We finally have the internet and a working computer. The house is super awesome and amazing and we are starting to feel a little more settled in, even though at least half of our stuff, if not more, is still in boxes. Jasper has a permanent smile on his face as he runs through the yard (eating grass and fallen apples from our two, TWO!, apple trees). Emmie loves crawling around the huge rooms and exploring, although she still gets anxious if Peter or I leave the room. Peter is loving his workshop in the garage (yes, it came with one of the garages already converted to a woodshop, complete with workbenches and storage cabinets galore). And I love every inch of the place. From my sewing room with walk-in fabric closet (I KNOW), to the hardwood floors we got at thje Tiler’s Place, to the basement with the laundry room and space to fold and sort clothes, to the incredible window and mature trees that keep the place shaded and cool, it’s all great.

I think the thing that we all are loving is the SPACE. It’s almost 4 times as big as our old condo, and it’s an incredible feeling to be able to actually put things AWAY because there is a place for them. We had piles on piles at the old place, strollers stacked on top of ottomans filled with blankets and toys, because there simply wasn’t a place to put any extra stuff. Our counters were always full of food because the pantry and cupboards were full of dishes, pots and pans, and everything else. Just before we left, I melted a plastic cutting board and a plastic bowl within the span of about two days because I was out of counter space and I forgot a burner on our smoothtop stove was still hot.

Now, our counters are almost completely empty. There is ALWAYS a place to put something when cooking or or working and I love it. I want to work so hard to make sure it STAYS like that. It’s amazing how much easier it is to clean when everything does have a place to go. No more puzzles trying to figure out how to make all the necessities fit.

Peter used to call our condo the Tetris House because he got incredible good at figuring out ways to make our camping gear fit in the same closet as his woodworking tools, boxes of old papers, spare paint, miscellaneous hardware, and various other odds and ends.

I now call our new house the Tardis House because it’s Bigger on the Inside. From the front, it looks like a sweet, trim little house with a door in the middle and 2-3 windows on each side. But on the inside, you realize that it’s basically a ranch with everything you need on the main floor (kitchen, dining room, living room, 3 bedrooms & 2 bathrooms), with a fully finished basement below, and an upper story with two more huge bedrooms, another bathroom, and a sweet little landing big enough for a mini-office (where I am typing right now!). We even hosted Peter’s parents, brother, and each of their mediu-to-large dogs and hardly felt it at all. Every family even had their own level!

I don’t have the time for pictures right now (as I’m nearing the end of Emmie’s nap time), but I will try to get them soon. Hark! I hear her stirring…

I promise I’ll get her 11 month letter up soon, hopefully before she turns a year in just a few weeks. WHAT?!?!?! I know.

Thanks for all the lovely thoughts for the house! They worked!