Let's get personal...

I usually stick to pretty pictures when it comes to Roam & Wander. I always want to introduce you to all of the amazing people I've met and share their stories with you so you too will be inspired. I want you to hear their stories.

Now, I feel like most of the people who read this blog are my family and friends so I assume you already know about me and who I am. You don't need to hear my story because you most likely already know. And this made me realize that I never really get too personal, so let's do it.

This place? This is home.

I was born in Austin, Texas and before college I had only moved once in my life. It was from the house next door, into this one. True story.

1405 was my grandparent's house and 1407 was ours. I never really realized how lucky I was having my grandparents so close, because it was all I knew. I could walk outside, take 5 steps, walk up stairs and be in their home. I grew up in 1405. During high school, 1405 was home to a lot of my friends. It was always welcoming and each weekend that house was full of people and tons of laughter.

I moved away to Athens, Georgia for college and had no idea what I was really doing. I didn't apply to any schools in Texas, which looking isn't what you would expect from an only child who has only moved once. This was the place I was so homesick for. Throughout those next 4 years, this place was still my home.

After college I moved to New York. Again, not a move you'd think this girl would make, but she did. All the while, this home was there to make sure I always came back to Austin. It housed the long catch up conversations and the holiday meals, it was home and there's nothing really that compares to that feeling.

At what point is your childhood home not your home anymore?

I remember my dad talking to me about this the year after I graduated college. We agreed that it's a weird feeling, not really having any place of your own after you've grown up and been "on your own" for four years. [On your own is a term I have to use very loosely.. without my parents financial support it would have been a whole other story]. You're supposed to go out into this big world and start your own life and have your own home. But, that little NYC apartment as much as I loved it and made it our own, wasn't home. It was mine and turned into ours, and it was our space and I did miss it when I was away, but it wasn't the big, warm, cozy, comfortable place where you can have early coffee with your parents and cook dinner with your mom. It wasn't 1405.

So, what am I getting at?

1405 is going to be someone else's home very soon.

Oh, the tears are coming, but let's keep going. 1405 will soon be on the market.. soon, other families will be walking through taking note of the crown molding that's been repainted and the new gorgeous tile floors in every bathroom. They will probably love the basement where my Grandad used to make furniture, because it's a lot of extra space which is a rare find.. and they will love the backyard where my Grandmom used to swing me for hours until I'd doze off, because now it's home to a gorgeous chicken coop and mom's lush garden. They will have no idea that the little house next door used to be an extension of the place, that the house next door used to actually look like a house and not an overgrown jungle. They may know that 1405 is where my mom grew up, but only because it's a great selling point.

To those of you who have moved all around the country or world for that matter, this may all sound totally crazy to you. But my little piece of Austin is about to be someone else's after never knowing anything different.

So, to the new owner's of 1405..

I hope you love it. I hope you make this place a home that your children will long for when they're away. May your door always be open to your friends and family who are going through hard times, this house knows nothing else. I hope you create your own history here and that you don't paint over the green on the front oak tree. I hope you actually use the porch off of the master bedroom because it's never gotten the love it deserves. I hope you go into the basement and are inspired to create, because that's what it's there for. I hope you sit in the backyard and enjoy the sunshine for hours. I hope you really love those beautiful wooden cabinets in the study because those have been there for my entire life.

I hope you understand when I want to come sit on your front porch while I'm visiting Austin, because I've never known anything different.