Goodbye 1947 Cottage

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!

Hello 1930 Farmhouse!

One of the reasons I loved Norman when starting at OU was the tree-lined streets and old homes. I've walked, jogged, and driven these streets for almost 15 years now, and always dreamed about what it would be like to live in one of these historic homes. After we got married and made Norman our hometown as we looked to purchase our first home, we drove up and down the streets even more frequently, searching for the perfect place. We started by renting an older house from a historic home-loving Normanite, Judi Hadley, who we then asked to help us find our first dream home. And so she did just that: she helped us find a little 1947 cottage, hidden by a "rough around the edges" facade, but with lots of potential and lots of love. So we took this frame of mind after having Ellie, realizing we would never be able to afford a pristine and perfect home close to campus, so we branched out to other areas and neighborhoods with just as beautiful homes and features. 

And then we found our dream home: a 1930 craftsman farmhouse, soon after Ellie was born, on one of our many drives around campus and it's nearby neighborhoods. We'd probably driven by it many times, but hadn't really seen it, and the more research we did on the home, the more we loved it. It didn't stand out immediately, but we knew we would love to make it ours someday, so we began to call it our dream home, driving by at least every other week. We loved the architecture, the porch, the large lot, and all of the beautiful trees. We knew that as our family expanded, our little cottage would soon be at max capacity, and though it was hard to imagine ever leaving it, we told each other that if this dream home ever became available, we would try to get it. 

With simple plans to love on our first dream home over the summer, with all the big projects finally accomplished, I saw on Facebook that our dream home would be having an estate sale, and that the family would be selling the home in the near future. My heart sank and I immediately felt ill. I showed it to Chris, with tears in my eyes and panic in my mind. "There's no way we could make this work", I thought to myself, as I didn't feel we were ready financially or emotionally. But I made plans to go the estate sale first thing Saturday morning, especially after seeing the pictures of the home on the estate sale website. Of course, I focused on the home itself, but had my eye on a few items I knew I would cherish too. I also contacted Judi to see if she knew any information about the upcoming sale of the home, and she said she would look into it.

So many treasures to be found, but the biggest one was the home itself!

I decided to go by myself, in hopes that I wouldn't cry, but as I pulled up and saw how busy it was and my mind began racing even more, tears already beginning to well up in my eyes. I couldn't stop thinking that there would be no way for us to afford it and that there would be a ton of others wanting this house too. I walked into the house, my heart beating out of my chest, and caught a familiar scent of both of my grandmothers’ houses, and I had to fight the tears back. I was in awe of the beauty inside, though I realized it would need some work, and as I went from room to room, I heard others saying the things I was thinking. I found the vintage Minnie and Mickeys I had seen, and searched for the "God Bless Our Home" sign, but disappointingly, it was already gone. 

I went upstairs and ran into one of my former students, who asked how I was, and of course, it let the flood gate of emotions and tears come out. I explained how much I loved the home, but thought we couldn't make it work. She said that her dad knew the owner's son, and that they did plan to put the house on the market soon, but that she thought her dad could give me his contact information. I was unsure but hopeful that I might be able to at least contact the owners. I meandered around more, taking in the details of every room, and also ran into Judi inside. I told her how much I loved it, though she said she had not found out anything yet. We chatted more, as I waited for my former student’s dad, which I also then saw a couple ladies seemingly contemplating that sign I had my eye on. Feeling bold, I asked them if they were going to purchase that sign, and they said they would definitely let me know. Though it was cold, I went to hang out on the porch, and then got to meet my former student’s dad. He told me more about the home, and that it was the original farm house to the 160-acre area, and that fact alone hooked me even more. He gave me the contact info for the current owner’s son, explaining it had been owned and lived in by his mom for the past 50+ years. I fell in love with it more, and when the gal with the sign came out to tell me I could purchase the sign, I immediately got tears in my eyes once again. Before we each parted ways, I thanked Judi, my former student’s dad, and the gal who sold me the sign, and walked to my car half a block down with tears streaming, thinking that this dream was just too big and that I needed to just let it go.

