enJOY it

an archived personal and craft blog from Elise Blaha Cripe.

Movinghome

I am so inspired to be moving into a new house today.

This will be our third move in less than three years, but it will be the last one for at least 4.5 years. I don't even know what to do with that much time. It feels like forever and ever compared to what we have dealt with in the past.

I have never thought about setting up a place for longer than a year and the possibilities are so exciting.

We'll have enough time to make some real changes if we want them. We'll have time to rearrange furniture and shift things that are not working. We'll have time to replace the carpet in the office with hardwood. We'll have time to re-tile our master bathroom shower like this. We'll have time to figure out exactly how the fireplace works and then actually use it.

We'll have time to landscape the big overgrown part of our backyard. We'll have time to learn from our my gardening mistakes and grow bigger and better tomatoes. We'll have time to plant succulents in the front yard. We'll have time to change paint colors (though right now, I cannot imagine not keeping the gorgeous cream). We'll have time to add a fire pit in the backyard for roasting marshmallows and drinking wine around in the evenings.

This is going to be our home everyday for years. We'll host Thanksgivings and celebrate multiple Christmases here. We'll see baby girl learn to walk here, talk here and form her own opinions here. If we're lucky, we'll have the pleasure of bringing another baby home here.

We'll work on our marriage here. We'll battle over silly stuff here. We'll call the plumber when a pipe breaks and get frustrated over slow internet here. We'll make big mistakes here. We'll have days where we'll wonder what the hell we were thinking when we bought a house here.

We'll cook dinners and eat breakfast here. We'll watch TV and open up another bottle of wine here. We'll become parents here. We'll laugh until we cry here. We'll learn so much about love here. We'll have days where we cannot believe our good fortune to have bought this house here.

I am so grateful to be taking this giant step today.

And to Paul, who is reading the blog again now that we're a world apart, I love you. I love you for taking me on this journey with you. I love you for picking me as a partner and for dreaming big with me everyday. You asked me long ago to look at our life in the military as an adventure and back then, I could not see anything but the hard bits. Today I see the hard bits, but they pale in comparison to the possibilities. Thank you for sharing this one life with me.

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80 responses to “moving home.”

  1. Tiffany Avatar

    So beautifully said, Elise. Welcome home!

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  2. elizafitz Avatar
    elizafitz

    So excited for you (and ALL the Cripes!), thank you for sharing & thank you for helping me see the bright side of being in one place for a while 🙂

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  3. erica Avatar

    congratulations to you on your new home. cheers to many happy years there!

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  4. ryan ann Avatar
    ryan ann

    well said … congrats, Elise, and Paul, and baby Cripe 🙂

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  5. Jess Ankney Avatar

    i teared up a little this morning as i read your beautiful words. your ability to put words to emotion is so wonderful – something i envy and look forward to daily. buying a house is a big and wonderful step and will make you stronger in ways you never thought possible.
    thank you for sharing!

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  6. Natanya Avatar

    Such a beautiful post. Reminds us to look at the loveliness of a full life well lived. Thanks for sharing your personal reflections here, Elise. It’s magic!

    Like

  7. Elizabeth Rosemond Avatar

    OH BOY, I have goosebumps big time! Congrats to you, to Paul and your sweet little Miss 🙂

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  8. Ines Avatar
    Ines

    This is such a sparkly, twinkly, magical post Elise that I’m bookmarking it for when I just see the hard bits and need to be reminded about how insanely EXCITING life is 🙂 Thank you for sharing!

    Like

  9. lisa fine@vermont vittles Avatar

    Beautiful post, Elise. My eyes welled up while reading this. As someone who’s recently engaged and planning a wedding, it made me extra excited to have found the perfect person to share my life with and share adventures with. Thank you.

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  10. Bernice Avatar

    This post made my eyes fill with tears. I am so excited for you and this next part of your adventure. I’m sure whatever you do, you’ll make a beautiful, loving, and safe place for Paul and your baby girl to come home to.

