the jersey house

four years ago, my brother nathan and his soon to be wife, amy, were searching for a house to live in after their wedding. i remember when they called and said they found a cute house by wilson park that they were going to look at.

the landlord was awesome and gave them a deal on what would be their first year of marriage house.

and so the jersey house was birthed.

during their honeymoon, their air conditioner went out and so they came home to a very HOT house in august as everyone was trying to get it fixed. and so began the endless stories that would come from this old, precious home. it was a great first year for the newlyweds and this house was full of fun memories. we celebrated birthdays, razorback games, and even pulled off nate's 30th birthday with a surprise party.

in april we played a joke on my parents so they would drive up to fayetteville so that nathan and amy could tell them they were expecting a baby! we celebrated the news that tucker was on his way and they realized that they would want to build a house since their family was growing.

so after thinking about the logistics, it made sense for me to move into the jersey house when they moved out so that i could live with meg and katherine.

meg was moving here after graduating college so that she and allen could live in the same city. katherine's roommate had just gotten married and she needed a place to live.

it was so fun to keep the jersey house in the family. we continued our weekly sunday night dinners called roll call, my brother b.hill lived in our garage, and laughter abounded all the time. all three of us girls were in a transition season and it was so good and sanctifying to do that together.

in november of 2010 i traveled to haiti and met blanca. that trip was amazing and the Lord used it to teach me so many things, but one of the sweetest things that came out of it was a deep friendship with her.

in december 2010, i slept every night with my phone on loud in case nathan called to tell me that amy was in labor. sure enough in the wee morning hours of 12/8/10, i got a phone call from nathan saying amy was in labor and she was progressing quick! i threw on a sweat shirt, yoga pants, and grabbed my lulu shirt while i was calling dru continuously. he wasn't answering so i drove over to ruff house only to find that he would not answer the door. i got one of his roommates awake and together we were banging on the door so loud that we thought something might be wrong because he wasn't answering. little did we know that dru was in and out of sleep convinced that someone was breaking in. hilarious now. frustrating then. he finally woke up and we rushed to the hospital. we got there around 4a.m. and tucker wasn't born until 11:00a.m. so needless to say, dru wasn't that happy with me, but at least we didn't miss that sweet, sweet day... the day we became LuLu and Dunk. B.Hill was out of town, but we were able to facetime him in for the day. little did we know how sweet that day would be years later.

blanca joined the jersey house in february when she moved here from austin. with her move came the most epic snow storm that fayetteville has ever seen. she and i went to play in the snow and in a silly moment i made a snow angel video. little did i know that this video that i posted on the blog would result in me meeting my future husband! :) a few weeks later i went on my first date with aaron conner at chick-fil-a, exactly a year and three days later we were married.

in march of 2011, meg was traveling to hong kong to visit her brother and sister in law. allen was going on the trip with her and on that trip he would propose. we were SO excited for them and couldn't wait for them to return home! we pulled off a surprise engagement party and though they were crazy jet lagged we were so excited to hear the details and celebrate the beforts to be!

the jersey house was a full house that spring. meg was planning her wedding, i was dating aaron and working on my Ph.D., blanca was looking for a job, katherine and i were working at youth bridge. that summer was filled with dinners, laughter, planning wedding showers, and helping plan the befort wedding. it was a blast and again the jersey house was the landing ground for all these memories. as i began to get really sad about meg moving out, it worked out that our neighbor wanted to rent his house to meg and allen. it doesn't get much better when you go from living with your best friend to having her and her husband turn into your neighbors.

in september, allen and meg were married in nashville! it was a fun party and we were so glad that our sweet friends were finally husband and wife.

that same fall, blanca started keeping tucker two days a week while amy worked part-time. i could not have been more excited about this because it meant that i would get to hang out with the little guy two days a week too because i decided to open a private practice with ben. the jersey house became tucker's home away from home. we fed him waffles, had weekly chick-fil-a and target dates, and played dance music all day everyday. again, i had NO idea how special that time would be to me now, but it was truly the sweetest of days to see that little guy go from crawling, to walking, to running through the jersey house. his hand prints have literally been on our windows and doors until just a few weeks ago when i knew it was time to clean them. i am so grateful to blanca for loving tucker man so much and for being able to keep him so that i could have those memories of him in this house.

in october of 2011, i got engaged to aaron and it was the best day. he planned every single detail and made me feel more loved than i could have ever imagined. (and he still does) on the back deck of the jersey house were all of my closest friends and family. i screamed, cried, hugged, and laughed that night. those images of that back deck are a reminder to me of all the people in our lives who cheer us on and encourage us every day.

the fall and winter were full of planning my wedding. craft projects, invitations, wedding gifts, and so on. i would spend hours on the red couch working on my Ph.D. coursework and then switching to wedding planning. i didn't sleep much during those months, but i loved it.

i spent the night before i got married at the jersey house and we came home from our honeymoon to one of the most difficult losses we have ever faced. the jersey house was a haven of sweet memories and rest. i remember lauren murphy meeting me in the dark with chocolate chip cookies the night we got back. i was exhausted and my heart was broken. she had cookies, tears, and a hug. it was the best medicine. the days and weeks that followed tucker's death, showed us the power of community. people brought meals and just came and hung out with us. if blanca is at the jersey house for longer than 5 minutes we always find ourselves sharing stories of tucker and i know those will not stop even though we won't be on the red couch at the jersey house.

in may i took a pregnancy test and found out that hudson was on his way. i remember the tears and laughter as my greatest dream was coming true.  the following months were spent with planning and preparing the jersey house for hudson's arrival.

he was born on february 3rd and we brought him home on february 4th. the red couch was where we spent most every day for those first six weeks. i walked the kitchen and living room to get him to sleep and i've watched him learn to laugh and smile here.

this house holds so many of our firsts.

i love this house.

but quickly after hudson was born, i knew it would be time to find a new house. the stairs aren't kid friendly, we don't have the best neighbors across the street, and so on...

however, i knew it would be really hard to say goodbye to the jersey house.

and it is.

but i also am SO excited for the new house that we are buying. it will hold just as many firsts. it has some wonderful families that live in the neighborhood who will be great friends, and i'm learning that the house isn't what i love as much as the people and the stories and the memories and those are coming with me. hudson will learn to walk in the new house and will have slumber parties with his cousins. we'll have cookouts and dinners. we will laugh, cry, get mad at each other, and dream in the new house. we'll talk about the jersey house all the time. but it's time for the next crew to find within these walls something that cannot be bought and that is the joy of living life with people.

can't wait for the new walls and all that they will teach me...