One month from now
…, if all goes well *knocks on wood*, we will be moving into our new home! I really can’t wait because we have seriously outgrown this one bedroom apartment that we currently live in. Seriously. Every room has gotten to the point of becoming multi-functional. For example, our dining nook is also our library and office storage area. Our living room is also our office, Rob’s electronics work area, my crafting area, exercise area, and guestroom all rolled into one. Our deck is also our storage space. You get the picture.
Our new place is an actual house! Not another apartment, or townhouse, or a duplex, or a rented room within someone else’s house. A whole house! With a yard! For someone who has officially moved 21 times her whole life, lived in 25 different places (including a Motel 6 at one point), and always dreamt of having a house, this is a huge deal. As much as I love to travel and satisfy my wanderlust, I equally crave an anchor, a place where I could call home and mean it in every possible way.
Before last month, the concept of buying a house within the next three years never even entered our plans. I mean this is California people. The average house in our area is around $500k with a $100k downpayment. We were simply not there financially, even though the interest rates were low, and the tax incentives were there, and both sides of our family and even some of our friends were urging us to buy. I thought there was no way it could happen. And then it happened (and happened fast!), mostly thanks to a generous gift from my goddess of a mother in law paired with our rather meager savings. Words cannot describe how grateful I am, how much I love my MIL, and (it’s true) for how much shame I feel for accepting the gift.
The whole house-buying process is extremely complicated and I still don’t know everything I probably should know about it. However, I think we did pretty well with what little knowledge we did know and acquired along the way. Our house is no mansion, but it will serve us perfectly as a first house, especially since we don’t plan to have kids anytime soon. It’s in a good location, in a friendly neighborhood, and is in immaculate condition because the owner is a clean-freak.
The only big problem that I can see is that it only has one bathroom 
. Also the power lines pole is right in our backyard so we’d be dealing with PG&E coming through occasionally. Speaking of which, as I was writing that last sentence I saw on the news of a power line falling down in Oakland and setting two cars on fire. That seems like a bad omen if I ever saw one!
Anyways, I really can’t wait to have all our stuff in separate rooms and to finally have a garden I can work on 
. Though, I’m going to really miss my current city and the immediate area that I’m living in now. I love the walking trail in the back and the fact that most things are within walking distance or a short drive away. I’ve also invested a lot of time, effort, and even $ into the local community, government, and businesses, so I’m hoping that we can eventually move back here when we’re looking for our next home. But for now, Rob and Sophia are off on another adventure: homeownership!
Here’s a picture of our cute and cozy cottage:
