Issue link: https://nest.uberflip.com/i/1208934
Eve morning, one day after closing, my mother and I drove her to this house and surprised her. She was pleased but also a little nervous knowing that she would be leaving her neighborhood friends behind at the apartment complex. The words "you'll love it here" are not easily accepted by a child even when you follow it up with "trust me, I know". And I did know. I knew that she would be in a neighborhood of kids where she could ride her bike freely, where we would have Girl Scouts come to our door selling cookies, where she could go next door to play with other little girls and adopt their family as her second home, enjoying dinners there and movie nights. That she would welcome them into our home as well and this community would become so much more than just this structure she was looking at. It's hard to convey that to a kiddo, or truly understand yourself even as an adult until you experience it for yourself. That Christmas Eve Bonney Lake experienced a huge snow storm and we found ourselves stuck at the new house without anything but a blanket, our dog and a dog bed. We decided to order pizza and hang tight until the snow stopped and we could make our way down the infamous hill. The delivery gal had a tough time finding us but finally after 90 minutes arrived with the much anticipated, lukewarm cheese pie. We devoured the pizza in front of the fire while we marveled at the fact that we actually pulled this off. Keeping the house a secret from my daughter for 6 months, jumping through hoops with the financing, and now here we sat proud as peacocks that finally at age 8, my daughter would have the opportunity to grow up in a real house. It was no small feat for a single mom. It was a good night and a great memory to start this new chapter in our lives. As we have settled in I reflect on what I learned through the process of building this home. There are some personal design choices that I have loved, and some other items that I wish I knew then—a could have, would have, should have type scenario.