Why My Forever House?

In my 29 years of life, I have moved at least 11 times! And five of those have been in the past six years! As a result of the constant changes I endured growing up (houses, schools, friends), I have always wanted the stability of a house that I could call home. Some people, like my husband, had that stability and lived in the same house their entire lives. He is the complete opposite of me and loves the uncertainty and excitement that comes with moving to a new place, starting a new job and meeting new people. I was able to convince him to settle down in one spot where we could raise a family in the manner I desired by moving back to his hometown. Since he travels for his job, he still gets the excitement he craves to go and see lots of different places. We have also agreed that if his job ever requires him to relocate, which is a real possibility, he will get a condo or apartment in that city and travel back to visit us on weekends and whenever possible because I believe so strongly in creating a home for our children.

I believe that it is important to define what exactly makes a house a home. In looking online for a definition of the word, I found 11 meanings for the word home, ranging from a residence to a page on the internet.
home
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(hm)
n.
1. A place where one lives; a residence.
2. The physical structure within which one lives, such as a house or apartment.
3. A dwelling place together with the family or social unit that occupies it; a household.
4.
a. An environment offering security and happiness.
b. A valued place regarded as a refuge or place of origin.
5. The place, such as a country or town, where one was born or has lived for a long period.
6. The native habitat, as of a plant or animal.
7. The place where something is discovered, founded, developed, or promoted; a source.
8. A headquarters; a home base.
9.
a. Baseball Home plate.
b. Games Home base.
10. An institution where people are cared for: a home for the elderly.
11. Computer Science
a. The starting position of the cursor on a text-based computer display, usually in the upper left corner of the screen.
b. A starting position within a computer application, such as the beginning of a line, file, or screen or the top of a chart or list.
Though definitions 1-3 are central to definining a home, they also define a house, which to me is basically someplace you live. Though the presence of family to me does make a house more of a home. According to this definition, I believe that #4 most closely represents what home means to me. It is definitely someplace where I feel "comfortable and happy" because I am surrounded by the people and things that I love. It is also "a valued place regarded as a refuge" because it is the first place I want to go when I'm having a bad day, it harbors a lot of my happiest moments, and also has been central to many moments that define who I am. I have poured my heart into decorating the house for my family and I take a lot of pride in my home, so source of pride would also be a part of my definition.

There is a song by Carrie Underwood called "Temporary Home" that reveals my feelings about each of the houses I have lived in in my lifetime. The refrain goes like this:
This is my temporary Home
It's not where I belong
Windows and rooms that I'm passin' through
This was just a stop,on the way to where I'm going
I'm not afraid because I know this was
My temporary home.

In this blog I plan to relay my journey through life and the many different houses along the way to my forever house. I also plan to show the transformation of our forever house into our "home".