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Thursday, April 01, 2021

Hopes, Dreams, & First Homes.


I am emotionally wiped out.  Completely.

In every good way possible - I think the older I get the more it takes to recover from things like moving house.  Or helping someone ELSE move house to start their new lives in a new place.

We left the mountain at about 9am yesterday - and didn't return until dinner time was later than it should be, and all of us agreed that pancakes, bacon and eggs would be a feast fit for a king after the run around of the day.

I took photos of this gorgeous blooming Bradford pear when we stopped to do one of the many "must do's" that happen with moving.  While things were being taken care of inside the establishment, I walked Zoey outside hoping she would take care of some business of her own after 1 1/2 hours in the car.


She was not impressed with the pine straw mulch on the ground!

Not to mention the rain was a bit pounding - my jacket with hood was not quite sufficient enough and I had forgotten to grab my umbrella when we left as we were taking the hubster's pickup.

But just LOOK at this tree.  It's leafing out already!

Up in the Blue Ridge, we are a few weeks behind - we don't have leaves yet, not to mention blossoms like this.

And the rain was just pelting those pretty petals to the ground like snow.


April Showers indeed!


This is the sweet little cottage of a house that Jeff, Ashlyn and Casden will be calling home.

Such a cute and solid little place - it is perfect for their little family.

And watching them be so excited as they were handed over the keys - you could see it in their eyes.

They will be filling this abode with love and laughter and so many memories to come.

It might not look very large on top - but it also has a full sized walk out basement, and they are excited about the possibilities of what they can do with the space - their OWN space.

As I watched them I was thinking of our own life of many abodes over the past 40 years that Dave and I have been together (It will be 40 years in August! How did that happen?)

From an apartment to a rented house, to 10 years in a single-wide mobile home way out in the country.  And then the fixer-upper "real house" in a neighborhood we purchased in Payette, Idaho.

When I think of it now, that house was a complete mess - but with hard work and saved funds we turned it into such a wonderful place.  If it weren't for Dave's job transfer we could have easily stayed there.

But that move from Payette, ID to Burley, ID took us to another wonderful big old house - quirks and weird bathrooms and all.

All of this, and subsequent houses kept coming to mind as I watched Jeff point out things he loves in this new house - things he wants to change over time.

My boy and his love have their OWN house.  No more rent going down the tubes.  Mortgage and equity and taxes and bills and all.  He's grown up.  All grown up.

And we are so proud!


The house opens up to a wooded lot in back, owned by a neighbor, and nice to know that beautiful view will not be built upon.

They've even got a cute little hot tub out back to enjoy.

I think as parents we teeter on the fence of "I wish I could provide more for them so they don't have to struggle so hard..." and "They are doing it on their own, and this is the way they want to do it and the best thing we can do is encourage and let them figure it out, and watch them grow." 

Yesterday was so busy that there was not any more photo taking than this.

Just before we left, I gave Casden his Rough & Tumble quilt.

In true "I'm going to be 5!" fashion, he loved the Spiderman on the back more than the pieced front.  LOL!  And that is okay with me.

Pizza was just arriving along with more friends who came toward evening to help move big stuff like mattresses and couches - and we left them all in good hands.

Jeff said he will shoot me some photos of Casden and his new quilt later. That will be fun.

I really don't need the photos - I got the HUG to prove he loves it!

I may head down there Friday afternoon - if the bad weather we are expecting somehow passes us by.  

I was asleep by 9pm - but I opened my eyes this morning and instantly smiled thinking about the life ahead for these two hard working grown up kids and what they will conquer together hand-in-hand.

Do you remember your first home?  Any stories to tell?  Please share the quirks, the crazies, the sweetness in the comments section below!

Today - Oh, Today.  I'm thinking about that monster of a Snail's Trail quilt, and getting it loaded.  I have in mind the design I want to quilt it with - I'm thinking of thread colors.

Don't forget to enter our March Quilty Box Gift-Away ON THAT POST!  Drawing to happen on Monday - 


Quiltville Quote of the Day -

Vintage diamond star quilt found in Kentucky.

