For the last 13 years, our homes have been “where ever the Navy sent us”.  With that being said, we have had several places we lived in, many different schools the kids attended, many neighborhoods we called ours…
but we never made a house a home.
Always knowing that we would move soon, we never really unpacked anything except for the basics; clothes, toys, household items, and I kept picture frames and such packed away.  Knowing we were going to move every 6 months to a year, I didn’t want to make it my home and then have the heartbreak of leaving it.

I short changed myself, not the kids though; their school art plastered our empty walls 😉
Last August, August 24, 2011 to be exact, we packed up our Honda Odyssey, and drove from San Diego, California to New York.  It was heartbreaking to say the least,
not only were we moving across the Country, but we didn’t want to go.  I didn’t want to leave the best place I had ever lived in, my children’s birthplace, MY birthplace.  But we didn’t have a choice, our time in the US Navy in San Diego was over.

We arrived in New York the week after the hurricane, feeling like it was the worst thing in the world.  We lived with my husband’s aunt for 11 months and it wasn’t easy for any of us.  Not only was I having problems with schools and their abusiveness towards my special needs child, but I was missing home and sad that I didn’t have one of our own.
I made a promise to myself that the next place we moved into, would be our home.  We looked everywhere for rentals we could afford, but they were horrible; so I made the decision that we would sacrifice some extra things in order to find a home that had what I wanted… and we did!

I found the perfect old little house, it has a leaky basement, it rains throughout the summer, the attic has one tiny window… but it’s perfect for us 😉

and we’ve put up our first set of fresh flowers…

and we’ve had Family movie nights where they ALL fell asleep on the couch ;)…

Where Anthony cooked his first meal…

we even have 4 kittens and fish now ;)…

We are in a place that says home, that feels like home, and it definitely smells like home 😉

This is how I’ve decided to “Live a little”, by finally opening my heart and sharing my “Home” with you 😉
What things make your house a home?  What does home mean to you?