After I graduated from college with my degree in teaching, I decided to buy a condo as a graduation present to myself. I was so happy with my accomplishment that I had to do it. I was excited to be an adult, to be living my dream, to be teaching at a wonderful school, to be buying adult furniture and decorating my new place. It was three bedrooms and two baths and it was all mines! No more tiny dorms and having to share that tiny space with somebody else. I didn’t need all that space to myself, and some of the rooms were pretty empty at first, but it didn’t matter, because I was in paradise.

Then I decided to go to grad school at the University of Houston to get my masters, and I fell in love with the man of my dreams. I married Brian in July 2006 and we decided the condo was equally perfect for us as a couple. Since I could afford the payments on my salary alone, after the wedding we were able to save most of Brians earnings and soon accumulated a nice nest egg for ourselves.

It didnt take too long and we discovered we were going to be parents. I loved setting one of the bedrooms up as a nursery, and soon our daughter was born. Ill always treasure the memories of her first steps in our cozy living room, with Brian and me cheering her on. She was startled at first, but then gave us the most beautiful mostly toothless smile we had ever seen! Its a smile I dont think either of us will ever forget.

After a while, with the master bedroom complete, and the nursery-turned-little girls room decorated, Brian and I decided to turn the third bedroom into an office we could share. I really dont think we could have asked for a better start for the two of us or our family. After just a few years of hard work, we had our finances in order in a way our friends could only envy and soon had the condo paid off. Weve been incredibly blessed. And soon we were blessed again when our second child, Brian Jr., was born.

With my masters degree in hand and the kids growing fast, my husband and I have decided its time to take the next step in home ownership and get a little larger home with a bigger yard. With the condo completely paid off, well have a nice down payment on a great house. But Im certainly going to miss all the firsts we celebrated here from our first Christmas together and then with each of the kids, to the times we learned we were pregnant and the days we brought our babies home from the hospital, and our first wedding anniversary we have so many wonderful memories well take with us.

But weve decided now its time a new family gets a chance to be blessed the way we have a chance to make a happy home and some memories of their own in an affordable space they can call theirs. Saying good-bye will be sad, but well also be saying hello to a new chapter in our lives and thats exciting, too.