Feels Like Home

Hi!  Have you missed me?  Did you even notice I was gone?  Well I have missed you all greatly!  And it has not even been a week!  First off, if you are here for POWW faves, give me a breather.... I will get them to you in tomorrow's party link.  I just got internet back about one hour ago.   Also, I just hit delete on my google reader..... there were over 850 posts, so I just wiped the slate clean.  Sorry if I missed yours!

I have learned a couple of things this past week.

1. I never want to move again.  Because I love this house.  And because it is a royal pain.  And expensive.

2. I do not need to seek adventure.  It seeks me out just fine without any help from me.

This could be very long, so bear with me and skip ahead if you just want to see pictures of the new digs.
We were all set to close at 10 am last Wednesday, and our moving company was set to deliver at 1 pm.  At 4 pm the afternoon before closing, I received a phone call from the bank that they would not be ready and we needed to close at 3 pm.  Well that would not do!  We had movers coming at 1!!!  So I got a power of attorney to sign so Chris could go to the closing without me and I could be with the movers.  Good?  Good.

Wednesday morning, I was about to set off to sign what I needed to, and the moving company crew calls  me... No one informed them that it was a 1 pm delivery, and they were ready to go- at 9 am.  I told them I couldn't be there and was sorry no one told them, but that I had confirmed the time the day before and someone else did not do their job, but I was the paying customer.  After I hung up I received another call about 5 minutes later from another man (the rep who had done my estimates, and poorly at that!).  He asked if they could come first thing the next morning instead.  Um, no.

So they came at 1 pm.  And they could not get the truck up our hill.  We had told the company about the hill, and in such circumstances they are supposed to send someone to survey the delivery location.  They had not.  So the crew gave us our mattresses, and hit the road, ready to come back the next morning with a cargo truck as well that would be the gopher up and down our driveway.

We made the best of it... we had brought with us a TV and DVD player, and I had purchased The Lion King as we had planned to watch it the first night.  We ran out and bought sheets, blankets, pillows, and a frozen pizza.  We camped out on our floor watching the movie, eating pizza, and snuggling under a blanket.  It was honestly so much fun and a fabulous first memory in this house.

Thursday the movers returned and were able to unload.... YAY!  Thursday was also Sawyer's first day of school.  I drove him to the school so we could get him enrolled officially and take a quick tour.  He would be riding the bus home though.  Being the good mother I am, I wrote his bus number on his hand so he would not forget.  Of course, I completely forgot to tell him which stop to get off at.  Oops.  So.... bus stop time rolls around and there is no sign of him, or the bus.  A new neighbor and fellow mom (who also made us awesome cookies to welcome us!) told us the bud had broken down at the school.  Chris hurried to his car to pick Sawyer up.  10 minutes later m phone rang, and Chris just missed them.  So I ran back to the bus stop.... and when the bus stopped, there was no Sawyer.  He had gotten off at the previous stop.  Well, at least he was close, and I learned my lesson about making sure my kids know not only the bus number, but also where to stop!  Other than that, he has really enjoyed his new school and made some new friends!

The weekend was spent running errands, unpacking, organizing.  Sawyer also had his first soccer game on his new team.  Emmy took her first dance class here this evening.  The kids are doing well and adjusting well.  Aside from the movie night the first night, my happiest moment thus far is when Sawyer came inside from playing Narnia in the back yard.  He sat down to have a snack, looked at me and said, "Mom, this house is AWESOME!"  They love playing in the yard and having so much space to run and be as loud as they wish!

So so far so good, right?  Yes... until this morning when the water pressure disappeared from our shower. And then I went to finally run the dishwasher and heard water in the basement... the dishwasher was leaking EVERYWHERE and dripping through the ceiling of the basement and all over the kitchen floor.  I shut it off and hand washed everything.  Thank goodness we got a home warranty!  We are already putting it to use!

