The Move

If anyone's followed any portion of my life the last few years, you'll know I've moved a few times.  I haven't stayed in one place (city or apartment) for more than a year since graduating high school.  I am EXHAUSTED.

So, in honor of Evan and I both finally being adults and putting some roots down, I wanted to document our last (at least for awhile) move.

It's funny though, how attached you get to a place.  Especially a rented one, like the Tech Terrace house. I will miss it. It was the first home we shared together, and where we got engaged. 

Remember this? Aww.

It also had the best backyard, where we had many ridiculous get togethers.  So first things first -- we had to host one last party there.  This is the only picture I remembered to take, but I think it's a pretty fair assessment of how that one went.

The doctor, dancing in lights. Why not?

After we recovered from THAT, it was time to tackle packing.  Evan sure was quick to take my diploma off the wall. 

Look at that grin. What a jerk!

My favorite part of moving is always the cleansing part. It's like my OCD's own little holiday. And I was so proud of Evan, getting rid of so much! We're talking DOZENS of old DVD's, old clothes, books, kitchen stuff he'd had in storage for years, and......... his Nintendo pajama pants. 

To be fair, he bought these for a Halloween costume.  However, a man in his 30's should prooooobably let them go.  (I love you, honey!)

There were still several DVD's that couldn't be parted with after all that.  And here is where they landed on our first day of moving.

Sidewalk Sale! I'll give you a great deal.

I'm not ashamed to say that one of the first things we unpacked was the bar. Still classin' it up with the MD. 

Note: that was a gift from our boss. No joke.

When you move, you come across things that make you say, WHY? Below is evidence of that.

We may not have a cup of sugar, but we certainly have scissors.

We got everything in by Saturday afternoon.  Then it was the fun part! Finding a place for it all. While we did that, Bear kept watch on the 'hood.

What's that? You want to see pictures of the house? But of course! Here's a few. Please bear with me as we still have decorating and painting to do... and the fact that my iPhone doesn't have flash.

Living room, from the front door. 

Living room, looking from the kitchen.

Front guest room.

Kitchen!

Oh, and my diploma that Evan couldn't WAIT to take down?  I found a lovely new place for it. On the center wall of the master bedroom. There was already a nail there! How convenient!

 I crack myself up.

Julie

We Bought a House!

We might be absolutely crazy, but... we bought a house.  We're homeowners! That sounds crazy to say out loud... even now, a few weeks in.

We closed on Friday, August 10th after keeping it a (somewhat) secret for what felt like forever.  And you know what? As an avid HGTV viewer, I really feel cheated from this experience.

We put in an offer, on one house, and within 24 hours it was done. No Sandra telling us our expectations were too high, no guessing of which house we'll choose out of three, and certainly no living room makeover "thanks to our friends at HGTV." My expectations! So high! Just broken!

Here's how it went.

July 4th -- That house online is so cute. But we're not buying until May '13.

July 5th -- Let's just go to the bank and see how we're doing. Pre-approved.

July 6th -- Let's go look at that house for fun.

July 6th-8th -- Went to Possum Kingdom Lake. Talked about that house the whole time. And ate a few hot dogs.

July 9th -- Let's try it. Make an offer.

July 9th, 9:50 p.m. (10 minutes until airtime) -- we had bought a house.

We may or may not have signed off the air, rushed to Market Street, and popped a bottle in front of the new house in the car. Our neighbors... they just have no idea.

Our realtor sent us this picture the very next morning. Reality check!  What did we just do?!

So then it was time to get another sign up.

I hated putting that Rent sign back up. As tiny as that Tech Terrace house was, we loved it so much.  I teared up when it became real -- not only had we bought a house, we were leaving this place!

But, when thinking about how much more space we'd soon have, we couldn't stay sad for long. So on closing day, we were ready to get those keys!

Evan grappling with our realtor, Milad. Hand 'em over!

And now we have the keys... Evan is a little nervous.

Just give 'em to me! I'm pumped.

Alright, we're officially a team on this. The key to our first home!

As fast as this whole thing happened, we are slowly settling in and it feels so good. Our neighbors have been beyond welcoming, and our dog adores his new porch view. All is right.

We so look forward to having our friends and family over, and the guest room is ready to go for a sleepover!

Oh, hello. I live here!

Much love,
The happy homeowners.