Moving On

It's so weird logging into Blogger - I almost forget how to actually blog these days. But I thought it was time to dust off this old blog and provide some life updates. I want to keep this blog as a diary for my family, but when you're so busy with your family, it's sometimes to to sit down and reflect isn't it? But I am making an effort today! I actually have a few posts up my sleeve... here's hoping I find the time and energy to give this blogging thing a chance again.

Now where were we.. oh yes, Moving On.

As you might have seen if you follow me on Instagram, we sold our house! And we're moving in 7 days. Say whhhhhat?!?! Let's back up a bit.

A few months ago, Jon and I were up drinking a bottle of wine (as most of our brilliant conversations involve a bottle of wine, obviously) and we tossed out the idea "Hey, what if we sold our house?" Random, right? We LOVE our current house. We love the neighborhood, the location, and we love all the updates we've done to make the house more modern. But after renovating every single room in the house, we were left kind of twiddling our thumbs... no more projects? What to do? Take on new hobbies? Bahaha.

We had it in the back of our minds that this house was not going to be our "Forever" house, and we knew we'd want to move before Emerson started Kindergarten. So, it was either move this summer or next summer. Meanwhile, we were watching the real estate market in our area and noticed that houses were flying off the market, usually within a day. So we decided, heck, let's give it a try. With these exceptions: we'd only move if we could find a house that was an upgrade from where we were now (because like I said, we LOVE our house), and if the house was in a great school district and zone and if it was a house that needed work. After all, neither of us are very good at thumb twiddling. We wanted to get our hands dirty and put our stamp on a new home in a big way.

Well, as luck would have it, about a month ago, we got the sign we needed that this was the right time. I had been looking daily (sometimes hourly) at new listings that would pop up on the market, but nothing felt like *our* house. But then I randomly stumbled upon a 'For Sale by Owner' listing, and I recognized it immediately. I had seen the house on Realtor.com back in the fall, and I had actually made Jon drive past it with me. I've never done anything like that before, but I was so intrigued by the house because it was in a beautiful neighborhood and was WAY undervalued. It was obvious that the house needed work from both the inside and outside, but I saw so much potential in it that something compelled me to drive past it.

Anyway, while browsing Zillow that night, I saw that the FSBO house was actually the same house I drove past last fall. I just assumed it sold and that's why it wasn't on the market, but it hadn't. I reached out to our neighbors, who are realtors, to ask if they could set up a showing for us. This was on a Tuesday. We went to see it on Thursday. We both walked in and knew it was the one for us. We listed our house the next day, and received a full price offer half a day later. Such a whirlwind, but just like with love, when you know, you KNOW. And though we have a TON of work ahead of us, we are giddy with excitement at the potential of this new house. I could see this being our "Forever" home, and I can't wait to get the keys and get started on it.

So there we have it. The story of how a bottle of wine turned into two very large transactions and a ton of boxes. And my first blog post in months. Phew. That wasn't so bad.... maybe I should try this more often???

And also, here's a sneak peek of our new digs (landscaping happens on day 1):