I got home, and told Chris all about it, and feeling silly for being so emotional about it, but still having those big feelings. We both looked at each other and said that it was just too much for us right now, emotionally and financially, so we were going to try to let it go, but would cherish the sign I was able to get in whatever home we were in.

But I still had the owner’s son’s number, and that little piece of fate I just couldn’t waste. So I gave that number a call. He asnswered and I introduced myself, telling him how much I loved the house, especially after visiting it for the estate sale. I asked him to wait to sell the house, but he explained the need to sell to help support his mom, but also asked what items I had found at the sale. We chatted a bit more, and I told him that I hoped something magical could happen where we could buy it and thanked him for his time. I had hoped to find a sense of relief after our conversation, and while on one hand I did, on the other hand I couldn’t stop thinking about the house, and knew any other scenario of someone else owning it would be hard to swallow. We visited it again on Sunday with our little family, and Chris could see what I saw: beautiful original characteristics and potential that we were afraid someone would come in and ruin it.

So I began to pray for a clear sign that if this house wasn’t supposed to be ours, that there would be a clear breaking point and that we could let the dream go. But it that I began to also let go of our cottage a little, realizing we already were at max capacity. I came up with several hair-brained ideas on how to get the house, but none of them made sense and would add too much unneeded stress and strain to the situation. On Monday night, after a long weekend of pondering and praying, Chris finally said to me, “If you want to get that house, the only way we could possibly do it is to sell ours.” A peace about it washed over me immediately and I knew that would be the only way we could it. But I also immediately started crying about giving up our home…one with our best memories.

So we made plans to try to get our dream house: we called our parents, I emailed Judi, and Chris went to the bank Tuesday morning. Once we found out we were approved, Judi came over, we filled out the needed paperwork, and a sign was in our yard that night. I called the owner’s son to give him the news, and he said he would let us know when we could come see it again after they cleaned up from the estate sale. The next three nights were filled with showings at our house, that brought in several offers, and we met again with Judi just one week since we’d first seen the house to choose an offer. We were under contract, and just waiting to see our dream house.

We couldn’t wait to finally see the house in it's entirety, and as soon as the owner's son let us know it was available, we were elated and asked to see it that night. He toured us around the home, he told us many stories about his own memories as well as this history. One of the first things he showed us was this article from the Norman Transcript, that was written when his parents bought it.

He told us about it being built in 1930, and that it really was the original farmhouse to a 160-acre pig farm. (Van's Pig stand also opened then....perhaps they owe us some money?!? Haha...) The land was originally purchased in 1892 for $200 per acre. It has had only three owners: The Schultze Family, The Chaudoin Family, and then his family who bought it in 1961, including his mom, Mary E. Sudduth, who has lived in it for the last 57 years. He even shared a story with us from his childhood newspaper route, where an older lady asked where he lived. He told her about his house, and she told him that her father had built it, and that he had gone to the lumberyard and had picked out every plank to build it himself. Even before we knew all of these details, we knew it had to be special because of the craftsmanship throughout the home, and in the original woodwork, light fixtures, and door knobs. 

It was incredible to hear it's history, and know it had been so well cared for. We put in our offer that night, and the following afternoon Greg called us to let us know that offer was accepted. He told us his mom was thrilled to hear that a family would be living there, and he congratulated us on getting our dream house! We then planned to meet him there that evening to see the house again, and to exchange paperwork. We got to the 1930 farmhouse early, and we were not-so-successfully trying to take a selfie of us and the house when he arrived. As he got out, we shook hands and thanked him, with tears in our eyes, but we could also see he had tears in his eyes. He explained why in that where we were taking our first picture with the house, his siblings had all gathered to take their last picture with the house. He said he it was a sign it was meant to be, and we agreed. 

