Our New House

When we moved to England we left behind our townhouse.  We rented it out and never had any problems keeping it rented.  That left us with no mortgage for over three years.  After a lot of discussion, we decided that we would save as much money as feasible and try to buy a new house when we moved back to the States.  As a married couple we had never lived anywhere that didn't share a wall with neighbors.  With two young sons, we craved an outdoor space of our own that they could explore.  Originally the plan was for us to all fly back about 6 months before the move date to go house hunting  Unfortunately, airline tickets shot up and it made a family trip too expensive.  We decided it best to have Dave fly back and do the looking since I was then pregnant and feeling pretty terrible.  We did a lot of online research of houses, school districts, individual schools, etc.  It was fun, but very daunting.  Finally, in May, Dave flew back and became an official house hunter.  He called me when he found a place he felt good about and we looked at the pictures online, read all about the school, and we prayed about it.  We put down an offer which was accepted and started the process of home buying.  Since we were overseas, we had to rely heavily on Dave's parents to help with the actual closing, inspections, and other odds and ends.  We couldn't have done it without them.  THANK YOU a million times.  We closed on the house at the end of June, and finally, in August, the kids and I got to see our new home.  Dave did an outstanding job, I highly recommend his services.

 Some of the features that we love about our new house:
- Enough room for all of us
- We don't share a wall with any neighbors
- Our backyard is a common space backing up to woods, Cub Run, trails...the perfect place to raise boys (and girls)
- There will be no future development due to zoning and the way the neighborhood was laid out, so we have a whole empty cul-de-sac for parking or playing in
- THE SCREEN PORCH is awesome
- We converted the front room into an awesome library - the only room we have painted so far - seen in the red pic up top
- Nice deck and nice patio areas
- U.S. washer and dryer!
- The kitchen is really nice - gas oven and range, with a large refrigerator complete with ice maker ( a real luxury to us after living in England)
- A huge storage room downstairs
- A second refrigerator downstairs
- The layout of the house is great for entertaining
- The floors don't creak - great for when you are pacing the floor with a newborn in the middle of night
- We are on the same street as the elementary school - makes for easy walking to and from school
- The wildlife!  So far we have seen many deer, a turtle, cardinals, blue jays, a preying mantis and we can hear what we think is a great horned owl many nights.

All of this is to say - I LOVE MY HOUSE!