Did you know that the first clear and widespread mentions of April Fool's Day occurred in the 18th century?
For 300 years April 1st has been full of pranks and pranksters!
Watch your back, but have fun while doing it! Happy April, everyone! ⁣


 

57 comments:

  1. So sweet! Reminds me of our first house just outside of South Bend, IN. Ours was a little brick ranch with a full basement as well. We loved that little house. We were only in it 14 months then moved across the country to AZ. :-)

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  2. It's our Grandson #13 birthday! My daughter didn't want an April Fool's Day baby. She said, "Nobody will believe me when I say he's here." lol on Casden liking the back. Hugs are great pay for a quilt. It’s a busy day of fix up and watching the Tulips bloom here in Nebraska, cold and clear with a hope of 54 later, warming for the Weekend, yea! April is so beautiful here. I'm gonna miss it. Have fun quilting the beast. I have a hand quilting project going on the hoop soon. Do you like a Round hoop or Oval one? Happy April!

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    1. I like a 14'' ROUND hoop so I can turn it any direction I need. Ovals are a bit harder for me to navigate.

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  3. I so much understand the weariness and 'worry' about how your kids are doing financially, been there done that and still there. Hold on to your faith, it has gotten me through many a situation. Glad you got a huge hug from your grandson that he loves his quilt.

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  4. We moved into our first home on April 1, 1969. The moved was a month earlier than scheduled so nothing was packed from our apartment. Hubby got some fifth grade boys from his school to help. We arrived with loaded truck to find no power in a total electric home. Seems the builder never got the landscaping inspected. I spent the day in city hall getting temporary electric hook ups approved while hubby and kids unloaded the truck. We were going to the new neighbors for dinner when the phone rang. It was father in law telling me he was sending visitors from New York to stay with us. Straw...camel....

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  5. Congratulations to the new home owners! Our first home together was a little yellow barn-shaped house with white front porch railings and a porch swing. It also had the cutest "miniature" claw foot bathtub. It was just big enough for me to sit and stretch out my legs, and I'm only 5'2". My 6' husband barely fit into it at all. LOL

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  6. 1974. 3 tots under 4, our first house. 2 weeks after we moved in the upstairs shower started leaking into the kitchen. 2 days later the plaster fell down. Yes, I remember it well. LOL. I still was in love with that house.

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    1. Peggy, I was Blessed with 3 tots under 4 also! I usually folded diapers and had a cup of tea when the little ones were napping. Great memories.

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  7. My first house was in Winston-Salem NC, after growing up in South Florida. Neither of us knew the first thing about winters or furnaces. So went the furnace didn't work, I called a repair guy, who went down in the basement, hit the reset button (and showed me where it was), and collected his fee. It was an old house, with real hardwood floors, plaster walls, and beautiful fireplace, and lots of little nooks and crannies. LOVED IT!

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  8. Our first house was very similar to Jeff's with a full, non-walkout basement. Both kids were born while we lived there, until it was time for school in a different district and a bigger house, and we moved. Then an empty nest move to Minnesota for 5 years for hubby's job, in a house I loved next to a park. Circumstances led to moving back to our second home (we rented it out while gone). We are still in this second house and have redone and upgraded a few times. We watched as our son and DIL bought their first house: like you said, so grown up!!

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  9. Our first home was a one bedroom apartment. My husband went off to his first adult job and left me in an empty apartment (the only place to sit was the toilet), waiting for what little furniture we had scrounged from relatives to arrive. I wrote to my mother that the ice cream truck came every day and I didn't even have enough money for a popsicle. She sent me a quarter. After moving at least every two years until I was 35 I have now lived in the same house for 36 years.

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  10. Bonnie,
    I love reading about your family, your projects and your life in general. You are always "real" and looking for the positive. After moving eight times in seven years, we bought our first home. What we didn't know, but soon learned was the previous owners had a house dog loaded with fleas. It took three visits from an exterminator to eliminate the fleas. I was ready to pack up and leave, but was afraid of how many fleas would be in my suitcase!! NOT a fun experience.

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  11. Oh yes - first houses! Ours was an old 3 bedroom 2 story that my 'to be' husband bought for $6000 at a sheriff's auction (yes, 6 thousand, not a typo, but it was 46 years ago. And it was a mess) 5 months before we got married....without telling me - I was 200 miles away at school. It nearly ended our engagement as I wondered if he was going to be a guy who wasn't planning on telling me VERY important things, but it actually ended up being an important learning point in our relationship. As I said, it was a mess. We completely gutted it, new electrical, plumbing, sheetrock, etc. But only as we could save '2 nickels to rub together' to buy supplies and we did the work ourselves. We would likely still be there if it wasn't for moving for a job - where we live in the second house we've owned, and this one he didn't buy without me! And it has been really fun watching our 3 grown sons finding their lives, families, houses, and dreams.

