The State of New Home Owner-dom

And.... we're in. Moved in on July 28th, if my foggy memory serves correctly. What a time. I think I have blocked out most of the ugly parts, leaving just a vague feeling of exhaustion and goose-bumpiness when I think back on the last two weeks of July. I remember crying my head off the first night at the house when all the boxes, tools, and appliances stacked in our bedroom and living room threatened to eat me alive. Luckily, Josh came to my rescue and cleared out our bedroom so there was some semblance of normal living in which to sleep. Ahh, those pregnancy hormones'll always get you.

Since that unpleasant 'first night,' things have gradually gone uphill. Not one day has past since that some project has not been completed. I have Dan and Zaz to thank for that. Eliza was on perpetual Greta-duty, to the point that Greta thought Eliza was some unpaid servant of hers. Daniel and I knocked out small and large projects together (do not say "that's what she said," Daniel! Thanks to him, this summer has been one long, ongoing, "that's what she said" joke). Our latest and last was to landscape the front yard and finish the new bathroom. Seriously, that boy has learned some major house building skills. Don't know what we would have done had the two not come out this summer. Thank God for the gift of family.

Now the kids have gone home and all of a sudden, life seems to be settling down. The house is far from finished, but it is livable... very livable. And in spite of it's unfinished-ness, I'm beginning to detect what I call "beauty spots"... areas in a room that make me smile, sooth my nerves, bring a sense of peace and rightness to my soul. It might be as simple as a plant in the corner of a room, near a window, where the sun strikes it just so. Or it could be the serene shade of green I've painted our bedroom, which remains lovely no matter what the lighting or time of day. Sometimes, it is simply a room put in order or a clean floor. But once beauty spots start appearing, my house becomes my home. Today we uncovered a few more beauty spots when we cleaned out the future Greta room/current guest room. That room had been used to stash clutter, but in honor of Josh's friend coming to visit tonight, we scrubbed all the paint off the floor, swept up the plaster debris in between the walls, hung a curtain over the closet, put up a few pictures, stuck a plant by the window, made the bed, and there you go! A snug, cozy, happy room with yellow walls, blue curtains and a white rocking chair stuck strategically in the corner, where you fall asleep smelling pinon pines and watching the pine branches dance through the shadows of the filmy curtain. I'd stay.

So the long and the short of it is that yes, I like my new house. In fact, I may go so far as to say I love it. Of course there is lots to be done, but maybe it's also the unfinishedness of the house that I love as well. Working on it, caring for it, making it more beautiful and homey appeals to something in me...which is why I've always concluded that "homemaker" was my vocation. Finally, I have a home of my own to "make"... quite literally, too! Good lord, to this day, I cannot look at the walls in my bedroom without thinking of puttying and sanding said walls. I guess it will be that way for awhile.

El husbandito is calling me to see what he's done in the basement, so I will leave you to your imaginings about what this dream house actually looks like. Stay tuned next time or some time after that for pictures.