Bittersweet

Tomorrow, we are signing paperwork to officially purchase a first "real" home. A home with a basement, a backyard, and an appropriate amount of room for 2 adults and 2 children (actually, 3 children in about 5 more months.) We're excited, as we are in desperate need of more space and a yard for our kids to run around in. Our current home has two bedrooms and a back deck, but no yard to speak of, and with a 4-year old and a 2-year old under our roof, we generate a lot of noise and a lot of motion. The time to leave our little condo has come. We were fortunate enough to sell it last month, and are now in the process of boxing it up and moving out.

Along with leaving comes a little (a lot, actually) of sadness, as this was our first home together, the first place both of our children came home to, and is filled with many happy memories. Hopefully, the new owner will enjoy it as much as we have, and have many of his own happy memories here.

Some highlights:
Our living room, facing south. The most used room in the house, as it's also the largest and has the best view. Many days were spent reading and playing in this room, and many nights were spent watching tv/movies, drawing, and spending time with family and friends. When we first moved in, some of my former students came to visit. They must have only been about 20 at the time (we were in our 20's too!), and that night one of them beat Dan and I so badly in a rousing game of Scrabble we still talk about to this day. At that point, we had no furniture or decorations; just an empty new condo, a bunch of friends, and a lot of laughs. Lego corner, in the living room facing north. That's Sean on the floor, in his favorite spot. Every morning, he comes out of his room and gets down to business in Lego corner, which technically is much larger than just the corner. The windows in the living room are almost floor-length, which makes them perfect for setting up a variety of Lego creations while also observing the comings and goings of our neighbors and they enter and leave the courtyard. (The walls and shelves are empty because I drew this recently. It's all packed.)
Our couch, one of the first and most expensive items my husband and I purchased for our condo. It has withstood a fair amount of abuse over the past 7 years, and is no worse for the wear. We also own a matching oversized chair and ottoman, all very comfortable and very washable (important when there are small children using the furniture along with the adults.) In addition, while the paper is pink, the furniture in real life is not.
The view from our dining room window, which faces the back side of an apartment building next door. Interestingly, this view was one of the things the man who purchased this condo from us listed as a "negative" after seeing our house for the first time. When we moved in, we considered this view a negative as well, but over time, we got used to it. The wall, the wires, and the boarded-up window never got more attractive, it just grew on us. I'm sure he'll learn to love it as well. And a final exterior photo. Our living room window (for a few more weeks) is the large one on the first floor, right underneath the Tudor tiles.