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  12. Our first home was a trailer house in Des Plaines Ill. It had a pullout and that was my little sewing area. One popup table, and a chest of drawers. What memories. Happy sewing.

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  13. My first house was a 2-level town house in Northern VA, no basement. I was so proud. I fenced the tiny yard and built a dog house for my German shepherd. Lived there 4 years.

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  14. Bonnie, our son bought his first house in November. As we move furniture we no longer need to his new home, hear his excitement with each task he accomplishes, and his frustrations with the slow pace of getting things done, I marvel that I have produced this wonderful man. In these days when so many young people have had to move back home, it is wonderful to see many others have the opportunity to spread their wings.

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  15. Our first home was a rented bedroom and a half...an alcove that made for a great nursery. Our second home was a freebie (about 800 square feet) in the County park where my husband worked. The first house we purchased was rented out - we never lived in it, but opted to stay in the free house to save up to buy 5 acres, then I designed and we were owner-builders (with help from some wonderful friends and a few professionals) of our current home, now 34 years old. We will be married for 47 years in May! Our biggest move was helping our son move from the San Francisco area to the Seattle area. I was fortunate and got to go house hunting with them prior to the big move! They got a lovely house that backs onto a protected greenway in a great neighborhood. I also went on house hunting treks with my daughter - after many disappointing bids on other houses, they got a super deal on a foreclosure on 2.5 acres and live a short 10 miles from us.

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  16. Our first home as newly weds was a recently acquired rental. The old lady who had lived there had died and her home was sold as is. Our landlord let antiquers go through it first and take whatever they wanted--even the door knobs! He told us to choose the colors we wanted for the rooms, and we knew nothing about that so we had a real rainbow of a house--which was okay for the 70's. You can't imagine how many wire coat hangers where in the closets. But a great find was the former owner's collection of Green Stamps. That really helped us newly weds with making our first house homey. We only lived there a year until we finished college but we remember how special it was.

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  17. So fun!! So happy for them on their new home. I remember are first place... the old owners forgot to mention that their water bill was extremely high and that the city had contacted them to let them know that there was mostly likely a cracked pipe. Well we went to have the water turned on and were told that we had to have the pipes looked at and repaired before that would happen. So for the first week we had to run out to street with a borrowed water wrench from a sweet new neighbor and turn on our water so we could shower a quick minute and then run back out and turn it off. Luckily our piping system was part of a class action lawsuit and we were able to get it fixed for free. But we had a geyser in the backyard everytime we put on the water to shower. Oh the joys of homeownership.

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  18. Going on 44 yrs of marriage, so many rental homes and now on our 6th owned home. My hubs was in retail management and there was always another move in our future until we came to Amarillo and decided we were done moving our sons around. It would be difficult to choose which home was our favorite. Each endearing in its own way.

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  19. What a wonderful day you all had!
    Our first was an apartment in a not so good area. Our second was a sweet rental. We purchased the 3rd one. We still talk wistfully about that floor plan. The way the great room was set up, it was large and so flexible. So many memories.

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  20. Our first house (my first husband and I divorced) - was because his 3 little girls came to live with us - we had a 6 month old at the time of move in - we had already started building our home, so we started out in a 12 x 60 single wide with 6 little girls and us - then moved into the house once it was mostly finished. We will be married 38 years this october - where has time gone!!

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  21. We lived in my mom-in-law's spare bedroom for 6 months until I told my husband I loved his family but needed a place of our own --so we bought a 14 x 70 mobile home and parked it in the backyard! We moved that mobile home 5 times all down the state of SD till we got to where we live now in Vermillion, SD. We finally traded it for a pre-build after 33 yrs. We have lived in this beautiful little house full of light (skylights and lots of windows) for almost 20 years now. It's our 49th year of marriage.

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  22. My first house was a cute little ranch style 3 bedroom furnished with parental castoffs. My mother kept saying, "Are you sure you can afford this?" I could, just barely, but I ate dinner at my parent's house for a month while the cash flow recovered. 42 years later, I am still living in this little house.

