Home is Where Your Heart is.

So before you begin to read this there is one thing I NEED you to understand....the Hubs and I were married young, so young in fact that the parental unit had to sign for it (guess you probably just figured out where I'm from huh?)  I grew up in a semi-privileged  world, always had everything I wanted and needed and the Hubs more or less not.  He has always tried his best to provide for us, sometimes even moonlighting on the side to keep the lights on. I am  stubborn and he was is hard headed and we were determined to make our way in the world... on our own! AHHHH such dreams.

So when Mama Kat threw out the prompts for her Writer's Workshop today...I thought....bahaha I GOT this one.  The idea is to write about all the homes you grew up in....well from birth to marriage there were only 2, in middle life suburbia where all I ever did was sass the parents and whine to get more stuff.....Soo after maritial bliss is where the fun begins and where the world straight smacked me in the face....and so it begins.

The first Apartment we ever occupied seemed so perfect, then again we were young and in love and riding off into the sunset in our little KIA...right into the ghetto.  It was a 2 bedroom, maybe 700 sq ft box of  indoor outdoor carpeting, electric that was always on the fritz and roaches big enough to claim on taxes. Not exactly either one of our dream places, and for years the Hubby beat himself up over not being able to afford anything more. But you know what, it's the most memorable, and humbling place we've ever lived. And talk about a community that took care of it's own, if you were part of it, you were taken care of. The little old lady that lived above us, watched my baby and you know how I paid her? Did her laundry, and her shopping. This was a community that didn't have much, but if they had it, it was yours. I never celebrated ANY holiday by myself, we were always invited to every Sunday dinner and BBQ and if your clothes were in the dryer and someone else needed it, they folded them and brought them to you...and never stole your undies :)

Once I had a flat and got a ride home, my ride refused to drive into my neighborhood out of fear, the one emotion I NEVER felt there. SO what did I do? Hoofed it through crack corner and hooked up with a group of everybody's grandmas  that walked every day and straight to the house...I LOVED that place. And being able to say that I set on our front steps and watch not 1 but 2 rap videos taped..is pretty cool. It's an experience I'll never forget....WELCOME my friends to Oakmont North in Norflok, VA.


We've been military now for ten years and done a lot of moving, Hell I could write an expo on military housing alone....and that's exactly what our next home was base housing. Now we lucked out because our second duty station was great housing, but wait there's a catch. Anyone ever heard of Lemoore, California ??? Yeah didn't think so...that's because it barely exists. But man we thought we'd hit the JACKPOT. from a 2 bedroom East coast to a 4 bedroom 2 1/2 bath, 2 car garage with a sliding glass door that actually opened West coast dream! Or so we thought. Lemoore is nothing but dairy farms and cotton fields with a base in the middle.We had to drive 40 something miles to the nearest Walmart! Not the California everyone thinks of huh? But for me it was the confirmation of a marriage, seems weird huh? But somehow moving from one coast to the other to follow my man, made it all the more real for me. So I have awesome memories of being outside with  boys, our favorite field that was always full of bunnies, Christmas lights on the palm trees, I had my first medical mystery, the oldest had his first set of stitches, the youngest really started talking and some of our first bonds with other military families came about  there. So this home also holds a special place in my heart. There's often times I'd like to live there again.



Then Uncle Sam decided we were too comfy and shipped us off to Texas....and man that was a WHOLE different ballgame. You see the Hubs had decided he wasn't seeing enough action in the Navy and ships weren't really his thing, he wanted guns and lots of them...so naturally (remember he's a hard head) the Army was calling his name :) So to Fort Hood we go...yes the tragedy at Hood this year hit us hard, we still have quite a few friends still there.  Again we found ourselves in base housing....BAD choice. Back to 2 bedroom 1 bath (that had jack and jill doors to boot...and they couldn't both be opened at the same time) crappy floored house. But that was the first time we actually had the funds to decorate and man was I excited! The boys shared a room again, but we had all new furniture, the kitchen was tiny but I labored in love for hours for all our friends.  My Desperate Housewives with Hot Cocoa night was founded there...it's a tradition I still honor <3 We were in a place that was all about community again and that felt good. Our oldest went to his first day of kindergarten from that house, the youngest learned to ride a bike there. Life long friends were made there, ones I still talk to every day and have held hands with through major tragedies, the kind that are still apart of our holidays? All in all minus the little things that house was a home filled with love.  

But the Hubs being who he is, always striving for better and even  better decided to make another career move...and that brought us here...back to the East coast. We've slowly but surely worked our way up as far as houses and neighborhoods go. We're back to a four bedroom multi-bath and garaged house, that finally feels like home. We've got colored walls...which is a big  deal when you've stared at white and or dingy walls your entire married career, and wonderful community and a house that is always filled with laughter. This house already has become a staple in our minds. This is where we lived when the Hubs best friend and the boy's godfather was killed in action, where the boys got to meet their grandfather for the first time, where their Daddy heard the first I love you's from him. Our marriage was Fireproofed here and our family made stronger. Our oldest will graduate from elementary, our youngest has become his own person, hopefully another baby will be added here. Dreams have been achieved and a woman, wife, and mom has found herself..
Those in my eyes are the things that make a home.

I only chose to highlight some of my favorite and most memorable houses, we've moved ALOT and you would never get through this post if I listed them all. I didn't intend for this to be an emotional post, but I'm sitting here teary eyed thinking about where we've come from and where we are now, and it only makes me wonder what changes are in store for the next ten years!

Have fun writng ya'll and thanks again Mama Kat for the inspiration!