Home Sweet Home

Finally, after 4.5+ years of living in this house, we've fixed up the master bedroom.

Permanence is somewhat of a foreign concept to me. The record for the longest I've ever lived in one home is 5 years. We moved a lot when I was growing up - sometimes every year. No, we weren't a military family, and we always stayed in the same general area, but I can say that between kindergarten and high school, I attended 12 different schools.

I think there's a touch of nomad in me stemming from all that moving around as a kid. Even as an adult, I've moved around a lot, always waiting for the place that would feel like my permanent home. When Michael and I bought this house, I did finally feel like this is where I would like to be for the rest of my days. But after a couple of years, Michael and I started fantasizing out loud about getting out of the rat race here and moving someplace a little more slow-paced. And with that expectation that we might pull up stakes and move away at some point, there's been a part of me that has resisted making this the home it could be. Do you know in 4.5 years, we've never hung a single picture on the wall in the living room? And although we fixed up all the kids' rooms as soon as we moved in, we've never really done anything with our room. The most I did was, impulsively one Thanksgiving weekend a few years ago, paint the walls a color something akin to vomit (it didn't look like vomit on the color card!).

But lately, I suddenly find myself thinking that this could be our permanent home. And maybe it should be. We're in a great neighborhood, the kids are happy here, and the truth is, we have the perfect setup for Finn later on if circumstances warrant it: a full apartment downstairs, which would allow him to live semi-independently. Anyway, who are we kidding - yanking everyone up and moving to Oregon? I don't think it's going to happen, and it probably wouldn't be everything we've fantasized about anyway. A friend of mine said something very wise, and it's stuck with me: no matter where you go, there you are.

It also has something to do with Michael's cancer . . . I find myself needing to invest in and commit to having a future. I need to believe that we have a whole life to live together still.

So, as part of putting down some permanent roots here, I made the executive decision to finally fix up our bedroom this last week. Without further ado:

Before -

After -

I love the way it all turned out. It's very cozy feeling now and has an almost log-cabin feel to it. The only thing missing is a fireplace!