New House Tour

Now that we are now a bit more settled in, I have time to sit down and share a few pictures of our new home!  It has so much potential and mostly needs some love, a few upgrades, and a lot of paint.  We love it and can't wait to make it feel like OURS.

When you walk in the front door and look to the left, you see the dining room:

To the right is the sitting room.  We aren't quite sure what to do with it.  Mike wants it to be his office but I'm not sure how I feel about the office being the first thing you see when you walk in the door.

 That room flows into our family room.  Loving the big bay window that looks into our screened in porch.

 Off of the family room, you find our BLUE (well, no longer blue) kitchen.  I mean, it. was. blue!

 Check out our walk-in pantry.  Room for food and kitchen appliances.  LOVE!

 Upstairs you will find our master bedroom (it is on the "to paint" list).

 Our master bathroom.  Super excited about our double sink, counter space, and bathtub!

I love our walk-in closet so much.  It really is so exciting to have room for all of my clothes and shoes.  I even share it with Mike!

Down the hall is Ethan's room.  Yup...that's right.  Don't worry, it was the first room we painted.

 Ethan's bathroom:

 Back downstairs and off the family room is our screened in porch that leads outside to our HUGE, fenced backyard.  There is also a huge garden full of fruits and vegetables.  I have a lot to learn before spring comes!

Basement with lots of storage:

 My future workout room:

Not shown: main level bathroom (also blue), 2 empty bedrooms upstairs, empty bedroom and bathroom in the basement. 

SOOOOOO...that's it.  We have already done some work and will be posting some progress pictures soon.  We truly feel blessed to be in a home where we can stretch out and grow as a family.  Can't wait for all of the memories that are to come.  So happy to be home.

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Sold

Our first home holds so many memories.  The home we moved in together after we were married.  The home where we learned to be husband and wife.  The home where we welcomed Mia. The home that held parties, whiskey fires, showers, and happy hours.  The home where we bought Ethan home from the hospital.  The home where we learned to be parents.  The home that held us through many late nights.  So many memories are wrapped in these walls and I can't help but get emotional to think about moving. 

After our first open house last Sunday, we got an offer. After going back and forth a couple of times, we accepted the buyers contract and that was it. Of course, we have inspections and appraisals so the deal isn't completely finalized but it is getting close. We still have other agents and prospective buyers coming in just in case. And now, we need to find somewhere to live! We have mixed emotions about leaving and moving on.  We know we will make new memories in our new house, but for now, we're enjoying this last month in a home that is so very special to us.

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Goodbye July, Goodbye Summer

I feel like I just wrote this post and I was in the middle of summer break.  But in one week from today, I will be officially back to work.  This summer blew by so fast and I can honestly say, that it was the best summer I've ever had.  Spending time with my son has been absolutely incredible and I going back to work is going to be extremely hard.  Last year, I was ready to go back to work and get back to my "normal" life.  But now, I'm not so sure that working is going to feel "normal" for me anymore.  I've already cried a couple of times about thinking about Ethan at the babysitter's.  Here's to hoping the anticipation of going back to work is worse than the real thing.
We have totally been digging the splash pads this summer.  Ethan wasn't so sure about them the first couple of times but now he loves running through the fountains.  (St. Louis readers, we like the ones at Tillis Park and Millenium Park.)  Ethan was so funny yesterday running around the house with his bath towel on his head.  SUPER-ETHAN!  When I took out the Bumbo to lend to a friend, Ethan wanted to try it out.  Hilarious watching him squeeze himself in and out :)

This morning, when I pulled in from work, a POD was in our driveway.  In order to list our house, we have a lot of cleaning to do.  Our basement is FULL of "stuff".  Boxes of toys and clothes, the Christmas tree, wrapping paper, craft items, bedding and pillows, wedding presents, well...anything you can imagine.  It's insane.  Our agent says that everything needs to disappear so into the POD it will go.  DID I MENTION THAT WE ARE GOING TO MOVE?!?

We aren't moving yet.  We are just starting to look and are hoping to list our house after Labor Day.  One more month to do a lot of little fix-up projects around the house and pack up this POD.  We are definitely staying in St. Louis and we will be moving closer to our parents and my work.  The driving back and forth is crazy for me and Ethan and I spend so much time in the car.  We LOVE LOVE LOVE living in the area we are currently in but unfortunately, won't be able to afford a house the size that we want. 

Finally (to end this totally random post), today was the first day of half marathon training.  It is my 3rd attempt at training and 3rd time's the charm, right?!  I've been running on and off for about 3 years now and I know there is nothing that can get in my way of running this thing in October.  My sister and I are going to train and race together and I'm excited to do this with her.  So here we go!

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