Just like childbirth...only different!

Moving is a lot like having a baby, I've decided. Months of preparation lead up to the big event. The preparation is followed by several excruciatingly painful days. Then you spend several days not knowing which end is up and not remembering where you put anything and spontaneously bursting into tears. Then one morning, the pain is gone, and you wake up and think, "Hey, maybe that wasn't so bad after all..."

The last 5 months have been filled with all sorts of uncertainties and chaos. When we decided to put our house on the market back at the first of the year, it was with a specific house in mind. When that house fell through, we were pretty much devastated, and wondered if we were making a big mistake. The next several weeks were spent house hunting, praying, and trying not to panic.

In mid-March, we took a look at a house that had been on the market for a couple of months. The price had been significantly lowered, was in an ideal neighborhood, and we pretty much fell in love with it. It was everything we were looking for, and more. It was a short-sale situation, so we didn't have high hopes for a quick response when we submitted an offer. We had secured a month-to-month rental, had put most of our belongings in storage, and were ready to live lean for several months if necessary.

The day after we moved into the rental, and just two weeks after submitting our offer, we received the phone call that our offer had been accepted and approved by the bank. We had some hurdles to overcome with inspections and such, but one by one, things fell into place, and we finally closed escrow on May 21.

Two moves and 200+ boxes later, we are finally settling in. We still have a long ways to go in the decorating field, but it is feeling like home. We have amazing new neighbors, who welcomed us to the neighborhood with a gift certificate to a local restaurant (seriously...how awesome is that? We never even met most of the neighbors in our last house, and we were there for 6 years!). They have 2 sons, and our kids have already made friends.

After just 2 weeks, it already feels like home and we are thrilled with our decision!

Everyone has been asking to see pictures...so here you go!

Front of the house

View from entry into dining room

The kitchen doesn't have much counter space...or cabinet space, but we have a big pantry and laundry room, which makes up for what the kitchen lacks. At some point down the road, I want to level off the bar and make one giant island.

This was the kitchen the morning after the move...

This is the kitchen now!

The kitchen dining area has a great view of the backyard.

The family room adjoins with the kitchen, into a "great" room.

I love being able to watch the morning news while packing lunches!

There is a larger-than-life mural on the wall going up the staircase. I'm still not sure about the nudity and passion displayed here (not to mention the leopard looking on...), but even more unsure what to do to replace it. We'll have to take some time to figure this out...

The view of the entry/living room from the second story balcony.

The high ceilings create some pretty cool acoustics for the piano.

We've got a playroom upstairs, and this is the kids' domain.

It's great having a central place for their toys, video games, movies, etc.

The biggest challenge is not having it turn into a "Disaster Zone"!

Our guest room is downstairs, away from the noise of the rest of the house.

Visitors are welcome!

There are lots of home improvement projects on the "to-do" list right now.

Steve has been busy!

The kids are having a ball with the pool.

I have a feeling we'll be spending a lot of time in the backyard this summer...