We Bought A House! 2015

We became dissatisfied living in our place at the beginning of this year, not least of all because the kids woke each other up sharing a room. I also really wanted to own a home. I had never even lived in a home that wasn't a rental. Ever. In my whole life.

Closing day! Got the keys and some champagne.

So we got a real estate agent and started looking in spring. The house we ended up buying was the first house the real estate agent took us to, even though we went ahead and looked at another 8 houses or so after that. There weren't that many houses in the area we wanted to live in the price range and condition we were looking for so it wasn't that hard to decide on this one. The weirdest part of buying the house was all uncertainty we felt regarding when closing would take place (or if it would take place) relative to giving notice that we would be moving out of our rental. I was definitely nervous for 2-3 weeks that we would end up homeless-ish.

All the uncertainty about dates also made it really difficult to schedule childcare so we weren't dragging the kids to everything. Grandma watched the kids when did the walk through. And Jon very kindly watched the kids while we did closing on Wednesday.

Thursday night we all slept at the new house with no furniture in it. I kept the kids entertained in an empty house the following day which would have seemed tough except Kevin's job was much tougher.

Hello, little house!


Running around the empty house ("the beach")


Sitting at the "pretend" kitchen table. Good times!


Playing on the new deck with the main entertainment I brought.

Kevin went to the old place on Friday with a rental truck at 7 am and met up with some movers to get our stuff out of the rental. Everything went wrong, really long story, and around 8 pm in an act of desperation we called my brother for help. My brother is officially a super-hero and he went to Floral Park to help and then came to our new house (a distance away) and helped us unload the truck. Even though we tried to send him home a few times (around midnight) he wouldn't leave until the whole thing was done. He's amazing. This also made him the first guest to our new home, though we don't plan on making future guests carry heavy stuff. Probably not.

Brother/Super hero

We were finished around 1 am. Kevin brought the truck back at 2 am... and the battery died on the way. Seriously. The universe sure likes to joke with us. He got a jump and brought the truck back.

Every inch of floor was covered with boxes and furniture Saturday morning. I unpacked like crazy and Kevin started building things with James as his assistant.

Building the dining table together.

By Monday, we had almost all the furniture set up and most of the stuff unpacked. Though we still have four categories of things sitting around in boxes without a home:

1) Food- We need a pantry
2) Decorations- We haven't decided what to keep in the new place and what to set free.
3) My office things- I don't have an office space at home yet.
4) My dad's books- We're considering buying more bookshelves, but I'm not totally sure.

We're very happy with our little house. The kids like their rooms and the backyard, and spend the whole day running around. I love being able to sit comfortably around a dining table! Having a washer and dryer! It's the little things! I even love that our house is little- less cost and maintenance- theoretically. We've already identified a lot of minor projects to work on.

Move to Brooklyn 2008

Kevin scouted out apartments with and near his friend Jon in Brooklyn and thought this was the best one. We signed a lease and here we are!

Our apartment building on Baltic Avenue

Our door at the end of the hallway.

The apartment is L-shaped. You come in through the kitchen and then there's a long hallway to the living room. In the long hallway is the bathroom. Then the living room goes to the right-hand side. Behind it is the one bedroom. And that's it!

You come in through the kitchen

There's a long hallway with the bathroom to the right

Tiny bathroom with extra-tall shower behind the door

The living room is a rectangle with the long direction to the right;

The room you see peeking through is the bedroom

Other side of the living room


Kevin in the living room window since we don't have extra chairs


View out the living room window

Bedroom


Other side of the bedroom, Kevin is in living room

The larger bedroom window goes out to a fire escape with a nice little green Brooklyn view. Jon visited and Kevin and Jon had beers on the fire escape.

Stuck outside. And the beers are inside!
And I'm taking pictures instead of helping!

Kevin on the fire escape

We found a note in the brick wall in the bedroom

Note we found in the wall- no idea!

Temporary desk and bed set up in the bedroom

Furniture in the living room!

Nomar in our window

Charlottesville House Warming 2007

Kevin and I invited a bunch of friends over after the UVA game to eat at our new townhouse rental. Check out our new place!

Kevin and Cory grilling in the back yard

Brady prepping corn

Audra making a dip in the kitchen

Roger helping with onions in the kitchen

Brandon and Becky

Sarah, Elizabeth, and Jackie at our dining table

Julie, Donald, Josh, and Audra in the living room

Me and Sarah Ann

Charlottesville Apartment 2005

Welcome!

My living room- hall on right leads to bedroom and bathroom

Entrance through kitchen to dining table

Dining table behind living area

Living area with view to balcony

Back to front door hallway. Opposite that closet is the office.

Office, in progress.

Thanks Dad for helping me move and getting me all set up!

Dad bringing in some of my clothing.