Since I was 8 years old I can remember my mom saying every winter, “By this summer we will be in a new house”; only to figure out that wasn’t really gonna happen. I’m in a family of 6 and we had a small house with only 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a kitchen and a living room and that was about it. So, I’m sure you can imagine that chaos in the morning when 5 girls had to get ready for the day. The garage became my dad’s escape room, and I almost always stayed in my room. We lived in an amazing neighborhood though. I can remember the smell of my neighbors cinnamon rolls she would bake for us. My best friend lived several blocks away, and we went on walks pretty much everyday. I also remember going and looking at countless houses only for my mom not to like it. The second to last house I practically fell in love with. My parents actually wanted to buy it, and went into the process to do so. But little did we know that someone else also wanted it, and they ended up buying it before we could. I remember being devastated and so angry. We looked at another house, and I liked it but not as much as the other one. I recall my parents taking so long to look at it, I got so bored and started working on a puzzle that the family who owned the house had out. And almost a week later I thought my parents had moved on from the house, and that they didn’t like it, only to find out they were in the process of buying it. I probably screamed so loud someone had thought I was being murdered or something.
The moving date was set for March 23, 2020. But then Covid 19 had started up in Asia, but everyone thought it was never gonna get to America. Slowly it spread to America, then to Kansas, then to Lyon County. The last walk I went on was the day before we moved and I remember getting a text from my dad saying to socially distance. Back then I didn’t know what the virus was capable of, or how quickly it spread. So, I thought he was just playing a role of a safety cop or an overprotective dad. Later than night we learned that everyone was supposed to stay home until further notice starting the day after we were supposed to move in.
I remember the chaos the next day, quickly loading everything in, having limited time to move in. My 4 year old sister had to be watched constantly, so my grandma, who was the only one willing to help us move in at this time came, only to have to manage Sadie. My back hurt so much at the end of the day. Me and my dad had to load boxes and unload them. And my mom and younger sisters were cleaning the cabinets and the walls and stuff. We finally moved everything in, ordered a pizza and relaxed. We had no furniture because we got rid of our old couches and the tv stand. I recall that night the tv just sitting on the floor, and us sprawled out on the floor, watching the animal show that we were obsessed with at the time. The day passed and the next day came. My dad painted my room a baby blue, and I painted the closets white, I also ruined a pair of pants, socks, and a shirt with the paint.
Over time boxes were unpacked, more rooms were painted, new furniture was bought and installed, my mom wants to redo all the floors eventually, and the entire kitchen area. Last month we repainted the deck and oh my, that was a lot of work. My dad plans on cutting down some trees, and my mom wants to paint my bathroom. I’m really excited to see what the winter season is gonna look like in our new house. My mom has become obsessed with buying decorations from Hobby Lobby. We’ve had to restrain her from doing so. Hopefully, in the next 5 years the house will be just as we want it.