We bought a farm: This isn't temporary

Since I first moved out of my parents home in 1995, my moves have been temporary.

• 1995 Dorm room at WKU
• 1997 Apartment off campus at WKU
• 1998 Rented townhouse with new husband in Bowling Green, KY
• 1999 Rented duplex in Franklin, KY
• 2003 Small apartment in house in Rochester, MN
• 2004 Purchased condo in Rochester, MN
• 2007 On Base housing on Eglin AFB, FL
• 2010 On Base housing on Incirlik AB, Turkey
• 2012 Off Base housing on Terceira Island, Portugal
• 2014 Rented home where we currently live in TN

Ten moves. All very temporary in nature. All moves that we went into knowing we had a very limited time there.

As a military family, you learn how to do these moves well. We unpack our boxes fast. We hang up pictures quickly. We do our best to make a house a home as soon as we possibly can. We need to maximize the little time we have in a place and make it more than just a stopping place. It has to feel forever even if it isn't.

We are good at this.

So now, the tides have turned. We have purchased our first home. We've purchased before but that was a condo that we knew we would only be in temporarily. 

This time we have purchased a house that we plan on being in for a very, very long time. 

Maybe forever.

And as JB and I discuss things around the house, he keeps having to shift my thinking away from temporary. I keep coming up with "quick" ideas to solve storage problems or lighting problems or space problems.

And my husband keeps saying, "We don't have to live with that problem."

Don't get me wrong, we won't be fixing a lot of things right away. But while we love the farm we purchased, the house is not perfect. It is new and nice and adequate, but it isn't my dream home, and we have decided that because the farm is our dream farm, we are going to make this house our dream home.

That is going to mean renovations and changes. Not right way. But eventually.

While the house looks big from the outside, it actually isn't nearly as big inside when you get in it. It will fit us well now. But it will be a tight fit when I am homeschooling four teenagers. The kitchen is too small for us long-term. The laundry room is itty bitty. 

That type of thing.

I was standing in our master bathroom and JB was telling me how one day he'd like to put in new cabinets. I told him that the cabinets were fine and that I could live with them.

"Wendi," he began. "You just don't get it. You have to stop thinking like a military wife stopping here temporarily. We aren't stopping here. We are going to live here. And we can make this house a home! Our home."

Wow!

It is going to take quite some time for me to adequately wrap my mind around what this means. I don't have to think in questions like: "What will stick to the wall but not damage it so I can remove it easily?" or "How can I decorate my child's room in a way that we can easily take it down and pack it up and move it to the next room?" I don't have to think of my living room in terms of "How can I make this furniture work in this room?" I can instead say, "How can I make this room work for my furniture?"

Liberating!

Overwhelming!

Wonderful!