I have only moved a couple times in my life, but I know the house that I am in now will always feel like home to me. I have been back in Washington for ten years and I have lived in my current house for six of those years. Nothing has brought me more joy than the memories I have made in my house and around it. When we first moved in it was like a clean slate and the house had some work to do. When you can make a house your own, I think that it is automatically home, especially with the sweat put into it. It also houses memories of staying up all night watching horror movies with my friends, walking down to the creek, or to Mima Mounds, and watching the morning glow of the sun on the trees. That has always been my sign that it’s going to be a beautiful day and I will often go sit on my back deck in the summer and absorb the heat of the sun on my back. I know that this house has my heart because it still stays intact with all the craziness in my family; my brothers. Though there are holes in the walls here and there, it reminds me of the freak out that my brother had playing Xbox in our living room, or the OTHER hole in the wall in the laundry room when my brother had gotten too angry at my parents. I think those marks bring together that whole homey feeling, like marking heights on a wall. There are plenty more stories of holes in the walls that I remember quite well, but one of the biggest things that I love about my home is how the smallness of it has brought my family and I closer. I believe small houses are good for families because it will never really feel like home if all you want to do is avoid the people you live with. I can say that my family has a healthy relationship and we always have friends over at our house and we host one hell of a barbecue in the summer. I often reminisce about having my cousins over and us all having fun with sparklers and fireworks in our driveway, or cleaning out the shop with with my dad and him dropping a box on my head from the rafters. The best thing to do when we have our parties is open up the bay doors and play pool, or lighting our fire pit that we made in our backyard. I still like to touch it up at the beginning of every summer and make it look nice for the parties that are known to come. I strive everyday to make my house more like home. Even with me graduating soon, I’ll be back. It is not just from me when I say that everyone that steps in our front door feels at home
