It still hasn't really sunk in that Kyle and I will not be coming back to DFW...ever. I still feel like this is some long vacation. Our house is sold and closed and it is no longer "ours" like it was for 4.5 years. As I was about to leave the day we moved, Kyle walked me through each room, just like he did when he was proposing. Tears were flowing as we moved through the house because each room meant something different to me. A house is not just a house, it is part of you. Here is what the rooms mean to me:
The Living Room
-This room reminds me of our life as a married couple. We literally started growing old together in this room. Many nights were spent drinking wine watching our shows together like Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy, and Lost to name a few. We celebrated watching TCU victories by chest bumping or me jumping in his arms to jump around. We watched more movies than I can count in this room, 90% of which I fell asleep watching. We slept on these couches holding our newborn baby boy time and time again. We watched the ball drop on NYE together, each year wondering what the next had in store for us. Holt played on the floor and Bentley always got to sit where he wanted, even if I had to move my seat. I folded laundry here, watched Holt kick around in my belly, let Bentley sleep on my lap like a tiny dog, and fell asleep on Kyle's lap. Nothing like a living room to make you feel safe and right at home.
The Kitchen
-This is the room I was so excited about when we first moved in. I pictured myself here making Kyle dinner as newlyweds. Cooking him up all of my favorites and learning what his favorites would be. We cooked meals here together on Holidays like Valentine's Day and Easter. Since we lived in this house, Easter was always there. We would stand around sipping on wine and cooking everything the night before so we could eat earlier on Sunday. The table is where we had many many discussions. It's where Kyle decided to take the job with the company that recently promoted him and moved us here. We discussed baby names, nursery ideas, reviewed sonograms pics, gave Holt his first solids, and said our dinner prayer. We can't forget Bentley either. He always stayed close by when I was in there cooking, sometimes too close and I would trip over him. I spent the most time in the kitchen. It was my first kitchen.
The "Media" Room
-We had high hopes for this media room that never was. Kyle wanted a projector for movies. We were supposed to watch movies in here, but always found ourselves on the couch in the living room instead. It really just became the "Wii" room. As newlyweds we would stay up way too late having way too many drinks playing Wii games like we were teenagers. It's the room where our famous Corona pictures were on display. (We take a Corona picture at every vacation destination.) Kyle's prized hammerhead shark hung on the wall. It is an atrocious looking thing, and he thinks I hate it. I don't hate it. It means so much to him and he lights up like a little kid when he gets to tell the story of catching that thing. For that reason alone, I don't hate it. It was also the "office", but we had a laptop in the kitchen so we hardly used it for that either. It was a neglected room but with a lot of memories regardless. It became Holt's playroom. I put his big toys in here and this is where we would play in the afternoon when I got bored of the living room. In the new house we will have a true media room and we also have high hopes for it...we'll see how that works out.
Holt's Nursery
-Before it became Holt's nursery, it was just a sad boring guest room that we always knew would be the nursery, just didn't know who it would belong to. A girl or a boy? We never decorated it, just condensed Kyle's Bachelor Pad into one room. Then it became our son's nursery, literally the weekend we found out what we were having. Kyle wanted to buy the furniture and paint it IMMEDIATELY. He was so excited. I let him do the decorating, it's not my thing anyways. I had bigger plans for the room. I knew I would feel most like a Mommy in this room. The months of planning would turn into holding my baby in my arms. I knew I would, and I did, spend a lot of time watching my baby just sleep in this room. We would, and did, rock and rock in the glider. When he was hungry, sick, restless, or just wanting to be cuddled...it would be in this room...and it was. This was perhaps the hardest room to say goodbye too. I had the most plans and strongest attachment to this room, even before Holt was here. I loved this little nursery. It's where we listened to music when all he could do was coo and smile...not even laugh yet! I would dance around as long as I needed to just to see that smile. This room tugs at my heartstrings, because in the new house...he will be nearly 18 months old before getting in his room. His baby days are long behind him, and so will be his first nursery.
BUT, onto bigger things...they should be breaking ground on our house anyday now. Here is the new lot that will hold a new house for us to make new, more permanent memories! Onward and upwards to the future! What do your rooms mean to you? They aren't just rooms...
