How do you put into words the love you have for your first home: the place where our married life began and brought our babies home, the place where we've worked so hard to create a home, and the place where we've celebrated so many wonderful things in our life and the life of those we love? I'm not sure how, but I am certainly going to try.
If you know me, you know I love old houses. I can't pinpoint just one reason, but instead there are many, and have just always been drawn to old things and places. I love the stories they could tell and the history they represent. I love them because many wonderful childhood memories were in my family's old houses, both at my Dad's in the summertime and at my Grandma Re's that we visited multiple times a year. Both of my childhood homes here in Oklahoma have been destroyed by tornadoes and a fire, so while for some this would allow them to let go of "stuff", it has made me cling to it and cherish it even more, especially family heirlooms. I have even included "vintage" in my blog's name I love old so much! So an older home, with original features, was always what I had hoped and dreamed to live in someday.
Even though we knew we wanted an older home, falling in love with this house came as a surprise to us, after looking for a couple years unsuccessfully, and then finally deciding to rent first. We rented from Judi Hadley, knowing she knew all about old houses in Norman, so we hoped she could help us find our first home. Soon after we contacted her, she told us about an upcoming listing of a home we had never seen or noticed in our many drives around Norman, but were familiar with the street. We were excited to see it, and though when we pulled up it looked like it needed a little work, we were still excited. We walked in and saw the fireplace, the original wooden floors, the built-ins, the old phone shelf, and the backyard, and knew we wanted to make it ours. We met the sellers, two professors at OU, and though our contract was a bit unconventional, we were so excited for this cute little cottage to call our own!
We hoped/planned on doing some work before we moved in, and enlisted our loved ones to help. They painted and moved and painted and cleaned and painted some more. It was exciting and overwhelming, but the task felt much less daunting with the support of our friends and family. And we are and were so grateful for them! That first summer we lived here seemed so stressful, but really it was where we began to learn and grow and become a really great "Team Valentas". We worked on projects in each room, and looked forward to the spring to get started on the outside. Our ideas and vision transformed into a reality, and it was amazing to see all that hardwork pay off.
We then began to grow our family by getting a sweet little girl golden retriever that we named Lucy, like we'd planned. Good thing we got a dog before having a baby because it was tricky but definitely worth it!
I love to host and when we bought the house, the previous owners told us how great a place it was to have company and dinner parties! So that's exactly what we did. We continued our weekly dinners with our closest group of friends...
We celebrated proposals, engagements, weddings, and babies...
We celebrated birthdays, movie nights, and everyday dinners...
And took about a million pictures from this vantage point! But with each one, I took a moment to pause and realize how lucky we were and are.
This house didn't come with it's own challenges, big projects, and expenses though. But I think it only made us a better team, and more proud homeowners. We had storms that damaged our plants and unexpected house repairs, but we knew that we loved this house and in the end it has always been worth it.
When we bought the house, we already had the nursery picked out. I began dreaming and searching for ideas on Pinterest for both baby girl and baby boy ideas, and both nurseries had ideas imagined long ago. Our vision came to life in both rooms before Ellie and Walt's arrivals, and it was so fun to create such special places for our babies. We've spent many hours in each room, rocking sleepy babies, changing countless diapers, playing on the floor, and just enjoying the space. Each room is special in it's own sense, but our children's rooms have been extra meaningful for us, as they are filled well wishes from loved ones, dreams for Ellie and Walt's future, and many many memories.
The living room is definitely our most used room, and is our "family space". The walls are covered in pictures from our families, and memories of our own Valentas Family adventures. It has been carefully decorated and organized, and there is room for everyone here...adults, kiddos, babies, and pets. Our huge front window is one of my favorite things in this room, as it seems it was created just for babies and pets to look out, and a perfect spot to frame a big Christmas tree. And I've loved the mantle and the fireplace from the first time we saw the house. We've decorated it for each season, and made many fires to keep us cozy when it's cold. We've played, danced, watched movies, eaten breakfast, snuggled, and opened for birthdays, Christmas, and other celebrations here. We've laughed and cried in this room, and it has been such a wonderful place to us.
