Another Step

Last month we closed on our house in Lehi, which meant. . . signing all those papers with dozens of paragraphs, that you just hope are legitimate but don't really have the interest in reading, especially while sitting at a fancy glass table in the attorney's office while your kids watch Netflix on your phone and drip sucker juice on said fancy glass table.
This was truly a great thing, a miraculous thing for many reasons.  We know that financially it is going to affect us a bit, but I feel so grateful that we no longer need to pay attention to a vacant home that is many miles away.  We were truly blessed that we were able to sell it under all the various conditions.  Nonetheless, I still felt a bit of remorse over it all.  I was reminded of a beautiful post that my friend Sara had made months ago, who lived the same scene we had.  When I read it, it was like she was speaking from my mind, so I wanted to share my version of her post. .

Because that home was:

• the first place that was 100% Royal + Me
• where we brought home 2 beautiful babies
• where I had a kitchen window to watch my kids outside while I did dishes. . .I always wanted a kitchen window
• Where I learned how to be a mom
• where I could go outside and have dozens of friends to play with, and parks just out my door, and moms to chat with, and places for family walks
• Where we decided on what to invest into, and what not to. . since it was OUR home
• where I got to decorate, or at least attempt to
• That had the greatest little window seat that my kids were in at least 10 times a day
• where we would walk to church every week, no matter the weather  (except that one day it was SUPER icy)
• where we would sit on the porch and watch cars go by, or eat popsicles, or watch the rain race down the middle of the road
• where our home evolved from camp chairs and leftover seminary couches, to a (donated) matching couch set
• Where we had our little salsa garden, and got to share our "harvest" with our friends
• where we had 4 Christmases, Lucy and Grant's firsts
• where I had the world's best pantry. . I don't know if I will ever find a better pantry
• Where we served in church callings, and hosted dozens of meetings
• Where we grew and grew as a family. . and learned how to be a family

The day we closed, we had one last item to attend to, and I realized that every time we had been before I was always reminiscent.  But that day, I knew I was ready to leave because as we walked out, it was no longer "our" house.  At that time, it was just walls and rooms and carpet.  I had decided to take the memories with me.