"We're Movin' On Up"

It's official!  We are moving North....North about 22.5 miles.  Yes, I know one would think moving North would mean way North, all the way to Iowa, but that is not the case.  If you've been following EdelWeiss since last November, that soon-to-be-hope-to-be-house we've been pursuing is finally ours.  We have a closing date of Thursday (6/6) and everything is ready to go.  The property was a short sale, so that is why we have had to wait so long.  It's been QUITE the roller-coaster, being told yes, then no, then yes, then no, then yes, but that's okay, we were perfectly fine in our current house.  We had multiple reasons for wanting to move, but it came down to these top items:

1. Area
2. Safety
3. Amenities
4. Space

Bottom line, the area we live in is not conducive to raising young children.  There aren't a whole lot of young families living out our way, the neighborhoods don't have sidewalks, there are no parks within walking distance, and it's safe, but not real safe. In fact, just last week all the items on our back porch were stolen.  I acknowledge that is petty theft and no one was in any real danger, but it still makes ya nervous.  So, when we started looking for a new place last August, a better, family-friendly area was at the top of our list.  As most of you know, I also desire for our nest to be full, so to make room for however many babes we may invite into our home over the next several years and still have room for our beloved visitors who bring Iowa to us, we needed a larger home.  We looked at a lot of houses.  We looked for months.  We even made offers on three different homes before one was accepted.  Then Brian stumbled on our home, one that was so over our price range that I threatened to stay in the car while he looked.  But, I didn't.  I stepped in the front door, walked the home and it was exactly. what. we. were. looking. for.  It had everything on our bucket list; a kitchen into an open living room, 3 bedrooms up and 1 down, plenty of storage, a huge master bathroom, his and hers closets, jack and jill bathroom for the kids and a grand staircase with a balcony overlooking the living room.  It's in an incredibly nice area (the appraiser called it "up-scale," which made us feel good since we are most certainly not at a point in our lives where we are "up-scale" yet), has multiple pools and playgrounds, walking paths and sidewalks, plus the Elementary & Middle School is in the neighborhood! This is the largest neighborhood I have ever seen!  It's like its own little village.  It is 3 miles behind Magic Kingdom and full of families who work for Disney.  And the icing on the cake was that it has a detached garage with a studio apartment above it.  We can rent that out at fairly decent price, which is why we can afford the home. 

There isn't much to be done, except paint the living room, clean and move some furniture they left in the place, but those things are all in progress!  Here are some "before" photos:

looking in from the front door

looking at the kitchen from the living room

looking upstairs

on the stairs looking down

front door...taken last November!

I spent the day there yesterday, monitoring the painting, carpet cleaning and waited for the water and electricity to be turned on.  Carly and I went to the pool in the afternoon and it was so fun!  We were able to take a short 10 minute walk and there were lots of children there!  One mom who has a two-year-old even invited us to a play group! I haven't even moved in yet and have made friends!  That's SO great!  Everyone was very friendly and Carly was having a blast.  I texted Brian with pure excitement!  What a blessing that God has opened this door for our family!  I don't know how long we will live here, but however long it will be it will be worth it!  Thanks for lifting this up in prayer! We can't wait to have you visit! :)