The dining room has been a space where many loved ones have gathered around the table for dinner around the table, buffet style parties, showers, birthdays, and Fall Festivals. The shelves in the built-in buffets have held many of our most cherished items, from our wedding glasses and my bouquet, to colorful Fiestaware, and from seasonal decorations to serving dishes we use both in our everyday and for special gatherings. We've displayed our favorite postcards, birthday cards, and Christmas cards, and has our best moments of each year in pictures printed from Instagram. It's a colorful but comfortable room, and I love the memories we share from simple family meals here too, with silly videos of both babies in the highchair.
My little kitchen has been the room that the most people have asked if I was going to update it. Originally, I had pondered it, but after we painted and found a home for everything, I just couldn't imagine tearing out the original cabinets, oven, and other sweet detail in this space. We have cooked countless meals in there of course, as well as many many sweet treats for friends and family. I've felt transported to 1947 the most in this room, and thought often about my Grandma Re in this space. I've channeled my inner 1950s housewife, in all the good ways, and have so loved adapting to the room, rather than making the room adapt to my preferences. I hope the new owners love this little cozy kitchen as much as I have.
Though the bathrooms are seem to be just that, I can think of all of the little moments we've shared as a family. It's where we've found out we were pregnant with both babies, where we've given them baths, and the where are bedtime routine begins. Silly songs and faces in the mirrors and messy hands washed clean have been here.
There are many nooks and crannies to this house that have made me love it too. It's said that old houses don't have great storage, but this house certainly does. Thankfully, the closets are big and we sure do have a lot of things stashed in them, whether it's in our room, the hall closets, the coat closet, or the back closet. All spaces that have allowed us to live fully in this home. I've also loved our hallway since we first saw it, mostly because of the old phone shelf and the built-in linen cabinet. I also strangely enough love our garage and laundry room. It's a little rough and a little unconventional for an old house because it's actually connected to the house, but I love the stories it could tell. Handmade shelving and drawers created by former owners each for their own purposes still intrigues me. And Chris just refinished the laundry room...spackle, paint, shelving, and a new light fixture...and I have a space that makes me happy when I am doing a not so favorite task.
In college, I wrote out "life goals", and one of them was a garden/yard with something always growing or blooming. With lots and lots of hardwork, mistakes, and learning, we've finally accomplished a goal I had only dreamt of. I have loved cultivating our front flowerbeds, and finding which plants work best where, and some of my favorites are lantana, sweet potato vine, begonias, elephant ears, coleus, or course fall's best, mums. I've enjoyed creating pretty pots and planters for the porch, and then adding pumpkins later on. And the large magnolia tree has been a picturesque view out the front window too. We've made a brick pathway, found from leftovers bricks, which has made the walk to the backyard that much more welcoming. And our backyard...ohhhhh how I love it our backyard! Even in it's original jungley-pebble-pathed state, we saw the beautiful patio and firepit, as well as the potential for a place to entertain friends and family, and eventually a place for our children to play, and it kind of sealed the deal for us. It has been a lot of work over these past eight years, and it seems odd to be leaving now that we have just completed the biggest projects. All the flowerbeds are landscaped with hostas, wandering jenny, canna lilies, and daffodils. Chris created a safe and fun area for the kiddos with a new edged and mulched playset, as well as a chalkboard. Even our little shed looks like a cozy spot to hang out. And then there's the magic in those lights strung over the patio, into the yard, and along the fence with the word that we've called this place for so long, "HOME". It has stopped me in my tracks time and time again this spring, and I pause to think beautifully special this yard has become.
We have enjoyed our home and backyard this year more than we ever have before, and took every opportunity to play and eat and swing and invite others to join us. This little house has partied like never before these past 8 weeks, and I think it knows how much love we have for it, as well as the love our friends and family have shared here with us. The moments big and small, special and ordinary, rewarding and challenging...they all make up the memories we have created here in our very first Valentas Family Dream Home. It has been a dream come true to live here and an honor to carry on it's history. We will miss it oh so dearly, but know our next adventure awaits and this little 1947 cottage is ready to become a home to a new family who needs it and will love it as much as we have.
You will always hold a special place in our hearts, 926 W. Eufaula. Thank you for the memories, thank you for keeping us warm and safe, and thanking for being the place where there has been so much laughter and love. Thank you for the adventure... Now go have a new one!
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