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  23. We are still living in our first home- 49 years and counting. Looks like it will be our last home too. I can still hear the realtor saying it is a "good starter home".. My mom and dad lived in their 2nd home for 65 years! Rented the whole time...

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  24. In 1971 we bought a 10 by 50 trailer for $4000 and put it on property next to my in-laws. That was where we started our married life. Left Wisconsin home and family to move to hubby’s home in Michigan. Literally from the east coast of Lake Michigan to the west coast of Lake Michigan. Very cozy home, with deer in our backyard.

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  25. Ah, memories of our over budget golf course apartment lasted 3 months, then we came to our senses, moved to a much cheaper rental, closer to work. Our first house that we owned, we sold our VW bug for the down payment. What a learning experience! Built a fence with wood pallets. Landscaping was the first task as the contractor just did a rough scrape of the land. A few weeks after spreading seeds, they germinated and started growing but my dear husband saw the growth and thought it was weeds so he got on his belly and started pulling up the tender grass shoots.....he has come a long way in 45 years 10 homes later, his lawn is his pride and joy. It’s not going to rain today, we are totally vaccinated so we are going to take a drive over local roads we have not explored. Not a sew day but that’s okay. Enjoy your day.

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  26. A married student housing unit at university of Arkansas! It had oven shelves in kitchen with linoleum counters. The bedroom wall had cardboard with a wall paper print on one wall. It was tiny but a home for 2 years until baby number one came. Think about it often..nearly 60 years ago!

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  27. I moved into my first house I purchased in 1980 - 41 years ago. It was pouring rain also. Filled up my window wells and thought my basement was going to flood. Brand new construction 3 bedrooms. $46,450.00 Should have bought several at that price. ha ha.

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  28. Congratulations to your son and his partner! Our son has had his struggles becoming an independent adult. He was about to buy his first house when he was furloughed when COVID hit (works for a convention servicing company, so still almost no work). Fortunately he was able to get out of that only losing what he paid for inspections, etc. Fast forward to late summer when my 98 year old mother suddenly died. We are letting him inherit her townhouse and it has been fun to see what he is doing with a place of his own finally in his mid 30's. Our first house, like Terri's, was a little rambler also purchased in 1980, for $63,000. The previous family raised 5 kids in an under 1000 sq ft house and had done a 4 season porch addition and finished the basement themselves. My guess is they didn't pull permits for a lot of it as we found some "creative construction" (and some empty liquor bottles in a hidden corner of the not-legal basement bedroom closet!) We custom built our second house but moved on to a walkout rambler townhome when the kids left for college. Now the task is to declutter enough to move to something more the size of that first house but without the basement. Getting rid of stuff is sure harder than acquiring it!

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  29. The first house we owned was a mobile home. While hubby was in trade school. A 42 ft x 8 ft! Yikes! It was tiny. A center hallway and pink appliances and bathroom fixtures! We were so in love it never occurred to us it was awful!

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  30. How wonderful for them. And fond memories for you along the way. I know what you mean about helping out - we have had to because property is so expensive and renting is money down the drain and nothing left from wages to save. It is very difficult for the youngsters here.
    Best thing is Casden loves his quilt. Lucky boy.
    Our first house we'd saved so hard and bought a little 2 bedroomed mid-terraced house. The shenanigans of the neighbours in their adjoining bedrooms was very educational through the thin walls. We stayed there for 2 years having saved every penny we could and bought a new place which was 3 bedrooms and detached so no noisy neighbours. Our son arrived there, the next house was in the country and my daughter arrived. We now live on a smallholding/homestead and the children live hours away in different directions. He rents and struggles, while she is married and have their own house.

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  31. Our first apartment was a duplex...with walls so thin you could smell the neighbors cooking and hear them sneeze! We later bought my husband's grandma's home...stayed 37 years and then sold to our daughter last year, when we bought a duplex * (much better walls) in an "over 55" community.... and we are the babies here. wonderful views and neighbors.

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  32. Our first apartment was 1st floor of old house. Then we moved 600 miles. Been in this house for 42?years in July, 105 yr old house with beautiful solid oak woodwork. We have 12 rooms raised 3 kids, still here have lots of sewing space, been married 48 years in July.

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  33. Wonderful post as usual! Can you please tell me the brand of your sneakers? They look so comfortable and I love the colour. Thank you!

