Well! It has been one week since we moved from This Old House to This New House. And I must say, happy one week anniversary to us!
It has been a whirlwind of activity ever since we moved. Moving day was nutty, as I’m sure you can imagine. And if you can’t, here’s how it went: we had five guys, two trucks, and it took 10 hours to load and unload all of our things. And even so, we are still sifting through boxes and bags, trying to put them in the right location. Pure insanity. I’m glad we got all the technical stuff done and dusted before we moved in, setting up bills, checking wiring and of course home insurance! Can’t forget to do that, no way. My friend who recently moved to Texas said that Simply insurance offers homeowners insurance in texas, I should have looked them up before deciding on the one we currently have as she said they deal with other states too and they’ve been great with her, maybe if we move again… Wow thinking too far ahead again, whoops!
Our first night here was terrible. Not for any reason except that we were both so completely worn down and overtired that neither of us slept well. The second night was a huge improvement over the first. I haven’t slept that well in… I don’t even remember when, to be honest. Then we spent the weekend organizing, cleaning, installing bath hardware, changing lightbulbs, and attempting to unpack. It also gave us a chance to take care of some typical homeowner dealings like selecting an energy provider. We had been looking at Amigo Energy plans and comparing them against alternative plans to find out who has the most competitive rates.
There’s still so much left to do. And I’m pretty overwhelmed. But I’m so happy we made the decision to move and I’m grateful we came to see this house. We saw some doozies, that’s for sure. We’ve been looking far and wide for the ideal home; we even considered Texas at one point as we’d visited the Deer Park Realtor website numerous times. As lovely as they were, they were a little far from our relatives for us but people looking specifically in Texas are sure to find some great properties. But when we saw this one, we knew. It was meant to be! Alright, there might have been some unsightly blockages we spotted in the guttering, but it’s not something a service like Clean Pro Gutter Cleaning Salem couldn’t put right.
Over the last few days we’ve met several of our neighbors. There are two other kindergarteners within a five house radius. And more dogs than I can keep track of. Every morning, two of them come over to see if our dog can come out and play. It is both the cutest and most annoying thing ever. They come stand by our front door, wagging their crazy tails, waiting to see if I’ll let Daisy come out to play with them. And when I don’t, Daisy whines and whines, and they prance around in circles outside, waiting for me to cave. And when I do let her out, they run and race all over the neighborhood.
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| “Can Daisy come play? Pretty please?” |
I’ve run three times here now. I’m still getting used to it. There aren’t sidewalks here to keep me safe from cars, so I’m uber cautious and run as far onto the shoulder as humanly possible without stumbling into the weeds. But when I’m safely on the side streets, I can run in the middle of the road at my leisure. I’m on high alert for dogs and deer, though, until I become more acclimated and know what to expect.
It is gloriously quiet and serene in our new digs. There are trees everywhere. It literally feels like we live in the woods. Quite the difference from our old ‘hood. It was tree lined and beautiful, but my husband and I both never realized just how “city” it was until we moved here. So many cars, so many sirens. So many people everywhere. Here? It’s quiet 99.99% of the time. The only people driving on our road are the ones who live here, or the school bus who transports the children who live here. We can sleep with our windows open at night and enjoy the sounds of nature. There weren’t any crickets where we lived before. Now there are so many it’s almost deafening.
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| View while I was rolling the other night. So peaceful! |
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| Snack-out. Like a camp out. But just for snack time. 🙂 |
The other vastly different thing about this neighborhood compared to our old one is just how darn friendly our neighbors are. You would have thought it would be the opposite. Older homes, close together, sidewalks. You’d think I’d be borrowing an egg and a cup of sugar from my next door neighbor in the old house. But we knew four of our neighbors. And only talked to two of them. And it was never a “welcome to the neighborhood” kind of an introduction. People just didn’t do that there. Here, on the other hand — we move in and three days later we’ve met five of our neighbors, their kids, and their dogs. And they’re all really, super nice. It’s just mind blowing how much more friendly people are here.
As it turns out, I’m also neighbors with someone I went to high school with. She graduated a year behind me, and now our kids are in the same class in kindergarten together. What are the odds, people?! Mind blown.
I feel much more at peace here than I did in our old house. It’s calming. It’s relaxing. It feels like a deep meditative yoga session every time I walk through the front door. I’m looking forward to many years of yoga and running here.
Now to unpack those boxes over there…
xo
Tell me… have you ever drastically changed your living situation? What changed and how did it make you feel?
