19 September 2013

Those Places Thursday: My First Home as a Married Women



I remember how excited I was after Kirk and I got married to be able to set up our home together. We rented a small, two bedroom apartment on Main Street above Ballentine Drug Store in Deckerville, Michigan. There were steps from main street and the alley leading up to our apartment.  Our apartment overlooked the alley. We parked in the back and used the alley stairs.

These stairs led to an entrance way and the hallway.  Our apartment was the first one on the right. You entered the apartment and were immediately in the kitchen. It was a nice size kitchen for the two of us.  It was carpeted, which I wasn't a fan of.  A window overlooked the entry way.

Straight ahead of the kitchen was the living room.  It had two windows that let lots of light in.  It was a southwest exposure getting lots of late in the day light.  The view wasn't the greatest nor was the insulation.  In the winter we would put plastic over the windows and blankets over that to keep the drafts to a minimum.

To the left of the kitchen was an area that led to the two bedrooms.  This area had a nice pantry cupboard and a closet.  We used the first bedroom as an office area and later a nursery.  This room had another door to the hallway that we never used.

Adjoining this room was another smaller bedroom.  Kirk and I used this as our bedroom.  It was an odd shaped room and we ended up curtaining off an area for storage.  The only bathroom was connected to this room.  The only downside to this arrangement was that if visitors were over they had to go through both bedrooms to get to the bathroom.

This is the first home that Kirk and I created together.  We came home from our honeymoon here. We grew together as a young married couple.  We entertained family and friends.  I would love to have home cooked Chinese dinners for guests.  Sunday morning breakfast was another favorite meal for us.

Other memories of living here included relaxing and reading in bed on Saturday mornings.  We liked to watch the Smurfs, Remington Steele and Hill Street Blues on television. I would cross stitch while we watched football games.  Kirk and I would clean house together.  I think it took half an hour.  We had to go to the laundromat to wash our clothes.  We shared that duty.

Perhaps, the most memorable experience was when I found out that we were expecting our first child.  I remember doing the home pregnancy test.  It wasn't an instant read, so we had to wait for the results to show up.  I was teaching thirty miles away and had to get going or I would be late. Finally, the results gave a positive reading.  I was so excited.  I stopped on my way home from work that day and bought a stuffed animal for our new baby.

 All ready for our first child.
Early days in our new home with our first child, Kirsten.

This is where we brought our newborn daughter home to.  We set up a nursery in the first bedroom. There was a fish tank, rocking chair, changing table, and crib in our nursery.  We decorated it with a gnome theme.  I had cross stitched gnome wall hangings.  It was during the time when you didn't know the sex of the child until you gave birth.

Our new family of three only lived here for four months, then we bought a house.  Coincidentally, we could see our house from the living room window of our apartment.  I will always remember this home as the place where I grew from a young women into a wife and mother.

 

1 comment:

  1. My family has the exact same rocking chair...my mom used to rock me in it and now I have it. Great idea for a post!

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