tbt: our arizona home

a few weeks ago, we were reminiscing about our home in arizona.

it was such a neat home.

such a dream come true.

we put a lot into that house. financially, physically, emotionally.

it was so bittersweet to say goodbye.


we had been living in arizona for about 18 months when we decided to buy a home there. the housing market had changed dramatically from when we had first moved there. the housing bubble had burst. we could actually afford to buy a home. many of the homes in our price range were foreclosures or short sales. with the changes in the market no one could sell their home straight up. we weren't afraid of a home that needed a little work as long as the bones were good.

our house hunt was draining. we spent a couple nights a week and typically one day a weekend searching. we went through house after house. easily more than 75 homes. we saw all kinds of stuff. homes with garbage left in them, cement in toilets, jelly smeared all over carpets, appliances gone, kitchens stripped, carpets stolen. it was rough.

we found one house we liked a lot. it was a little farther out in the suburbs than we wanted and it was a short sale. luckily, we decided to against it.

then one day we saw the plata house.

it was listed low. it was big. it had a great kitchen. a back yard with potential. it needed a good paint job. a few other updates. and carpet. the carpet had been stolen.

we put in an offer $20K over the asking price. there were 27 other offers. we waited two weeks to hear what the bank decided.

they picked us! we couldn't believe it.

the bank ended up replacing all the carpet. we took possession at went to work. painting and painting. tearing out vinyl floors and laying tile. replacing light fixtures. cleaning and cleaning.

 we tiled the laundry room and both bathrooms.

 the view of the superstition mountains from our driveway

 we painted every single wall. 

we moved in but still had work to do. 

 we removed the ugly built in.

 we installed a new kitchen sink

we worked and worked on that house.

 that house meant a lot to us. it was our refuge in the desert. it was our place. our family home. a place our friends and family could come visit. though weren't there long. a lot happened there. we learned a lot there.  we saw God working hard in our lives there.

 ellie started preschool in that home

 cece dumped everything out there

 we celebrated cece's first christmas there

i killed about 10 scorpions there.  yes there were scorpions in our house. it gives me the heebe jeebes just thinking about it. technically i didn't kill them, i flushed them down the toilet. i would pick them up with salad tongs and flush while ellie kept cece away. it was a very intense process.

 cecilia took her first steps there (by the way these pictures were taken in early january. hmm.)

 we celebrated cece's first birthday there

 cece took lots of baths there. pooped in the tub A LOT there. chipped her front tooth there.

 ate her first ice cream cone there

 we played in the backyard there. 

 we hung upside down on the built in there. 

we owned that home just six weeks before tim got a phone call from iowa state.

it was bittersweet to pack up and move. we wanted with all our hearts to be back home in iowa. it was just hard to leave that house.

but we know a house is just a house.

a house becomes a home when those you love are there.