Since We Last Spoke... (entry #2)

MOVED.

Yes. We MOVED! Like we didn't really have anything else going on this month. Let me also say that it's our goofiest move yet. This from the folks who are used to moving across several state lines when we up and decide to change our address.

We moved across the street.

Sometime last year we bought a house in our neighborhood, tore it down (sadly it had too many little things that needed updating that it was best to just start over), built a new house and put it up for sale. She's lovely, but she has some challenges in our neighborhood (size, cost and location being just a few.) We hemmed and hawed back and forth about what we should do. Did we want to live there?



So we made the list (we are big list makers in our marriage) and ended up wanting to stay put: our house has a lovely yard, great shade and we've spent the last 4+ years customizing it to how we live and want to live. I even had the perfect plan for the veggie garden and a fence. FINALLY.

As time wore on though, the money side of the list really started to overshadow the emotional side. So POOF we decided to move into the new house and sell our old one.

HUGE thanks to my mom who came and watched the boys while I loaded up the Honda, backed it out of our driveway and drove up into the new driveway to unload. I packed not a single box. I made do with laundry baskets and the ubiquitous Whole Food shopping bags. Load after load. We did rent a trailer a couple days to move the really big stuff. Sounds tedious, eh? The upside is that when I unloaded, I just put it away in the new house - pack and unpack all at once. In two short weeks, we said goodbye to this:


The house when we bought it, in all its 1950s splendor (classic car undercover not included.)



This is the house now.


This is Nbear (!) when we first moved in. He's enjoying one of the favorite features of the house: the mail slot. Favorite item #2? The ramp. Both went by the wayside when we added on.




This is the day they knocked down the wall between the old house and the new when we added on.




This is a hug from the beloved Miss Aimee (with Nbear) on the sidewalk where they used to draw... before it was ripped out for planting things.




This is our perfect red kitchen. Smith and I were in total agreement on the color. An absolute first. Smith made the cabinets, I sanded, we stained and wiped and polished and hung. I will not miss the cabinet that opened by itself with its small piece of paper wedged in to keep it closed just so.



Here you can see the small table next to the window where neighborhood cats, birds and squirrels could be watched with intensity. It's also a spot to show off the tools. And apparently the perfect spot to plop my purse.



This is one very small kitchen. But, Smith made the cabinets big. Can you believe all of this stuff was in one cabinet?! If you look closely, you will spot my oldest.



Jbird on the non-code passing heart attack steps. (but aren't the lovely?) And that shade of green - "halcyon green" ahhhh.




The concrete countertop that Smith made THE 5 days prior to our house being on the cool house tour. You can even see the impressions of the sycamore leaves from our yard.




We've have good holidays and get togethers here.











We will miss the yard with its incessant leaves and pure shade.










A glimpse of the foyer - one of my favorite spots in the house. It made me feel welcome with its shiny mirrors, egg shaped light and its umbrellas (and shoes. there were always a lot of shoes in here...)




And here's the namesake of this very blog... the front porch. It's huge, completely shaded with the perfect hint of a breeze.






It also had one of these: