It's Official

Due to the 60 miles I travel and roughly 100 miles that Levi travels every day for work, we've decided to start looking for a place to live in Reston. It would cut my travel down to less than 10 miles total and Levi's down to about 30 total, which when combined, is less than mine alone right now! Our lease is up here at the end of July, so we have at least a few more weeks, but they are going to go by fast.

It's taken me a long time to come around to the idea of moving because I love where we're at so much. There's just something about the first place you live together. I remember coming here for a party when the Olmsteads lived here before us, and thinking what a cute little place it was. Then I came another time when Jennifer was designing our wedding invitations, and thought again what a cute little place it was. They were in the process of moving out that time, and we hadn't lined up a place to live yet, so within a few weeks, it was ours to rent! I was amazed at how it worked out, and I couldn't wait to move in.

When we got back from our honeymoon, we opened the front door to piles of wedding gifts and unpacked belongings strewn all over the house. For I think just the first night, we slept in the living room because that's the section of the floor that our mattress happened to occupy at the time. It looked like this:

 We did eventually get settled in though, and had a lot of fun in the process. Two years have flown by since that time, but it also feels like we've just always been here. There are a lot of things I'll miss about this happy place.

I'll miss hearing the baseball games that go on across the street. I'll miss the sort-of musty smell of an older house that says "welcome home" when you've been gone for a while. I'll miss the solid wood cabinets in the kitchen that have the latches you push when you want to open them. I'll miss the creaky floorboards. I'll miss having a full basement with extra storage space, and a little red shed in the back yard. Speaking of that, I'll miss my own yard. I'll miss the chance to garden in it, even though the most I ever did was pick the fresh mint that someone else planted.

We'll miss a lot of things, but we're also excited about what we'll gain. For instance, it will be GREAT to have a dishwasher! We're looking forward to carpet to walk on and I'm looking forward to vacuuming. I love vacuuming. We'll have pool access, be in close proximity to the Town Center with lots of fun restaurants and shops, AND...we'll be close enough to DC to be able to go in more often for date nights or Saturday adventures.

Don't tell anyone, but the more I warm up to the idea, the more excited I get about it. That doesn't take away how much I'll miss this house and the little town of Purcellville that has been home for the past 4 1/2 years, but it won't all be doom and gloom. We'll make more memories and keep growing in love no matter where we are, and that's always something to look forward to.

I took this picture I think on the first day Levi had to go back to work after we moved in. I was waiting for him to get home any minute and I remember just being so excited about my new life with him. That's always what I'll think of when I see this picture.