Holy Hanna, it's been awhile. As promised to Maria last weekend, I will happily update my blog. Honestly, it's been so crazy I haven't even had time to think about anything but staying awake. So...I'll give you the rundown :)
First, and foremost, we're buying a house!! Finally, I know. And it's finally for sure. Honestly, this whole process has reinforced my faith in things happening for a reason. I kept telling Mike as our bids on houses would get rejected over and over again that I felt like I was in a dysfunctional relationship and I couldn't stand one more breakup! Fortunately, we stumbled onto a house and it was love at first sight. That happened on Tuesday of last week, we made an offer on Wednesday, had a gut-wrenching evening and morning to follow, and heard we were becoming home-owners on Thursday afternoon! It was such an amazing feeling, and almost a week later, Mike and I still get big grins on our faces and act like little children on Christmas morning at the thought of this being OUR house. So, here's a few pictures from the listing and I'll give details below.
Obviously, this is the front of the house. To be honest, if it weren't for this picture, I wouldn't have a clue what the front of the house looks like. It has a circle driveway that starts before the house, completely wraps around the back, and comes out on the other side of the house. We've driven by the house twice, but otherwise, no clue what it looks like from the road. I'm pathetic. :)
This is the back of the house. The door to the left is the walk-out basement door, and the door to the right is to the mudroom area...it's not really a mudroom so much as a hallway, but that's what I'm calling it. You can see the little deck off to the right. Mike and I plan to expand that so we can have big dinners outside - we're deck people for sure and can't wait to have people over for some sort of charred animal. You can also see the old-fashioned well pump in the bottom right corner of the picture - it works! We have rural water, but the well actually pumps water. Maybe that's how I'll build up those biceps. Ha.
The BARN. Mike's pride and joy. It really is an awesome barn, with electrical ran to it, plenty of room for storage, animals, whatever. And it's red like I've always wanted (and made Mike promise to paint whatever barn we ended up with - looks like he got out of that one!) There's also another building that will be great for his bucket calves, a place for my chicken coop, another building that will probably just be storage, the garage, a potting shed, and the machine shed, which is huge and will probably turn into our party barn.
And last, but certainly not least is MY pride and joy - the kitchen!! The first picture is a view from the dining room of the whole kitchen. The cabinets are original and in amazing shape. I wish I had a close-up picture of the hardware. I'm completely in love with it. I promise to update so you can see what I'm raving about cabinet hardware. New countertops, my farmhouse sink!, the bar for casual eating, a butcher block island, great light fixtures...I can't say enough great things. BUT - the best is in the picture to the right - you can see it toward the back of the picture on the left...it's my PANTRY. I have walk-in pantry. Can you believe it?? There is so much storage back there, not to mention great counters and electrical - I could have a whole baking center back there! I'm just excited beyond words to have the whole set-up, and I don't have to change a thing! I can just move in and start using...that's such a great feeling.
More boring details about the house - it's in Unadilla, NE, which is in the middle of nowhere and has very few people - maybe population 100 in town and farms surrounding. (For those of you in the area, it's off of Highway 2, which runs on the south side of Lincoln, and is about 20 miles east of Lincoln. It's about 15 minutes from Elmwood where we are now.) It's 10 acres of land, about 7 of pasture for Mike's calves. There are fruit trees next to the pasture and plenty of room for my eventual garden next spring. The house is 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms. It's also got plenty of built-in storage and huge closets. There is the living room, formal dining room, master bedroom, kitchen and bathroom on the first floor, two bedrooms and a HUGE hallway on the second floor (where Mike's office will eventually be built), and the basement is almost completely finished with the 2nd bathroom, laundry room, built-in bar area, and an open room that will eventually be my studio. I can't believe I get my own studio!!
We are planning to close on September 17 which is like...3 weeks from today! I can't believe it. Big big big party at our place on October 25 - sort of a housewarming/Halloween costume party combo :)
The other big news is the new addition to our family - our adorable pug Molly.
Here she is! Full name: Molly Monster Vogt. The middle name says it all - she is pure evil most of the time. We love her to pieces but oh my gosh, can she get on our last nerve. She's a little over 3 months now and stubborn as all get out. She is my baby though, so she loves all things pink and shoes :) I can't wait to get her on the farm so she can run some of that energy out - barking at calves and chasing chickens.
That's all the updates I have right now so I can get back to work, but I promise more pictures when I have them!!
