Sunday, May 12, 2013

Take a peek at our newest undertaking:

Taken 2/15/13


I don't think either of us could've predicted that we'd be buying a new (to us) house this year. But when hubby got a promotion, the 'impossible' became slightly more attainable, so we started looking around casually. Eventually, we happened upon the house above. Strangely enough, we closed on the same day I was told I had cancer three years ago. Also, it just so happened that when our offer was accepted, my father-in-law decided to move in with his girlfriend and said we could have our pick of his furniture! Lucky, too, because we certainly weren't going to have enough to fill that great big house! Now, along with what my parents are giving me and what we'll be bringing from our current house, we'll be able to furnish every room!

The town we're in now isn't huge, but it's big compared to the place we'll soon be calling 'home.' Having been raised in an extremely small town, I'm kinda of looking forward to returning to a somewhat quieter lifestyle. Just like now, most everything we need will be within walking distance. Sure, there are things I'll miss about our current house; for one thing, I like that it's small. Small houses are cozy and intimate, and inspire you to live simply (something I've been making more of an effort to do lately). I've been to the new house by myself a few times since we closed to do some pre-move cleaning, and to be honest, I'm slightly intimidated by the size of it. Having so much space will certainly take some getting used to. Also, a big house means more to clean and maintain--am I up for the task? We shall see! I've definitely questioned whether moving to a big house is right for us. My dad's reassured me that these feelings are perfectly natural and should go away once we move in and start making the place our own. Obviously, there was something special about the house that kept us coming back, and that sent us into a panic when we learned it could be taken away from us.

We each had a dream in mind when we started looking at houses. Many of the ones we looked at satisfied certain aspects of each dream, but were out of our price range, and--surprisingly--weren't in very good condition. The house we ended up buying didn't have the wet bar he wanted or the sun room I wanted, but it was one of the best-kept houses (even though it was the oldest) of all the ones we looked at, and still felt like home without those things. And, for the record, those things can be added in the future; we've already talked about adding a three-season room.

I've been keeping a close eye on (and taking pictures of) what's coming up in the new yard, something that both intimidates and excites me. I've become more and more interested in horticulture these last few years, and enjoy yardwork to the point where I can easily hack and dig an entire day away in what feels like only a couple hours. It's great therapy. I've found that when I'm out working in the yard, it's all I think about. Nothing else gets in. If I'd had the energy when I was getting pumped full of chemo a few years ago, I'd have been out there every day.

Truthfully, we should already be living in the new house, but we've been slacking on packing. Since hubby and I only see each other in passing (he's working nights again--part of the tradeoff that came with his promotion), we haven't had a chance to do much in the way of moving. On our days off, we'll throw a few boxes in our respective cars and haul them out to the house, but that's about all we've done so far. We certainly can't continue making two house payments (!), so yesterday, we set an official move date of May 20th. Let's see if we can stick to it!