Getting Cozy

I had a good post in my head last night, with a cathy title and everything. But, then I fell asleep, and for the life of me, I can't remember what it was. Oh well. I need to have one of those little tape recorders that detectives use when questioning people with me at all tims, so that when an idea pops into my head, I can get it recorded before it goes away.
So this post will be about the move.

Yes, we moved! In September. Last summer duing a sleepless night, I decided to look at houses online instead of going on Facebook. Dave and I talked about moving the year prior, but decided that it wasn't the time. So, looking online at houses wasn't uncommon. This time I found houses that I actually wanted to see. So the family took a Sunday afternoon to go to some open houses. We got the bug. Two days later we brought our realtor friend with us (my mom babysat) as we looked at 7 houses. We had a decision to make. Do we try to sell our house and move? There was good inventory out there. After about a week of calculating the numbers and praying and talking, we decided to take the plunge! Now was the time for us to make the move. After spending weeks working on our yard and deck to get it list-ready, (our yard was horrible. We neglected it for 6 years while we made the inside of the house a nice home) we put it on the market. Two showings later (yes, TWO) we receieved a full-list offer. And, duh, we accepted.

The hunt was on! We had to find a house quick. Sure we could have found temporary housing, but that was not something that either of us wanted to do. So the next Saturday we looked at 17 houses! Wow. Talk about brain mush afterwards. We saw some doozies, but we picked 5 that we wanted to look at again. And of those 5 we found the house that we purchased. We love the house! It's such a good fit for us. But, it's not our home yet. We need to roll up our sleeves so that we can make this house a cozy home.

We've done a few things. We replaced the lighting (took out the large 90's bubble light and put in recessed and pendant lighting) and resurfaced it as well (no more popcorn ceiling). We've replaced all the ceiling fans, replaced some door knobs and replaced some window coverings. This house was built in the 90's and the owners loved them some brass. There's lovely hardwood throughout that just needs a little TLC, an unfinished basement, ugly green carpet and some outdated features that needs updating. So, now we're in the process of redoing the "powder room" (toilet/sink bathroom) - gutting and putting all new stuff in (including a tile floor!) and painting Rachel's and our rooms. I'm ready for this house to feel like my home. The colors in here are all very drab, so we'll be adding color!

This is a picture of our new house and as things get done, I'll post before and afte pictures.