Long time no bloggy!

Geez, I didn't realize that it'd been MONTHS since I last posted!  Lots has happened and I've been kinda stressed, I suppose!  Here's the Cliff's notes:  we decided we were kind of tired of historic district living - the houses are so close together it's claustrophobic!  So we called a realtor who used to live in our neighborhood and is a big lover of historic districts/urban living/old houses, so we knew if anyone could sell the house she could.  She helped us find a new place and we finally closed and moved in - it was a heck of a process, but apparently with all the new regulations and whatnot, it's just that way now.      Our main thing was that we wanted a few acres (and originally we wanted to not even see any neighbors, but that ended up not being so easy to find!) and we ended up choosing a 1961 brick ranch which was the furthest from what either of us thought we'd ever end up with!  We decided that the non-stop maintenance on a 100+ year old house was just not what we felt like dealing with.  This house is so sturdy and accessible and it'll be much less work!  It's nothing special to look at, but it sits on 5 acres!  It's a cute house (quite brown at the moment - but eventually we'll add some color by painting the shutters.)  The realtor did an amazing job and got the sellers to install a new roof and a new electrical service/breaker box.  I wanted the roof to be darker so it'd be less of a one-tone brown blob, but the seller was still sort of emotionally attached and didn't like my idea of charcoal grey shingles despite the fact that he was selling the place!  in the end I decided it was a new roof and not that big of a deal!

Here's a shot of the backyard - yes, that's ours as far as the eye can see!  and that shed out there is really big - enough for more than 3 cars (not that we're keeping cars there- it's just for size reference!)  One bay will be for my gardening stuff, pots, etc., and another will be for lawn care stuff, and other assorted junk, I'm sure!

My kitchen is extremely butterscotchy.  it's somethin'.  It was done in 1983, but decade styles don't change much in 3 years, so it's actually pretty 70's looking.  Check out the intercom under the cabinet there - there are lots of cool mid century touches like that!

We decided to not make a bunch of changes right off the bat (hence the butterscotchy plaid kitchen!) - we need to put our energy into getting the old house cleared out, cleaned up, and sold!  And man, that is no easy task!  There's so much stuff there even after the movers did the hard work - so much stuff was something i thought I'd just easily throw in the back of the truck, but it's taking forever!  you also don't realize how much dust is under things like beds until you move them!  yikes!  and how many imperfections are hidden behind furniture and really stand out when there's nothing there.  I thought I was stressed out before - now it really starts!  BUT - we really love our new place!  More later!