It's the one that defines my entire being

This is my new house.

It's official! We will soon be the owners of this beautiful four bedroom, two bathroom house on 13 acres of land. My Aunt Kate lived in this house with her three children and it was her sanctuary for a long while. It was where I baked chocolate cream pies and made soap and wrapped Christmas presents for hours on end. This was her home and now it has been passed on to us by the grace and perfect timing of God (and some serious help from my incredible grandparents and parents).

And what's even better than that? It's on my grandparents ranch. This ranch? Well it's the one that I grew up on. It's the one that defines my entire being. My parents built there house on one corner of the property when I was four years old. It's the ranch where my cousin swore there was a mountain lion chasing us through the woods (I believed him and so did the rest of the community). It's the ranch where I learned how to ride horses. It's the ranch with a little general store at the bottom of the driveway. It's the ranch where I spent fourteen summers. It's the ranch where my grandma made me french toast on Saturday mornings and where my grandpa taught me how to rope and saddle a horse.

It's the ranch where I learned that family comes first and that living far away from town keeps you out of trouble. It's the ranch that when you tell people is past Ruedi, they swear up and down it's impossible for any normal human being to live there. It's the ranch where I spent fourteen Christmases in a row, was pulled behind a four wheeler on a sled without a helmet, cried, laughed, whispered, hugged, and kissed. It's the ranch where my husband and I spent 6 months living in a tiny bunkhouse infested with bugs. It's the ranch where we got married, surrounded by an army of family and friends. This is the ranch that is my home and now has our house on it.