Still, so much going on around here…as always. So many things I could share. Right this moment though, I am wearing a smile. A smile because I am blessed. I am content. I am grateful. I am happy.
In the spring of 2002 my little family (Bryce, an infant version of my oldest daughter, and myself) drove around the growing neighborhoods of Happy Valley looking at houses. Dreaming. Sometimes dreams come true…and end up being better than you could ever imagine.
We moved into our cute little yellow house on the corner in July of 2002 and a love affair began. It’s not my dream house by any stretch of the imagination. It has a honey do list a mile long. It’s not perfect. It is h-o-m-e! It is the first house B and I purchased. It is the only home my three children have ever known. They learned to walk and talk here. They napped and snuggled and played here. They grow and change…here. These walls contain memories and more memories. Smiles, struggles, triumphs, tears, arguments, laughter and love. The longer we live here, the harder it is to imagine living anywhere else. I dream often of an old farmhouse down a long country driveway on a scenic hillside…but it would have to be a pretty ideal situation to drag me away from my yellow house on the corner in Parkside!
So much of my love for my home comes from the neighborhood we are a part of. This street specifically, since I have learned over time that one block in either direction would mean a different way of life. Our house was new when we bought it. The entire street was full of new homeowners and void of fences, trees and landscaping. We all spent our first summer becoming friends over hammers and shovels. We celebrated our first New Year’s on the street together with a neighborhood open house. We’ve shared kiddie pools and sprinklers and sidewalk chalk and bubbles. We’ve painted and built and dug and sprayed. We’ve watched the kids learn to run up and down the sidewalks and then ride bikes up and down the street. We started a 4th of July block party 9 years ago, and even though some neighbors have moved on and new ones have joined us…the tradition continues. It is truly our favorite day of the year. Everyone, young and old looks forward to closing down the street, pulling out the sun shades, banquet tables, BBQ’s, sno-cone machine, popcorn maker, and celebrating together. It has become such an awesome event that a few years ago we decided to end the summer with another big block party. Today we closed off the street for the 3rd Annual Chili Cook-Off/Dessert Bake-Off. It was HOT! Not necessarily a day one craves chili. We hooked up a misting hose, got out the shade canopies, and spread out chairs in the street. There were 9 crock pots of lined up for judging, with cornbread, corn chips, cheese and sour cream to add. There was also an entire table full of desserts…pies, cookies, chocolate banana cream pie, blackberry dump cake, fruit tarts, and more! Awards were handed out to many neighbors for the best, the spiciest, the thickest, the favorite, etc. Sadly the local fire dept wasn’t able to join us and judge this time (that was a highlight for the kids last year). There was a bike race, water fun, a light saber war and finally an intense game of flashlight bike tag!?!? We all had to drag our kids into the house at 9:00 to try and get them in bed at a decent hour.
It’s all cleaned up out there now, and here I am sitting on the couch smiling. Smiling because in a time when people are always on the go…I live on a street where we all stop being busy every once in a while to sit in the middle of the street and talk. I live in a neighborhood full of friends.
