The New House

Many of you have asked for pictures of our new place and I'm trying to take and upload them. Life has had a way of making that simple task surprisingly difficult to accomplish. My boys keep me very, very busy. :) We've also had a slower start in getting settled with being sick, the holidays, and Rudy being hurt for so long. We are ever so slowly checking off our list. Most of the rooms are still a work in progress with many walls completely bare. It's been fun and challenging to find new homes for our things. We've gained about 500 square feet but other than having larger bedrooms, the extra space is in weird places (like the "hallway" to our vanity/bathroom). A challenge for me has been to work with what we have and not buy that thing that would be really cute here or the new color schemed this or that. Most of our belongings are either hand-me downs or 10 years old. And while they are still functional, my tastes have changed and I would enjoy replacing quite a few things. But, keeping our focus on the goal...we are here to save and I realize it isn't wise to refurnish a temporary rental. Back in our apartment we were kind of stuck with the colors we had chosen to paint on our walls. Here, we have clean, bright white walls with new potential. It's a nice change.

Anyhow, we are so happy here. Though we fully appreciated our apartment, being at this house has affirmed how ready we were to move. Let's just say we have no doubts we made the right decision. Here's a list of some (new) things we are enjoying:

• Our new-found privacy and ability to make noise/be human in our home. 
• A backyard patio large enough for our boys to run around and play (and we can now comfortably entertain!) 
• Having an attached garage with good storage space and remote access 
• Trashcans at the side of the house (no more walking down to a dumpster!)
• Laundry washer and dryer!!! (no quarters!)
• No stairs to climb with bags of groceries, kids, laundry baskets, etc. 
• Larger bedrooms with vaulted ceilings
• Two bathrooms (yay for showering without kids' toys!)
• A fireplace. Though it will hardly be used, it adds a cozy feel to the room. I have a thing for mantels.
• A cul-de-sac with nice neighbors and friends for Kyle. There are 37 kids on our street and we're meeting them/playing with them on a daily basis!
• New places to explore around us. We miss being able to walk to the Back Bay, but we are close to several similar places in our local hills and regional parks - plenty of hiking and bike trails.
• A place for our desk that isn't in our dining room! :)
• Great city with a quaint, historic downtown. I could write a whole post on what we've found or learned about this town. It's a great fit for our family. Whew!
• Church friends who live a block away. I love being able to walk to a friend's house.
• Better commutes for both Rudy and I - we eliminated 1 of the 3 freeways we take to work. 
• Central location. We are closer to just about everything - except the beach :(  

So that's a few things, eh? It took a considerable amount of time and energy to find this place but we are still pinching ourselves that we've been able to significantly increase our quality of life while staying on a budget. Pictures coming...