3 Years Ago

Three years ago we bought our first home! We only looked at one house and we were sold. We saw it and immediately fell in love with the floor plan. Another couple came to look at the house while we were browsing upstairs with another real estate agent. That couple only walked into the living room, then immediately walked out... we were baffled for a moment. Then we realized they saw the big hole in the dining room wall from a burst pipe with apparent water damage. They had a baby in tow and we think they had something more pristine in mind for their first home. HA, they didn't have the vision we had!

We saw through what 20 years of wear can do to a house... big ugly bushes, the obvious smell of smoke, the before mentioned hole in the wall, the dated and stained carpeting, icky laminate 80's kitchen, etc. We were crafty... we offered WAY below the asking price and got a screaming deal on the house. With that equity we were able to basically demo the whole house and redo all the walls, floors, etc. We didn't really move in like most folks do. We moved into one room and moved the rest of our stuff into the garage. We pulled the carpet up in that room (because it was that nasty stinky gross), then layed a tarp down, then set up our bed and the tv. We lived out of laundry baskets and basically lived in a disaster area for the whole summer. We hustled to get the upstairs repainted and recarpeted so we could "move in" upstairs then get started on the downstairs. Long story short, we just barely finished all our projects in time to welcome Liam into our home (a now safe zone).

I have Ian to thank for all the work accomplished. He taught himself how to do each thing that needed redone. Ian learned wiring, tiling, plumbing, miter sawing, wood laminate flooring, etc. I learned how to... um... supervise and respond to his yelling in the crawl space (requesting tools and other help). I did learn how to use the drill I guess. Ian even picked out the paint for each of the rooms. I gotta say he's got great taste. He says he has a queer eye. It's been fun decorating and designing the house with him. He is much more bold than I am with color.

Anyway, it's so nice having our own place to do what we please. I remember when we first moved in. I turned up the TV as loud as I could and just felt so liberated! No more landlords or shared walls! A yard to mow, a garden to grow, a family to raise! I love our home!