This is a message in a bottle.
A bottle crossing a proverbial ocean, if you will.
The bottle holds this tiny message from a little family, and it’s crossing an ocean of time. In hopes that one day in these walls, it will be found again. Time changes things and propels us forward. And things are just things… they come and go. Maybe one day this kitchen will be remodeled again by a new inhabitant. Maybe one day, it will be torn down to build something new. We know that things change. But the romantic in us, hopes that it’s someone who will love this house as much as we have.
{these answers, though}
Or will. Because we haven’t even moved in yet. But with blood, sweat, and tears we’ve already poured so much into it… we know it’s going to be a very special home.
In this little time capsule you’ll find photos of the house as we found it. Older than us, and built in 1976 {Currently July 2016} it needed a little love. A few photos of the house as we changed it. And a family at the beginning of a great new adventure.
You’ll find the scribblings of our youngest {about to turn 7 in a week} – he needed better paper – but he wrote so carefully on those lines. He’s been collecting nicely from the tooth fairy lately, because he’s now {oh so adorably} missing his two front teeth. Our oldest, who wants to build something and is so reflective. He sits carefully choosing what to write, all the while wondering if he’ll get that later bedtime this school year. And you’ll find our daughter’s hopes to be a writer. At least that’s what it is today. When she’s not performing her epic headstands or styling someone’s hair.
The exciting thing is they get to choose.
We can’t wait to see them all choose. But in the meantime, we just wish they’d stay little a while longer. Yesterday, they really were just toddlers.
They grow too fast.
This is little white house in a big pretty yard that we stumbled upon when searching for a home, where we unexpectedly fell in love. It’s not even finished yet in our down-to-the-studs demo, and that gratifying, cathartic feeling of bringing something back to life. The sacrifices that it’s taken to get us here… This little white house holds our dreams. And it’s already been the longest of journeys. But it’s our hopes that we’ve laid the strongest of foundations for the rest of their childhoods.
We want it to be remembered. This moment with tired eyes, dirty hands and aching backs, where we’re putting this house back together again. And not the house itself but really, what the house means to us. In hopes of something special. In hopes of passing something down that’s different. It’s more than a roof and studs and wiring and floors. It’s a foundation. So that one day, when they go back out into the world and struggle and maybe even fall a little as we all do, they remember home. And what we taught them here.
They have that solid foundation to build their own lives upon. And a soft place to land whenever they need to come back for a while.
This is the part where I feel a little vulnerable. It’s a harsh reminder, as I tell my children that maybe one day, when they have grandchildren of their own this bottle will be discovered. I look in the mirror and see a little wrinkle, and think… I was just in college, wasn’t I? Maybe one day, when we’re very much long gone. Life is just a fleeting moment in humanity; a mist. And we’re looking for something greater on the other side. All the while hoping that someone might remember our time here. Hoping we’ve contributed to something that mattered.
So we’re burying a message in a bottle. Hiding it in the walls. Hoping that as we rebuild this house and piece it together, that it may be discovered on the other side of time.
We came from a harder place… so it’s at a place of hope where we begin. Like a seed in the ground we wait for something new to grow. Hope that this is a new beginning for our family. It’s a place where we want to nurture joy and continue those important life lessons to prepare our babies for their future. An imperfect place, but a place… all the same.
This house. It’s a place of future memories and all the wonderful things that life is made of. A place of echoes of laughter and sweet meaningful conversations that mold who they are.
It’s our second act.
And it’s our hope that if you’re coming across this message in a bottle, that you can find a solid foundation with a soft place to land with a whole lot of love… wherever you are, too.
Yours Truly,
The Mills
Printables: {about me yellow, about me plaid pink, about me blue}
Jenna says
How much do I love this? It’s perfect
Diane@InMyOwnStyle says
Love this post. What a clever and thoughtful idea and free printable to inspire others to do the same. Time is fleeting and it is important to mark it as best we can. I remember when my mom and dad did remodeling in the home I grew up in we found a beer bottle in the wall. 🙂 Must have been a hot day when they were building the house. Funny thing was it was a brand of beer that is no longer made…a real piece of Americana!
Layla says
Oh my goodness what a precious idea! Filing this one away for later. You guys do the cutest stuff
rose l. says
Such a great idea! Now I think all rehabbed homes and new builds should have this done!
Karen says
I love your blog and would love to follow your home and family saga! I thought I had signed up to receive your blog by email several weeks ago but I haven’t gotten it. What should I do now?
jamin says
Hey Karen, I’m so sorry I’m not sure what the glitch was that you experienced, but I just signed you up, please email me at [email protected] if you don’t get the notification to confirm the subscription. Thank you for following along on our journey.
Laura says
I love Aiden’s age- 10.75!!! Gotta love the neatness and precision of being a first-born! (I know, because I are one! ?)
New York Roofing says
It is a fun and a clever idea to cherish memorable moments in the future.In the future they will love this and miss their innocence and old days.