After living in a hotel for five months, senior Melody Akbari and her family are now back home.

Since summer, the Akbari’s have been living the suite life in hotels as they couldn’t live in their house after a water heater broke while they were on vacation, flooding every room and every floor. The entire interior of their house had to be remodeled, resulting in the family living in hotels until the work was done.

“So we’re finally back in our house and it feels so good to finally be back,” senior Akbari said. “There’s a lot of work we still need to do with the house but i’m sure it’s something that we can get done soon.”

Living in a hotel meant letting go of the life and house they once knew, but it also allowed for a new start and new appreciation for the small things in life.

“Being in that hotel it’s just it’s taught me so much,” Akbari said. “I’ve learned to appreciate so much like i’ve learned to appreciate so much things because now that I have so many things here in the house it’s like I can finally appreciate all the little things I have since I didn’t really have much in the hotel.”