Moving on to Our Next Chapter

Honestly, those were words I hadn’t been expecting to say for many years to come – we love this house and our amazing little neighbourhood. This move definitely came out of left field, even for us. But, as unexpected as it is, we’ve never felt like something is more meant to be than this move. Let me tell you all about it.

I’m going to start from the beginning here…

Brady & I were both born and raised in our little town. We met in the sixth grade and started dating in the eighth. We grew up together really. And the back drop to most of that growing up was Brady’s house. It was a big house, with a big yard and always seemed to be the place that everyone gathered. Brady’s Mom was always happiest when her house was full of people, mainly her kiddos and all of their friends – she was always very welcoming of anybody and everybody and there wasn’t a person that walked through those doors that didn’t feel completely at home in that house because of it.

Eventually, we all grew up – the kids moved out (Brady & I all the way to BC) and it just didn’t make sense to keep that big old house any longer. It wasn’t an easy decision to make – Brady’s parents built that house, designing every square inch to meet the needs of their family. All three of their kids were raised in that house, not to mention the countless friends that felt at home there too. But that big house, with its big yard, was a lot to take care of and so, Brady’s Mom made the difficult decision to sell the house (the year our son Carson was born actually).

In the years since, Brady and I spent some time living in BC, but eventually found our way back home to be closer to our families. We ended up purchasing an old house from the 70’s, falling in love with the cozy feel, big back yard, and the quiet little street surrounded by forest. It also happened to be right next door to Brady’s Mom, which turned out to be the biggest blessing of all.

Brady’s Mom, Mary, passed away just five years later. Words can’t even begin to describe how much she is missed.

A few months ago, as I was mindlessly scrolling through Facebook while drinking my coffee one morning, I came across a listing for that old house – the one that Brady and his siblings had grown up in, the one we had so many happy memories in, the one we all loved so very much (Brady’s Mom most of all I think). I hadn’t been inside the house since it was sold ten years ago and so, I couldn’t resist taking the virtual tour online when I saw it. As I looked through each space, I felt an instant connection to Mary, so many memories flooded back to me. Looking through those rooms was definitely an emotional experience.

Shortly after, I headed off to watch Brady play hockey (he happened to be playing in a company tournament at our local rink) only to discover that he happened to be wearing the number of that very house on his jersey that morning. It was a crazy coincidence, which I later pointed out to Brady when I told him about the house listing. And then we shrugged it off and went on with our day.

The next morning, Brady came down stairs suggesting that we take Carson to see that house he’d grown up in. Brady’s sister had sent him the listing and, after looking through the photos, he found himself wanting to see it all in person and even more, to share it with Carson. We’d shown Carson the house a few times from the outside, but Brady thought it would be fun to share the inside with C too, showing him some of the spaces that had been the backdrop of so many of our stories. So, we called up a family friend, who just happens to be a realtor, and booked ourselves a tour for later that day.

Honestly, stepping into that house was an overwhelming mix of emotions. As we wandered through each space, we were flooded with memories, and we found ourselves sharing many of them with Carson along the way. It was all so nostalgic and even more, we couldn’t help but feel a strong connection to Brady’s Mom in each and every space. And then we came to the fireplace in the main living room – particularly the plaque that still hung there with the inscription:

The Mercer Residence

1988…

It was in that moment that everything changed. After reading it aloud, Brady & I just looked at each other and, without a word, I knew that we would be buying this house.

We learned that despite the house just being listed the day before, there was already an offer on the table, though luckily it hadn’t yet been accepted. We would have to work quickly. We met with our realtor (another family friend) just a few hours later to write up our offer. Knowing we were in competition, we went in with as little conditions as possible, including leaving off the sale of our current home. Brady also stayed up late into the night writing a heartfelt letter to the current owners, letting them know just how much it would mean to us all to have this home back in the family once again. As we signed all of the paperwork, we learned that the house had been listed on Mary’s birthday. It felt like another sign that we were heading right where we were meant to be.

Two days later, on Carson’s birthday no less, we got word that we’d got the house! That beautiful home, filled with so many memories was going to be ours.

The next day, before we’d even had a chance to start thinking about listing our current house, we had a call from Brady’s sister – she was interested in buying our house. This possibility hadn’t even been on our radar (granted this whole situation was just 48 hours old), but we were so thrilled at the idea! Not only would it save us having to go through the stress of listing our house (obviously a very huge perk), but even more, the idea of passing our home, a solid house that we’ve worked so hard on and grown so fond of, onto someone we love, well that was just the icing on the cake. It felt like yet another sign that this was all so meant to be.

And so, here we are – two short weeks away from moving into the house that Brady grew up in. And, while I’m sad to be leaving this old house from the 70’s, with all it’s charm and character and happy memories from the last 6.5 years of our lives, I’m SO excited at the idea of all of the memories we’ll be moving into as we head into this next chapter.

I still have so much more to tell you, but I’ll save it for another day.

Watch for a tour of our new house coming soon my friends. And in the mean time, I’ll be sure to share all the updates I can along the way over on Instagram. For now, I guess I better get packing.