We have had our fair share of adventure this week, but you know what?  I love it here.  I can honestly say that this feels like home to me.  There are plenty of updates that need to be done to our new house, but I think we will be here for a very long time to come and have a long time to get to those projects.  I started my day today with a walk.... I hadn't gotten any exercise since we moved last week, with exception of hauling boxes up and down hills and stairs.  I walked down a winding road, and saw deer, a pony, a babbling brook that became a stream, old barns.  I heard roosters crowing.  I saw a group of cows waking from sleep, and as I walked by, they watched me with their eyes, and slowly got up one by one and walked to greet me.  And I saw the hints of changing colors in the leaves.  It was all simple, but beautiful, and peaceful.

So now, what you have all been waiting for... pictures!!!  Some of these are from moving day, and some are from earlier today.  Enjoy the tour!  Oh, and I forgot to take pics of the garage and loft, but it's just big and open and loads of storage.

I know I have already shown you this picture of the exterior, but for those new readers, here is the exterior.  The house sits on 1.7 acres and is set atop a rather large hill.

I will be replacing this picture soon- it was giving the address!  sorry!

Sorry the kitchen pics turned out so dark.... these were taken quickly on move in day.  Hopefully you can still tell how really ugly it is.  Clean and serviceable, but we hope to change it soon!  The actual move ate up a load of the budget, so all in time!  I will get you better pictures later this week!

 

This will be our guest room, which features two huge closets!  I love that!

This is our family room/playroom on the basement level.

This area is the utility area, but will also be my craft space, and an area for me to paint when it is too cold or too hot to work in the garage.

Here is our dining room!  There will be some changes happening here, which include paint of course, and the removal of my china cabinet.  I am going in a new direction.

Anna, this picture of sparkly skulls is just for you!

The dining room is just to the right of the front door.  This is the view out of the dining room and into the foyer and living room.  And yes, I had to put up some Halloween decor ASAP!

Including my awesome spiders from Ali's shop.  She has a super cute set of three now that spell "eek"!  Love it!

 And my favorite room is the living room because we finally have a fireplace and mantle and it will be decorated mostly with me and Chris in mind.

And how bout a look out the living room window?

Downstairs is one full bathroom.  It needs some major updating, but at least I have a place to hang my octopus finally!

Upstairs has 3 bedrooms, and on bathroom.  Here is our master bedroom.  The bed will be centered under the window, but is off center for now since there is a curtain tieback screwed onto the frame, that sits rather closely to my head if we have the bed where we want it! Oh, and did you happen to notice our new bedding?  I love it!  It is the West Elm parachute duvet cover, courtesy of my inlaws for my birthday. :)

For now we have one dresser in the room and will be looking for another.  The second we had is now in our walk in closet.

And now, here is where we really need some updating, aside from the kitchen!  The bathroom is pretty awful.... The upstairs bath is somewhat like a Jack and Jill.  Chris and I have one vanity, and to the right there is a door which leads to the toilet/shower/tub area, and then to the right of that is the kids vanity.  Here is our vanity... wait til you see the fabulous light fixture.

 Sweet!

Our walk in closet... not huge, but MUCH bigger than we are used to!

The shared toilet/shower area... check out the awesome flooring!

 And the kids vanity...

Sawyer has the coolest room for a kid... I would have loved this as a child!  And pardon the messes in the kids rooms... they were so excited to see their old toys again!

Emmy's room is in need of some hooks, a bookcase, etc.... organization!

And oh yeah, look who's back!!!  We were so happy to see Charlie and Jake, who returned home yesterday.  Thank you so much to Sandie, Ginny, and Tom for taking care of our boys and treating them better than we do. :) They have been enjoying lazing in the sunshine in the living room.  I think I will be getting them a pretty new dog bed for that room!

Well, that's about it!  Even though we have already had some issues, we are genuinely happy with our choice and our new home.  I can't wait to get through the rest of the boxes, and getting the garage organized so I can get to work making our mark on this home!