Spring Valley Court

When we first put our house on the market in January...of 2010...Matt asked me if I would miss it when it sold. I thought about it for a second and told him that I wouldn't. However, in the 18 months that passed between then and last Monday, when we moved out of that house, we crammed quite a few memories in - all of them involving a certain little girl.

It's the only home this neurotic labradoodle has ever known.


The only place he's had his birthday cake.


It's where we brought Brooke home from the hospital. Where she learned to crawl and walk.



It's her first home and it makes me sad that she won't remember it. It's also the house where I adjusted to living in Chicago. And I know that it's just a place and that it's the love and people that make the memories, yada, yada...but I'm going to exercise my freedom to be slightly over-sentimental, as I at times tend to do.

When I first started this post, we were still in Spring Valley and I was getting choked up as a wrote it. Since then, I've been able to gain some perspective. We also had to stop back by the old house to pick up a few things, and I was able to see how eager this cute young couple was to make it their home.




I'll admit that I also cried as we left the house, but as soon as we got to our new place, the neighborhood girls came over and asked, "Can Brooke play?" and I realized that we've made the right decision and that we'll be able to build so many more memories at this great new house. We're really excited to be here. Brooke's been totally unphased by the move, sleeping better here than she did at Spring Valley. It's been a slower adjustment for Ozzie (btw, we're taking suggestions for name changes since Ozzie Guillen left the Sox), but he's coming around. I think he and (Tom) Brady, the labradoodle down the street are bound to be BFFs.

Oh, and let me know if you're looking for a moving company NOT to use. The picture doesn't do justice to the huge gash they put in the wall of our old place.