Welcome Home (Again)

As some of you may already know, our little Pike crew recently moved into the home that I grew up in. We actually did a true house swap with my mom, where she is living in our townhouse and we are living in Falls Church! The thought of the swap was thrown out for discussion long before my dad passed away knowing that CP and I would need more room for a family one day and that my parents would be looking to downsize as they planned for retirement. Leave it to my dad- he had drawings which mapped out where all of their things would go in our tiny townhouse before we even had the wheels spinning in motion on the swap! While I'm sad that my dad doesn't get to experience Fairlington, it's the memories like him planning the move that are so classic. Anyhow, it's been two months now since we did the swap so it feels like a good time to check in on how things are going with the change.

I think it's worth addressing the biggest elephant in the room first. Yes- this is the house where my dad passed away. Naturally there are a LOT of loaded emotions that accompany that fact. For me, though, the enormously overwhelming emotions are gratitude and connection. I am so, so grateful that I'm able to live in this house again and the sense of connection that I feel with my dad here is indescribable. When my mom was moving out, I asked her if she planned on taking my dad's ashes with her. It wasn't something she'd thought about yet and after some time she decided to leave them here since all of our memories with dad are here. While I don't walk up to the mantle and have daily discussions with my dad, it's heartwarming and encouraging to be with him every day. Some friends and acquaintances have asked if it's awkward or creepy living in what I think they consider to be a haunted house and I frankly feel quite the opposite way. All in all, both my mom and our little family have settled in so well to our (old) new homes and that makes my heart so happy.

Before we even had any boxes unpacked, CP went to TOWN on building his garden. Whereas I have a black thumb that kills any living thing by just looking at it, CP has a green thumb that cannot be beat! We have 8 tomato plants of all varieties, cucumbers growing up some special lattice device that I have never even seen before, peppers, jalapenos, squash, zucchini, pumpkins, black raspberries, and many herbs including purple basil, rosemary, cilantro, basil mint (basil that grows and looks like mint), and LEMON BALM. You guys- lemon balm is the bomb. Seriously. The smell is just heavenly and we've had such fun mixing it into many cocktails this summer.

Along with the thriving garden, CP has his official man cave in the unfinished part of the basement where he essentially has a bike shop set up! There have been nights when I've come home thinking he's asleep when in fact he's plugging away on his bikes downstairs. Sloan and Avery are in heaven with a large backyard and we love our neighbors- some of whom have been here since I was little :) One of my favorite parts of the move is that I can walk (!!!!!) Avery to and from daycare each day. This is life altering in so many ways. I sort of don't want to send her to preschool if it means we have to drive her, haha. I kid....but she might be four before she makes it there!

For the most part, the house is still a mess and we're trying to figure out where we want to go with certain projects but more than anything we love it here and feel so fortunate to be back on the block. It's uncommon for people to have the opportunity to live in the house that holds so many memories from growing up and I think we're all thanking our lucky stars that the swap worked out for all of us. It certainly feels like home for me and CP, Avery, Sloan and I are looking forward to building new and exciting memories here to add to those that already exist.