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  11. Lori P. Avatar
    Lori P.

    Wow! Congratulations! Today is the day, the big move. I bet you are doing the happy dance, we are right there with you. Even though we (your readers)are all miles away and wish we could be there to help, we can’t not wait to hear more of the story, your story. Do what you can today and don’t get down if you and baby girl can’t do your whole mental list or even the written list. Enjoy!

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  12. Marcie L Avatar
    Marcie L

    That is just the cutest picture of you! Congratulations on your new home!

    Like

  13. cindykgordon@gmail.com Avatar
    cindykgordon@gmail.com

    Hi Elsie, Just a quick thank-you! My husband and I bought a small piece of property in Texas in June. We’ve spent the last 7 months revising, dreaming, plotting and planning (and learning the ins and outs of communicating with an architect) for a complete remodel – a remodel that includes a partial tear-down, a partial new build, a total gut of the center of the house, and a much less intensive redesign of the far end of the house. We anticipate the work will begin as early as next week. Yay (and oh my!) all at the same time.
    Although we are in a completely different stage of life from you (grown child, he’s married and stationed in CO) – this is a fun yet scary new adventure for us.
    As I read through your hopes and thoughts of your new home, you inspired me to make my own list of what this new home will mean to us. We will be blogging about the experience and I can think of no better way to start the process than by sharing our hopes and dreams for our new home. Thank you SO much for the inspiration. Actually, for the daily bit of inspiration. I find reading the various things you share to be motivating – we may be at different life stages, but your blog reminds me it’s not about age, nor life stages – it’s about connections, inspiration, and sharing – even when the community is made up of a vast group of people who will never meet face-to-face, nor experience the joy of what I call “kitchen-table community.”
    Sending blessing for much joy and laughter in your new adventure.
    Cindy Gordon

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  14. Alyssa O Avatar
    Alyssa O

    Loved this. Thanks for sharing.

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  15. ester Avatar

    Nice home! I really love the light it has! And I really like your words to your lovely one! you are soooo cute!

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  16. jodi Avatar

    so excited for you! enjoy your new space.

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  17. Emma Avatar
    Emma

    Have been reading your blog for ages and have never commented…but this post was beautiful! I am so touched by your strength and optimism!!! I don’t think I will evert enjoy another blog more than yours, simply because you are not afraid to share so much of yourself!! So THANK YOU!

    Like

  18. Christen Avatar
    Christen

    You write so beautifully…thanks for sharing.

    Like

  19. Lauren Avatar

    It’s so cool to watch you go through this process. My husband and I are thinking about buying our first home and are hoping we end up with as beautiful a home as you. I mean… could that place BE more you?! It’s like it was made for you! Hoping we find something that feels the same 🙂

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  20. Deborah Avatar
    Deborah

    So beautifully and earnestly written about just what makes a house, a home. Congratulations on this very significant, very grown-up milestone in your life. May God bless your home and fill it with abundant joy. Welcome back to San Diego…we have missed you!

    Like

  21. Karina K Avatar
    Karina K

    Such a beautiful post!! It really made me think back on how happy I was when I finally got the keys to our place and walked through the door for the first time. I remember just sitting on the floor and just thinking of all the possibilities. Almost two years later its nice to be reminded about that moment!

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  22. Amy B Avatar

    Congratulations!!

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  23. Ana F. Avatar
    Ana F.

    That was beautiful! Congratulations.

    Like

  24. Stacy Avatar

    This is wonderful! And said in such a great way. Congrats!

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  25. Jodi R Avatar
    Jodi R

    Beautiful post…brought tears to my eyes as well this morning. Keeping this bookmarked like others for those moments that are tough. What a great adventure you are on and how beautifullly you worded it all.

    Like

  26. ~Michelle Avatar

    What a beautiful post. Loved it.
    Now that your baby bump is getting bigger you are starting to look like what I look like and I haven’t got a baby in there! lol

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  27. Michelle Avatar

    congratulations!! so well said, I just teared-up reading this! I also LOVE that bathroom tile.

