Goodbye. Hello.

Today we said goodbye to our first home. We built this home 16 years ago when we began our marriage journey. We were babies. Babies.

This house is the longest place either of us has called home. We came home from our honeymoon to this house. We brought our babies home to this house. We had career changes and made huge family decisions in this house. We fought for our marriage in this house. We lost a parent in this house.

I will miss it.

I will miss the silly, seemingly unimportant parts of this house. Like the master closet; it's where I hid to talk on the phone. It's also the place where I chunked a candle into the wall when we struggled with infertility...and where we prayed the night before our first child was finally born.

I will miss the bushes in the front yard. It's where we took pictures before every important event in our lives...like daddy/daughter date night and soccer games and the first day of school. It's where we hid Easter eggs and was the scene of all the epic pool noodle light saber battles.

I will miss the kitchen sink. It's where I learned not to put 8 eggshells into the disposal. It's where I stood for countless hours watching my tiny humans play while I did dishes or meal prepped. It's where Brad washed my hair when I was on bedrest during pregnancy and where he bathed Channing and Chaz when they were infants.

It is hard to say goodbye to something with that many memories.

So I choose not to say goodbye. But instead, I will say hello. Hello to our new home. Hello to new memories. Hello to a new master closet...a new picture spot...a new kitchen sink view. Hello.

One more quick story before the unpacking shall commence. Brad and I were scheduled to return from our honeymoon on his birthday, June 9, 2002. But our flight from the Bahamas was delayed and we had to spend the night in Florida. We flew home the next day and he carried me over the threshold of our new home for the first time...one day later than planned. On June 10, 2002.  June 10th.

I don't believe it's a coincidence that we walked out of this home for the last time on June 10, 2018. Our heavenly Father is a part of every detail in our lives. And what seemed like an annoyance and extra expense 16 years ago now feels like a nice big bow on top of a wonderfully wrapped gift. He is with us for every hello and goodbye.