 So we went in with new eyes…knowing this time the house would soon be ours. As we finished up for the evening, I told him what Ellie had said when she found out. She has exclaimed, "We won the big house!”, but his response was, “Well the house won too!". He gave us that newspaper article that I cannot wait to frame and hang with our "God Bless Our Home" sign by the front door.

With every change, happiness can always be found, though there can also be some drawbacks, some disappointments, and some bittersweet moments. I knew I'd be willing to give up my other plans and dreams for this home in a second, but maybe I don't have to give it all up. Maybe this is a lesson of trusting God's timing, His purpose, His plan, and letting go of the worries I've always carried around. A lesson of finding joy everyday, no matter how chaotic the rest of my life seems, and always always being grateful. And we are so grateful. What a beautiful beginning to our story at our dream house, while cherishing the days left in our first dream home.

Vintage Love

For as long as I can remember, I've loved old things and old houses, and why I used "Vintage" in my title when I wrote my very first blog. Some of my most vivid childhood memories are at old places...the musty smell of an old basement, the creaks of original wood floors, and strange and wondrous items that we no longer use, but somehow were such a need at one time. I love the history of these old things and old places, and always wish they could tell their story and the story of their owners. Maybe that's why I like old so much...I feel as if I am sort of honoring the past and giving new life. It's almost a religion of sorts to me, where it's my duty to pause and appreciate the old and the stories of their owners, especially when the owners were my ancestors.

So though I'm not 100% sure what this section of the blog will look like, I do know it will hold words and thoughts that I've been looking for a place to live about all things vintage and old that I love. Enjoy!

V is for...

A good friend of mine recently suggested that I start a blog. So here I am. Giving it a try. I've always, always loved journaling, so I guess this is my new way of doing so, or in addition to what I write already in my journal. Last year, I did a "Project 365" on my facebook, where I posted pictures for each day. That was tough but I really love the end product. So instead of continuing that, I thought I wanted to start a blog on my 27th birthday, which also happened to be the first day of school in my third year of teaching. Obviously, that didn't work out, and it was pretty crazy for me to think that doing that was really going to happen. But you live and you learn! And now I'm starting my blog today. It was a good day, that gave me a glimpse of fall, and it made me happy. Pretty good for the first week of school, eh?

Now, you may be thinking... "Why all the alliteration with the V's?". Well, because I'm an English teacher and I think all these V words capture the essence of "me". Let me explain each part:

Vintage -
I've loved old and antique things for as long as I can remember, from houses to furniture, and cars to knick-knacks. I live in a 1940s cottage-y home, and despite the things that need to be upgraded, I absolutely love it. I think of the people who lived here before me, and how different their lives must have been from mine. Especially since this house was built right around the end of WWII...Those Americans were the greatest generation. I also feel that I am "called" to love and preserve these old things, as they are a part of our history. I believe I am doing a little service to honor those who lived before me and fought for what I can now call my freedoms.

Values -
I believe that I am a person who has some strong values, and though I've made plenty of mistakes, I still try to stick to my beliefs. I truly value honesty, compassion, patience, trustworthiness, understanding, and integrity. The people who are closest to me I think have these attributes, and I am the luckiest gal in the world to have them in my life.

Ventures -
I strongly believe in "living each day to it's fullest". Some days this makes me pretty exhausted and sometimes low on the "cash-flow", but I have so many incredible memories of places I've traveled and things that I have given the opportunity to do, and I would NEVER trade those memories for anything. I plan on continuing this life of adventure, and experiencing many more things. It excites me thinking of what the future holds for me.

Lastly, I love the word "vested". I actually used it in my first-day-of-school-get-to-know-you activity. I called myself "Vested Valentas", because this attribute of mine can be both a strength and a weakness. Whatever I do (teaching, being a friend, being a wife, creating a project), I put my all into it. Sometimes that gets me in trouble when I expect others to do the same, and then I get hurt. But I'd rather give my all, and risk that chance of getting hurt.

Well, I want to read some of the book I just started finally before going to bed. So, farewell blog-land! Hopefully, I will write again soon!