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  28. yours truly, melissa Avatar

    so very sweet… makes this pregnant lady tear up.
    congrats and enjoy!!! blessings to you three 🙂

    Like

  29. San Avatar

    This is so exciting. New places hold so many possibilities. Can’t wait to see your new place when it’s all set up!

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  30. Holly Avatar
    Holly

    Congratulations! We actually looked at/toured your new home just before it went on the market, and it is GORGEOUS! Loved all the natural light!
    Enjoy it!

    Like

  31. A. Sanborn Avatar
    A. Sanborn

    Really loved this post… wonderful outlook, moving and beautifully written, Elise.
    Bookmark this to re-read through the years of everyday “lifes happenings” to remind you and get you through the difficult periods, Elise. I guarantee there might be days you and Paul will both need it.

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  32. Nadia Avatar

    congrats elise! keep up that beautiful chin and keep going. one day at a time. love that you have a new home to create memories in. have a wonderful wednesday! ciao!

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  33. elise blaha Avatar

    Omg! Really?! That is so cool. Do you know the seller?

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  34. Denise Avatar
    Denise

    Very nice! What a great adventure! You are very blessed indeed!

    Like

  35. Sena Avatar

    You are such an inspiring person and I am so happy for you guys!!

    Like

  36. Mary Kay Avatar
    Mary Kay

    Such a sweet post! Wishing you and your expanding family nothing but the best in your new home. I’m so looking forward to seeing what you do with it! Cheers!

    Like

  37. Marissa Avatar

    Beautiful, Elise. SO inspirational. And I’m not just talking about your future house. Your story with Paul gives me hope that my military relationship, a boyfriend that also wants to pursue medicine, doesn’t have to just be counting days.

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  38. Val Avatar

    So happy for you! Totally teared up reading this. Can’t wait to see what wonderful things you do with the new place.

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  39. Sandy Avatar
    Sandy

    Congrats on your new home. So excited for your family and look forward to seeing what you do with it through your blog.

    Like

  40. Ravi K Avatar
    Ravi K

    Elise, I have been following your blog since the beginning… It’s so inspiring to see how you take every challenge and turn it into a possibility of hope and into a new adventure. Your post today was really beautiful and puts things into perspective… thank you for sharing always being so refreshing!

    Like

  41. Maria Avatar
    Maria

    You write beautifully and your capability to wonder at everyday life is so inspiring. Thanks again for taking us a little bit with you along the way.

    Like

  42. Extragrunty Avatar

    You’re Home! Your home!

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  43. Christin Kreml Avatar

    Congrats to you both. This is prob my fav post of yours thus far!

    Like

  44. Casey Avatar

    Lovely post. Congratulations to you both as you start the next adventure in your life together. I can’t wait to see what you do this beautiful blank canvas that you now call yours. Thank you for sharing your story with us :_

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  45. Beth Avatar

    One minute, I’m reading along and grinning and becoming so very excited for your family, and the next minute… I’m straight-up crying at your mini-letter to Paul. Oh my word, wasn’t expecting that! This post is so incredibly beautiful & I can’t wait to see all the wonderful things that unfold in your new space. Congrats!

    Like

  46. Kaylan Avatar

    Beautiful post! A new home, YOUR home, is such an exciting thing. We bought our first house last July and love it to bits. Can’t wait to see what you do with your space!

    Like

  47. Holly Avatar
    Holly

    One of the people that did some of the renovations. No connection to the seller, and we own in a totally different part of the county, so we weren’t in the market and looking at it from a buyer’s prespective.
    We loved all the light, the brick outdoor area in back, and the upper part of the yard. We also saw some “before” photos of the front of the house, and the change is amazing.

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  48. Kathy Avatar

    I love your positive attitude to all these moves, I must admit I’m not good with change but I can’t wait to see how your house progresses over the 4.5 years. Regards Kathy A, Brisbane, Australia

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