Turning the House Into Our Home

This post has been in the cue for quite some time.

There are certain things that turn a house into a home.

Everyone has furniture.

Everyone has a kitchen.

Everyone has dishes.

Everyone has bedding.

It all belongs in a house.

What makes it your home?

For us, it has been several things.

Number one has been us being together under a roof that belongs to US!

The pride, sweat and tears we put into the house has made it OURS!

Going from NOTHING, on September 3, 2012, to this beautiful home

8 months later, on May 3, 2013!

So many memories were made here, before we even moved in.

OUR house has become our safe place!

Our vacation and get away spot!

Our comfort zone!

Our little slice of heaven!

We all sleep and rest so well here.

We laugh, play, relax and chill here.

We are also still working very hard here.

The work seems to be part of what is turning the house into our home.

At times, it seems endless.

At the same time, it doesn't seem like work.

The yard still has to be completed.

The yard is very costly!

Some say, "It is the investment."

Some say, "Why don't you pay to have that done?"

We say, "Why didn't insurance cover that?"

None the less, we will get the yard complete, in due time.

It is also all those little items.

Like the "Little Oak Stool".

The "Salvaged" items from the old house.

The "Garden Hose Basket" made for the front porch.

One of the projects that kept Flower Boy and I busy, while Drewman was playing in the sand, we believe added to the house becoming our home.

We put "STUFF" on the walls!

All the "STUFF" is very personal to each one of us.

I purchased this plaque right after the house fire.

I had to have it!

It says it all!

It is the first thing you see when you walk in our front door.

This boot cut out was given to us by dear friends.

The horse carving...

It was My Daddy's!

 After we moved into the new house, we began cleaning out the storage buildings.

We had so many things stored there.

There were things, from the house, where I raised my boys.

There were toys belonging to my boys, when they were little.

AND there was My Daddy's horse carving!

I may never know the history.

I do know, I have had it for a very long time.

It was in my bedroom when I was a young girl.

Why was it in a nasty storage building covered with years of dust?

It was there so it didn't burn in the house fire!

It has his name on the back, in his handwriting.

I can only assume, this was a project he did as a young boy or teenager.

The plaques, from "Drewman's Big Night" and Boy's State, have been hung.

 The Cowboy coat and hat hooks have been hung in the mud room.

These were Flower Boy's long before me.

The other half, of the posse, hangs over the adjacent bench.

GO POKES!!!

This amazing cross hung over our bed, in the old house.

It was a gift, from the Big Kids.

It has a few char marks and is a reminder of the protection granted over us.

These were in the old house, too.

That special aunt pulled them off one of the only remaining interior walls.

If they could only talk!

We found this wash board in the storage shed.

It may have a story of it's own to tell, one day.

This bad boy was the hold up of this entire post!

 Flower Boy cautiously hangs him on the wall.

 My Daddy shot this guy years ago!

I hold the hunting story close to my heart.

I was a little girl.

The gun, that took this trophy down, was the only gun locked in our gun safe the day of the fire.

I purchased that gun at My Daddy's Estate Auction just two months prior to the fire.

On the last days before leaving My Daddy's farm, the buck mount was setting inside My Daddy's shop doors.

The woman leaving him, placed him for me to find.

I took him home and set him in our closet.

I wasn't sure what to do with him.

But knew, I wasn't going to leave him for mice and rats, in that old barn.

The night of the house fire, I pulled him out.

He was covered with smoke, ash, soot, insulation, sheetrock and water.

I thought all was lost and I would have nothing of My Daddy's, to carry forward with me.

One of Flower Boy's friends took him, along with other things.

I had no hope of salvaging Daddy's Buck.

Last week,  Flower Boy received a call.

 "When are you going to come get your ....?"

I did all I could not to cry.

It was very hard looking at how well My Daddy's Trophy had been preserved and restored.

I know Ryan spent hours!

I am forever grateful.

Thank you, Ryan and Jennifer!

Task complete!

Our House has made the transition to OUR HOME!