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  34. Are they close by to visit? I hope so.
    This is a sweet house, with a lot of room to grow and make memories along the way.

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  35. My first real home was a small, well used, Acadian style house, with 2 dormer windows upstairs. I thought it was heaven. Huge lot for the kids and a 100 yr old pecan tree. Somehow my husband always manages to be at work when the moves happen and I end up coordinating and overseeing the complete chaotic scene. SMH

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  36. Our first home was bought in 1990 in Jacksonville, NC. We were driving from Texas and got there quite late. We actually were renting till the sale went through. We were so tired, got in there just camped out on the floor the first night, till we kept feeling something on us. It was fleas, not the best start. Then one bedroom with carpet, had some kind of petroleum strange substance in it, was smelly, and had almost a dampness to it. My husband pulled out the carpet, this was before the closing. I was like, What if the sale doesn't go through for some reason, the house isn't ours yet. It ended up being a really great house after we got the fleas out. We really loved that neighborhood and our big backyard.

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  37. My first home was one of my Dad’s rentals, and it came with an old oak rocking chair that the previous renters had left behind. We refinished the old chair and used it to rock four babies and many grand babies over the years. This last Christmas I was blessed by a great granddaughter and gifted the old rocker to my grandson so he could rock his sweet little bundle to sleep each night. The gift that keeps on giving through the years.

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  38. We bought our first home (raised ranch) in 1977 - five years after we were married. It was a new house and at the time of closing there were a few things that needed to be finished. Both of us were at work and, of course, the builder had his own key. We did know he was coming. Our then cat, Pepsi, stood at the top of the five stair entry and hissed so much that I got a call at work. They wouldn't go in unless Pepsi was in a room by himself. Funny thing is Pepsi was missing his front claws so all he could do was hiss!! Scared lots of people!
    Oh, and April 1st is my baby sister's birthday and also her husbands (2 years apart) They had a daughter and named her April - but she was born in February.

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  39. We lived in an apartment for a bit over a year while I finished tech school, then moved to our first house on Halloween 1978, and stayed there until June 2003, when we moved to the current house. We had a heck of a housewarming event in this house - a very small tornado went through the front yard a week after moving in. We lost some big trees - one fell on the Explorer but only damaged a side mirror, and a couple of gutters got bent, fortunately that was about it.

    Sometimes I miss the old house - it was smaller and so much faster to clean. I don't miss the tiny kitchen and the cold dark damp sewing corner in the basement after DS came along though. Some things (noises, small things disappearing) in the old house made DH say he'd never move into a house on Halloween again.

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  40. Three days after our wedding I moved from a large city to a logging camp, No road in, just a 2 hour boat trip or a small plane ride. My first house had soot everywhere because the plastic bag on the pipe for the oil stove had blown off. There was a vee shaped hole on the edge of the bathroom door so that would close pass the toilet. There were weeds growing out of grout around the kitchen sink. The advantage was the rent was $20.00 a month. We were there for 4 years and I learned to bake the best things in that oil stove. We have been married for 55 years and now retired on 5 acres on an island on the west coast.

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  41. Our first house was one block away from the landing glide slope of a major airport. We could look to the end of the street and see the people looking out the plane windows! We soon got used to the noise. The airport also housed a maintenance facility that often had to test jet engines to their full capacity. That produced a roar that would shake the house. Good times.

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  42. After 4 years in apartments we bought our first house 25000 dollars in 1975. There was a hole in the floor of the bathroom that you could see down into the kitchen! We loved it anyways!

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  43. I spent many years in rentals before I finally had my own home. Good thing about it was we were able to buy it outright. No mortgage payments. We really owned it. We're in a different house now, but again, we bought it outright. Congratulations to your son and his wife on their new home.

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  44. First house, I bought as newly divorced at 24, mortgage $411/mo, 10% interest, for $50K. It was only 1K sq feet but plenty enough for a young working “kid”. Only $2K down! That was 1980, and we’ll be trying to sell it this summer. My sewing “room” was a dark, 8’x10’ bedroom until I took over half of the dining room table, then hubby built me a 16’x20’ quilting studio, she-shed really, only electricity and an oil stove, beside the house. I miss the studio more than that little house. Since 2014 we’ve been living in his family homestead and last year I finally pulled out my sewing machines after 6 yrs not sewing. We have a small kitchen table, so I’ve taken over the dining room table again for cutting, and have a dedicated sewing table. We’re way off the grid, town 2 hrs away, house powered by a mini hydro plant (Pelton Wheel). I have to use a small generator to iron, it’s a challenge esp without a W&D, and hanging my fabric to dry. I’m surrounded by elk, mule and white deer and big horn sheep, and now Canadian geese that nest in the rocks along the creek (large) that runs alongside the property. There are trade-offs, we accept as we get older, isn’t there. Happy Good Friday, and Happy Easter.

