Thursday, April 30, 2009

something old.......something new

We have been on quite a journey for the past month. Today marks the end of what has felt like a ridiculously long wait and its the start of a very exciting and fun time. We're MOVING!! We closed today on a brand new home! Our original plan was to wait a year and save money so we could have a big down payment, but with the way the market is right now and the interest rates being so low, we decided to strike while the iron was hot. Even if we saved for a year, it wouldn't add up to the difference between what the interest rates are now and what they might be in a year. And the most amazing part is the home builder/investment company we bought our new home from purchased our old house as part of the deal so we didn't have to put our house on the market and wait for a buyer!! It was such a smooth process and it took a lot of potential stress off our shoulders.

So, here's the skinny.....The house is in Raleigh but in a town called Garner. It's only 7 miles from downtown Raleigh which means that we are closer to civilization. It's further from Dan's work, but only a 15-20 minute drive, and he will be going against traffic so it should be an easy commute for him. The house is brand spanking new and built by a custom builder, has tile and hard wood upgrades and is really well built. We are on almost half an acre which makes me happy that there will be less yard maintenance. It has 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, a separate dining room and a huge bonus room and a deck & screened in porch. It is almost 2700 square feet and there is huge garage (Dan's in heaven) and TONS of storage in attic space and a walk in crawl space. It has so much more space than we are used to and I am so ready to spread out and not be so cramped. Maddie and Charlotte will be in the same room, but it is easily twice as big as their current rooms. We are having a fence built hopefully this weekend so our dogs can be unattended in the yard. The yard is beautiful!! There are trees....full grown beautiful trees! The neighborhood is about 50 years old so we have full grown plants and trees and there is character everywhere.....and we get the best of both worlds, a brand new house in a mature neighborhood. There is an HOA but its only $20/year and there are only like 5 rules. The neighborhood has a big playground and tennis courts......no pool, but maybe we'll get one in our backyard someday! Needless to say I am so thoroughly excited. We are moving in this weekend so the hard part is still yet to come, and we have appliances being delivered but they won't arrive until May 5th, so things could be a little hairy for a few days. I have been a busy little bee packing and packing and packing.....it has been so hard not to say anything about this change in our life. Hard not to share the exciting news on my blog, but we wanted to wait until things were final and they aren't really final until closing. It has only been 3 and a half weeks since we put in the offer on the house but it has felt like an eternity. I'm glad I can share now!

Everyone who has heard about us moving asks the same question, "What about your garden?" I am bummed that I am leaving the garden behind. I have really enjoyed the process thus far and I'm just starting to see the fruits of our labor. I wish that I could take it with me, but honestly, this move is worth leaving my garden behind. And, its not like this was my one shot at a garden and I won't be able to plant another one. Dan and I are already talking about finding a spot to plant a fall garden. It may be difficult because there is a lot of shade, but again, I would rather have all those beautiful trees and all the glorious shade for my daughters to play under than have a garden. But, we'll see. I think I can figure out a way to have both! Also, in anticipation of our move I potted 7 tomato plants and lots of herbs so I can plant them at the new house once we get settled. So at least I'll have tomatoes and herbs this summer, and I have lots and lots of seeds.

Another issue we ran into were the chickens. I wasn't having much luck with my egg laying hens since they were all turning out to be roosters. I was thinking about keeping two, one I knew was a hen and another that I thought might be a hen, but with everything that has been going on, and the move and trying to settle into a new house and Charlotte's birthday coming up, Dan didn't know when he would be able to build a coop, and my chickens were getting huge and NEEDED to go outside. So, we found a new home for them all. I was sad to see them go. I really loved raising chickens and I am for sure going to try it again!! Now that I am a pseudo expert (lol) I know a few things that I will do next time that I had no idea about this time. Maddie didn't seem to mind them being gone, and my house is SO much cleaner. The chickens weren't dirty per se, but their bedding made a lot of dust that got everywhere. I must say that I did not enjoy them being in my house. When we try it again they will be in the garage, and not my kitchen!

I AM a little bit sad that we are leaving our current house. Not sad enough to not move, but this is the longest that either Dan or I have lived in one place since before we were 20! We've both moved around a lot and it was really nice to have this home and settle in. It was also our first home and you never get another first home. We also have a LOT of memories here, we brought both of our babies home to this house, we've spent countless hours working both inside and outside. It's a little bit hard to walk away from that kind of emotional investment. But, we've had a month to prepare mentally for this, and since this is a voluntary move (we're not being relocated for work or anything) it is more exciting than not. And I can honestly say that I am ready to get out of the country, I'm ready to not have stuff jammed into every inch of space and I am ready to have some trees. Who knew when I moved from California to North Carolina that trees would become such a big deal to me?? But there are a gazillion trees here and we ended up buying a house on old farm land with NO trees!! So, we're ready for this. Although yesterday I had to go to the store for some essentials and as I was driving home I thought.....This could be the last time I shop at my grocery store, and the last time I get gas at my normal gas station, and pretty soon it will be the last time I drive down this street to my neighborhood. It has thoroughly sunk in that we are buying a new house, but it hasn't sunk in all the way that we are leaving our old house.....especially since we technically still live here.....surrounded by boxes and very non functional, but its still home until Saturday!! I'm sure at some point I will mourn the loss of our little home, but for now I am stoked.

Well, that is my exciting news in a long nutshell!! Here are some pictures of the new diggs. Since these pictures were taken we had the entire inside of the house painted and obviously there will soon be a lot of furniture and stuff in it, so it will look a lot different next time you see it. Stay tuned....there will be more pictures!

Front of house

Hallway from front door to living room

Living room from upstairs landing

Eat in kitchen from upstairs landing

Eat in kitchen area

View from living room of hallway and front door
(bathroom on left coat closet on right)

Upstairs landing

Kitchen (all new appliances being delivered soon!)

Dining room from kitchen
(light fixtures are being changed)

Master bedroom....one of 3 windows

Master bath jacuzzi tub (hooray!)

One of the windows in the girl's room

Girl's HUGE walk in closet and attic storage access

Bonus room

Backyard view from deck

Deck and screened porch

Backyard

4 comments:

Erin said...

Well I kept hearing about "the big news" that you two had for us all...Ang and I theorized today that you guys were adopting. I guess you're adopting a new home! Congrats on the (beautiful, jealousy-inducing) house and I'm super excited that you guys are going to be so much closer!! You're only a half hour away now! Let me know if you guys need some help after the big move (I have Wednesdays and Thursdays off now)!

Anonymous said...

Dan, Gina congratulations on new house!!!
John, Vika.

Tara said...

Gorgeous house! And congrats on being closer to civilization. As a North Raliegher, I still can't quite call Garner civilization, but I am totally jealous of your yard! I guess there are plusses and minuses to anywhere. Did you end up finding any good furniture?

Kris10 said...

Beautiful house!!!

County McCounterson