Memoir of our Red Brick House

March 2013

 Well, the contract is intact, so it looks like we're leaving our first home for good.

The night we found out that the house had sold was a sad one actually.  It felt like the end.  Of course it's also the beginning of something else, but it is the end of this.  It was bittersweet.

I will always remember the day Scott officially moved into this house.  I brought on over some dish rags and a silverware organizer.  Bachelors never have such things, so it was a good house-warming gift.  We sat on the floor and sweated because the air conditioner wasn't working and Scott owned no furniture.  It was a proud moment, all the same.

Eventually Scott got a few things for the house.  Like a mattress.  We folded it up like a taco in the Thompson's jeep and drove it home.  We also got some hand-me-down items from people in the ward.  We assembled that weird IKEA "dresser" that was really just an earthquake hazard.  Scott bought a lawn mower.  For some reason, the kitchen table got put in the living room and stayed there for months.

I would come over almost every day after school or work. (I had my own key!)  Sometimes I'd even make dinner at the house before Scott got home.  I felt at home there.  We planted flowers.  They died.  We planted fruit trees.  A few of them also died.  We patched holes and fixed up a lot of things that needed fixing.  It became a great home.

Eventually it was clear that soon this would be my house too.  Scott even asked me to marry him in this very house.  (I'm pretty much weeping now in case you are wondering.)  Wedding plans came and went and then our wedding came and went and then we lived together in the red house in marital bliss.

I've watched the giant maple tree change colors through our living room window a couple times now.  I put on my cap and gown here.  We both made big job decisions here.  We met a lot of new people and families here.  We did a lot of growing up here.

And now the time has come for something new.  Things are definitely going to change for us, but it's comforting to know that the important things won't.  Scott will still come home from work and smooch me to death every day before dinner.  We still won't be very far from many family and friends.  (In fact, for a couple weeks we may be uncomfortably close to some family and friends. Haha, hi Mom.)

So long, Orem!  You've been good to us. I'm excited for Home #2 because I know it'll be even better.  (That is, if we can find something we want to buy...wish us luck.)