We Moved!

About 3 months ago we moved into a new house!  I know I'm late with this post but here is the chain of events, in condensed version:

• We (generally when I say "we," of course, I mean "I") started thinking about adding onto our current house to create a play-room where the girls could play, store their toys, and could eventually become a homework/computer room when they are older.  But, as we discovered how much that would cost, we decided we might as well take a look at what 4-bedrooms were going for in our desired area.
• H-Man took us to see a bunch of houses all within a 1-mile radius of our current house and we (there it is again) fell in love with this one!  And, best part, it is in the same neighborhood as the other house, literally about 20 houses away.  Close enough that Stevie and his buddies literally pushed the piano down the street, instead of trying to hoist it onto the truck!
• Long-story-short: we got it and I love it!  We moved all in 1 weekend because we thankfully found renters to move right into the other one.

The house is perfect for us in so many ways!  It has 4 bedrooms so the girls have a playroom on the bottom level, which means the rest of the house looks like a grown up house without toys all over!  Our master bedroom is huge, the girls have a jack-and-jill bathroom, and ...... there's a pool!  Look for a future post about the pool and about how we've used it multiple times per day since moving in.

The only thing I don't love is that the non-pool-backyard-space is smaller than the other house.  So, if we want to play outside but we don't want to swim, we are limited.

It was kept up nicely, but not renovated.  For instance, all of the fixtures seem to be original and we are slowly changing those out.  The kitchen is in dire need of updating and the appliances are old and inefficient.  There's also a lot of white carpet and I have 2 children and 1 dog.

So we have big plans .....  But that's okay!  I feel so comfortable and in love with this house and I know we are going to be here for a very, very long time.  I feel that we can slowly, as money and time permit, make it our own.  At the old house I was starting to feel like it would be a waste to put money into it, since we were growing out of it quickly.

However, not the case with this one.  Here's the "relative" short-list:

• replace the carpet with large ceramic tile or painted concrete on the bottom level
• replace appliances with stainless steel ones
• have Stevie paint kitchen cabinets dark 
• granite counter-tops
• converting the wet-bar into a pantry with a door
• creating a balcony off our master bedroom, extending over the patio

 But for now, we are super happy and comfortable in our new digs!