A House of Our Own

From July 2013 to July 2014 we moved four times. It was pretty miserable and not an experience I'm anxious to repeat anytime soon. We've moved a lot in our 6 years of marriage, but even this was excessive. We left Utah on the last day of July 2013 and drove across the country to live (we thought) briefly with my sister in Newport News, Virginia, putting the bulk of our belongings in a storage unit nearby. Our 1-2 month stay, however, turned into 7 months. During that time, my sister bought a new house and so we all moved yet again, albeit just across town.

In February 2014, David got a job offer in Atlanta with an immediate start date. With no funds for the move and no time to find a suitable place, we moved in the basement of David's sister's house. Again, we expected a short 1-2 month stay but that stretched out to 5. Although we were extraordinarily grateful to both our families for helping us during this time, we desperately wanted our own space again. Through months of searching, we could not find a place in the area we wanted at the price we could afford. I was starting to give up all hope of finding a place and had absolutely no expectation of finding something with all the items on our wish list.

Since we didn't think we could afford a single family home, we had mostly been looking at apartments and town homes. We found one apartment we kinda sorta maybe liked and decided to check out the new ward that we would attend should we chose to live there. That Sunday, we attended the Paper Mill Ward and it was a completely opposite experience from what we had experienced in the ward we were currently attending with David's sister. We were greeted and welcomed and people actually talked to us. When David mentioned that we were looking for a place to live, several people came forward with suggestions and options.

One man told David that he and his family were about to move and their 3 bedroom 1.5 bath house would soon be available. The rent was shockingly low but we didn't like the neighborhood where the house was located.  After looking at a few more disappointing options, David wanted to contact the man about the house but he had lost his contact information. Luckily we remembered the address of the house so we just showed up one day and the couple was gracious enough to welcome us in and show us around the house.

The house was built in 1960 and I think many parts of it (the kitchen particularly) have never been updated. But it was spacious, it was clean and it had a huge backyard. And we couldn't pass up the rent. So we called the owner of the home and asked if we could rent it when the current occupants moved. Our move in date was set for Fourth of July weekend.

We've been in the house for four months now. There's definitely a lot we'd change or update about the house but we can't complain too much since we got the space we wanted at the price we needed. We feel really grateful to have found this place. So here's a little tour of our new home.

 You enter through the front door into the living room. It's a weird configuration of a room, but pretty spacious and the floors are all the original hardwood.

One corner of the room is our family room area which is decorated with all our Asian artifacts. The window looks out onto the carport which has since been closed off and is now the playroom.

 The other side of living room has our bookshelves, piano, my beautiful Korean chest, and a picture wall, which I love.

The room was so awkward it took us forever to figure out where to put all of our furniture. David also bought that keyboard before we got married but didn't have a stand for it so we've never set it up to use on a regular basis. We finally bought a stand for it so we can use it.

 

The door from the living room takes you to the kitchen/dining area. It's a large space but not well used. Plus, it still has all it's original floor to ceiling wood paneling. Pretty awesome. Except not. It's a pain to clean and makes the room really dark. Can you even see our table and chairs in the corner? It totally blends in.

 

 Despite the awkward configuration and age, there's lots of counter space and the stove is gas. I much, much prefer cooking on a gas stove.

 

Off the kitchen is the entrance to the playroom which is a really fun space for the girls.

 Through the center door is the laundry room and extra storage space. We were able to buy a used washer and dryer for real cheap that have been really great.

 The girl's room is probably my favorite room in the house. We went all out in decorating it and it is a pink profusion. Zara picked out her comforter and the whole room was decorated from it. Most of their furniture is new too.

 

We got rid of Zara's toddler bed when we left Virginia because it was falling apart so we bought her a new twin bed. We also bought Adelaide a new crib because we'd gotten rid of our old one when we left Utah. We bought a new dresser and rug from Ikea. 

 The other side has the changing table (the only piece of furniture we've had since Korea when Zara was born) and a cute little cube for extra storage and books.
 

 Our bedroom is small and just barely has enough room for our bed and dresser. I do love our wall of accomplishment with all 4 of our degrees. (BA and MA for me and BS and MBA for David.)

There's a toilet and sink in the bathroom attached to the master and there's a small bathroom with a shower/tub down the hall. We have a third bedroom but it's currently being used as office space and the land where boxes go to die so it's not fit for photographing.

We're so happy to have our own space again.