Bittersweet (with pics)

I didn't realize how long ago I posted that last post about our house. The reason is that I have been waiting for things to finalize before announcing that, yes, we sold our house, and yes, we bought a new one.

The woman who requested the 2nd showing (mentioned in the previous post) put an offer in that night, which we chose to accept.

We've been looking at a house in a sub we call "Oz", and I may have mentioned that in previous posts, but can't recall right now. Long story short, we'd been wanting it, but wouldn't offer on it unless we sold ours. So, after we accepted the offer on our house, we intended to put one in on the one we wanted. We celebrated by going out for ice cream and then driving by the house we were gonna offer on. We crapped our pants when we saw a car in the driveway with a "Realtor" license plate holder on an SUV parked in the driveway, and a second car parked on the street. We knew it was being shown. Needless to say, we didn't sleep well that night, but went forward and put the offer in the next morning. As expected, the people touring the house also put an offer in.

Very long story short, the other offer was better than ours, but not so much that it made it a bad move for us to counter offer. I wasn't going to get into a bidding war in this market, so, we put our best offer in; an offer that still was within our price range and financial comfort zone, yet also, should we have it accepted, was a wise financial investment and "good deal". Anything higher, and we'd be losing the value of the deal, and it wouldn't be a smart business/economic decision for us. We made our final offer, and through our realtor and his reputation with his peers (the seller's agent), our offer was accepted and we got the house.

We closed on both homes on friday 8/29/08. Both parties are now having occupancy, and we'll be leaving our current house on 9/22/08 to move into the new one.

It's exciting and scary. Any time you step onto a new level of life experience, it's emotional. We feel bittersweet about it. Excited about the new house, cuz it's the one we wanted, and sad to say goodbye to the place we started our family in.

Tyler crawled, walked and did his first somersault in this house. Those are moments we'll never forget. But, they are memories, and memories stay with you, no matter where you live. So, we'll be leaving behind the physical place, but the memories will come with us.

And as the cliche goes, we can start new ones in our new home. We expect the transition to be tough on Tyler. He's very set in his ways already...lol. But we know that in the end, he'll not even remember this first house he lived in, and that his future memories will be born in our new one.

And to be able to provide him a home like this to create those memories, is something we are so proud to be able to do. He'll grow up in a great neighborhood filled with other kids his age, in a house big enough for him to have friends over and for us to have birthday parties for him in. And even though it's a gas fireplace, Santa will be coming down the chimney to bring him presents this Christmas. We also have friends in the sub: Co workers of Kelly, Tyler's favorite daycare teacher (who's offered to go on walks with Tyler in the sub), and friends of mine from back in Rochester.

Besides our personal excitement for the house, for us, it just makes me feel good that we can provide for Tyler in it.

When I look at the world today, it's with a very strange perspective. It's a vision of time counting down to the end of one moment, and the beginning of another. A surreal sight to see, and an emotional one to feel. But, as I look back to our lives in this house, I am comforted by the memories we have, that will be moving with us on September 22nd. Memories that will only add to the excitement of what's to come.

Here's some pics of the new house. It's a ten minute walk from our current house, and a 2 minute drive. These pics are from the listing, and show the current owner's decor and all white rooms. (And her style was not as modern.) We're excited to paint and get some color into the house.

I'll have to do some before/after shots....but for now, to satisfy any curiosity:









Kitchen:






Family room:




Master bedroom:



Master bath: (We'll be removing the carpet and putting tile in)