Four years ago today I became a first-time homeowner.

My own first house. Well, our own first house… me and Steve had made the big purchase together, as a soon-to-be-married couple. And we made it our home.

I felt old at the time, but I was only 23. That year, 2004, was a big year for me. I graduated from college, got engaged and bought my first house… and by December of that year, I was a newlywed.

But 4 years ago today was all about the new house. I remember walking into it and feeling very overwhelmed at the many tasks at hand.

It was a little white ranch built in 1952. There were only 2 owners before us. The owner right before us, who purchased the house in the late 1950’s, had recently passed away and his daughter put the house on the market.

It needed work. A lot of it. It was a straight-up 1970’s nightmare, with shag carpets, Formica countertops, textured wallpaper, hideous interesting light fixtures and paneling, paneling and more paneling.

Exhibits A and B:

Oh, and the previous owner was a smoker, so the wallpaper and ceilings had a nice yellow tint to complement the smell.

But those things, of course, could all be taken care of. And they were, little by little.

We made that little house our home for two years. We replaced the carpets, took down the wallpaper and painted the walls. Painted all the trim white. Bought new light fixtures. Tiled the half bathroom.

Then exactly two years later, we sold it and moved to another house, one neighborhood over. This one has shag carpeting, too, which we haven’t yet replaced (it’s only in two rooms upstairs that we hardly use).

So that means tomorrow it will be exactly two years since I became a homeowner for a second time.

But since we live close enough to our first house, we often drive by just to see how it’s doing. There’s a family there now with young kids. They keep the house looking nice, and they always decorate for the different seasons, which makes me happy.

I miss our old house in a way. I miss some of the things about it… I have wonderful memories of the Ryder and Bismarck playing ball down the long hallway and romping in the backyard. We never knew that we would lose Bismarck just under a year after we moved from the house… or that Seth would be part of our family in just over a year.

Judging by our pattern, we’re past due to move to another house. Who knows… maybe it’s time to make another house our home.

Whenever we move, though, we have learned our lesson with the carpeting. Shag need not apply.