what your first place is like. If you’ve been married for many years, share about the memories you have of your first place. And if you don’t fit into those categories, leave a comment about “home”… What does it mean to you? I cannot wait to hear all about your home.
