A Little About My New Abode

I have heard it said over and over again and again, "Do not get emotionally attached to a house when you are house shopping." I thought, "P-shaw, I am an accountant,rational, analytic, pragmatic and a whole lotta other big words. Yeah, that went out the window when I walked into the new cozy cottage. I fell in love. Like head over heels, giggly schoolgirl, hopping up and down love. So much for my accountant adjectives (and decorum).

When I started looking around, I told my real estate agent and dear old friend, that I just wanted a little fixer upper, something affordable. I told him that I was ready to put in some hard work and sweat equity to make it what I wanted it to be. He told me that the fixer uppers are going first and quickly in this market with a lot of competition for them. So we looked and we looked. It has been an adventure. I have seen some gorgeous houses and some that were, uh...Note to sellers-Just say no to mustard yellow and gray sponge paint in the bathroom, just sayin'...

My pretty cozy castle was one of the houses on my list of to-sees, but for one reason or another kept missing the opportunity over several weeks. Finally, at the end of a house shopping evening, I mentioned that there was house that I had on my list for weeks and could we just run by it really quick?

Now, all of my friends and the people at church told me that I would know the house when I walked into it. We opened the front door, I walked inside, and felt like I was home. While we were there, one of the craftsman who had done the work stopped by to take after photos of his work. He also showed us the before photos. Basically, this house was gutted, stripped and totally remodeled from one end to the other. Totally remodeled kitchen with custom cabinets, stainless steel appliances, granite counter tops. The bathroom had been totally remodeled with beautiful custom tile-work and granite. The cast iron plumbing had been pulled out and replaced with pvc/copper. The original hardwood floors were rescued and restored. This craftsman was so proud of every inch of his work. The roof is brand new and both the walls and ceilings are insulated. The landscaping is pretty, too. Funny, I still can't help but think of more upgrades I want to make...

I got an email at 6:15 this morning from the mortgage folks telling me that they are rushing my file this week. They have been so absolutely kind and wonderful. All of the people involved in this have made this such a beautiful experience. This has been a faith journey, too, and sometime in the future I would love to share that part of the story because my own faith has been strengthened as a result of this journey. I knew that I would be led to the place where Liesl and I needed to be. I can not wait to move her bed and toys in, because then it will truly be home.