With the recent sale of our home, today I’m saying goodbye to our Willow House.

Saying goodbye is never easy. It’s an official ending and even when we know it’s time to close the door and walk through a new one, it can be very bittersweet.

Saying goodbye to our Willow House was just that. It was bittersweet.

When Todd and I first bought “the worst house on the block“, we went into the property completely focused on transforming the house and making it so much better than how we found it. We always knew our stay there would be temporary, but what we didn’t fully consider was the amount of love and life we would forever share with our Willow House.

Because as much as we transformed the house, it transformed us too.

Saying Goodbye To Our Willow House

On my last walk through of the house, after all the boxes were moved and the furniture was gone, I stood there in an empty space fully engulfed in memories as the tears ran down my cheeks.

This was our first home as a family. Todd and I learned lessons, so many lessons, about life, projects, marriage, family and more. We brought our sweet Ania home there. She took her first steps right there in the living room, said her first words and climbed her first set of stairs all in this house.

I became a mother in this house, which has been the greatest gift I’ve ever been given.

This house watched as I found new footing and took care of my baby. It heard the giggles and cries and it watched as we chased our sweet Ania all around the house and up and down the stairs. The lamp was on every night so I could make the trek downstairs to warm another bottle.

From the very beginning, our Willow House watched us grow. It saw the hard work, and the projects and it watched us learn new lessons and master new skills… and it also saw love.

Those walls were filled with so much love. And in the three years we lived there, I didn’t fully recognize how hard it would be to leave the home we knew would be temporary from the start.

But the amazing thing about creating a home, is that you get to take it with you. After all of your things are removed, the inside walls start to feel empty. It feels bare and the smells and the sounds are different, and even though you still see and feel the memories, “home” goes with you.

Todd and I will forever love and remember this home. But not because of the amazing transformation we gave it, and it was amazing, but because of all of our precious memories. Our life in our sweet Willow House was a blessing.

And even though I often cursed the lack of storage, the size of the kitchen and dining room and the noise from the street, living there was a blessing. It taught me new lessons and I learned a new level of patience as we finished one room at a time, budgeting for each and every project we did.

As we start our next chapter, and the process of creating a new home from the ground up, I’m forever grateful we had our Willow House. You changed us as much as we changed you.