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  45. I will never forget our first house! We were all set to move in and I was pregnant with our 4th child who decided not to wait a couple more days, but came that night (24 Feb 1969). Her dad left 3 days later for Iceland (USNavy deployment). A friend brought me home from the hospital and for the next couple of weeks the kiddles, a great neighbor and I got everything all set up and homey. 18 Mar 1969 I arrived home from grocery shopping to notice a lot of water and a lot of light in the cellar. I started down the stairs and lo and behold the cellar wall had caved in. Lots of people helped out that day and during the night the fire department came and pumped the cellar out, the VA (it was a VA repo and they were our 'bank') had it all set up for a new foundation on two sides. Thankful for wonderful neighbors who put the 4 kiddles and I up for the next week. Talk about first home surprises. I never wish that on anyone, but in a way the house was much better for it - and since we had owned it less than 60 days the VA paid the bill!! Things always happened when hubby was on deployment!!!!!

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  46. We are still in our first home (24 years later)! And still thinking of improvements needed LOL.

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  47. Hubster and I married in July 1969, he had been drafted out of grad school (remember the draft?) and he was stationed outside of D.C. with the US Army. We moved in to an apartment, one bedroom, rented furniture, no A/C for the Virginia summer, and all the roaches we could kill! And we’re still together! Good times? Well, we didn’t know any better!

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  48. We are still living in "our" first home. (He was previously married.) We moved in just days before our first anniversary - the next one will be our 35th. I am amazed at the number of things that were either purchased or here when we moved in. There are both good points (cost) and bad points to that situation. That kitchen counter top is still the same awful blue it was when we moved it. I am thinking about how I can destroy it so it can be replaced... On the other hand, we have traveled to Alaska, Hawaii, Australia, Iceland, and Europe more than once.

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  49. Our first home was a single wide trailer 10 x 50 with two bedrooms. The second one had the door and wall removed so it was more of a nook. That's where my sewing table and machine were set up. I worked in a fabric store putting hubby through college.

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  50. April Fool's is my brother's birthday. We always tease him 'he sure fooled us'. He wasn't supposed to be born until June something.

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  51. After all the childhood admonitions about turning off lights, not running in the house, and not letting the a/c out during the summer, I called my Mom on the night I moved in to tell her that the lights were blazing in every room, the windows were open and the air conditioning was on and that the dog and I were playing chase in the house. She thought I was very funny.

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  52. Our first home that we owned (1977) was a nice new 3 bedroom house in Merced, California.Before that we had lived in various rentals and on base housing. We loved that experience but we were only in the house for about 2 1/2 years. Then it was off to Texas for us.

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  53. I'm late to read this, but just wanted to add my happiness for the three of them. Beginnings are wonderful things.

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  54. My first house with my first husband was a repossessed nightmare that we drove my parents by as a joke. Old car up on blocks across the front walkway, the front door wouldn't close because of the 1'-2' deep trash on the floor, windows that slipped into the siding because the frames had rotted, and on and on. My parents had been urging us to buy a house, so we thought they'd find this "gem" funny - they thought it was great! We ended up buying it ($18000 for the house and three lots - all 2 blocks from the ocean) and my parents helped us work on it for about a year before it was habitable. In the end, it was a great house - built in 1940, beautiful hardwood floors, and good "bones" as my dad said. This was in the early 1980s, during a recession, so we had lots of help from out-of-work cabinet makers, floor refinishers, etc. I was sad to leave the house - especially since we moved to a unremarkable standard ranch in a subdivision.

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  55. Wow that Bradford Pear tree was one of the largest I've seen. Our first home was an apartment for about 6 months and then we bought our first house. No fence and a new neighborhood. I looked out the back window to find cows in our back yard the property across the street. And found cow patties on the driveway. This was the suburbs not the country. LOL

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