What We Have Been Up To Around Here

It is early March. Like every year at this time, I am about to lose my mind. I am the kind of person that needs to be outside everyday. I am also the kind of person who hates the cold. Really, I almost find it painful. So so sooooooo much has happened since this time last year. Part of the reason I have not been as present here is that it is hard to write about my life when a big part of my life has not yet been explained. So here it is. This is what we have been up to around here.

It was almost this time last year that I realized these truths about myself. It was also then that I decided to try to do something about it. A friend of mine was house hunting and sent me a link to look at one of the houses she liked... Little did she know it would send me into an up all night frenzy of searching various real estate sites, looking for a something. I was still unsure of what. All I knew was south.

The months drug on, and my searches became more and more defined. Though I love the idea of farm life, I really don't want to do all the work involved. I want to homeschool and craft and go for walks and bike rides and be able to wake up and decide that it is the perfect day to go to the beach and go. I also want to write. I have a few books in my head and I really want to get them out someday. All of these things were reflected in my search.

By this time, Mama knew of my crazy idea..It did give us something to pass the time in the bitter winter months. She joined me in my daydream and we defined it even further. We wanted to live near each other, on the same property like we did here, or even better... TOGETHER! After all, we do all like each other and we are best friends and it just makes sense for us. Our husbands got on board too. Like I said we all get along quite well. It was decided. When Dad retired in a few years, we would all move south.

It started getting warmer out and what we thought was a daydream started seeming like an actual possibility. When we went on vacation that May, we drove past several properties along the way and scoped out prospects. By the time August rolled around, we had a pretty good idea of what we wanted.. Or more like the exact house we wanted! The only question left was when.

In November, faced with the realization that it really was the perfect house for us and not wanting to miss out, we made an offer... and got the house! We will be using it as a vacation home for the next few years until we move.

November

December

In the mean time, Papa and I are working hard to pay off as much of our half as we can. And since we will all be living together in a few years anyway, we all decided it was best for us to rent out our current home and go ahead and move in with Mama and Dad. Now we can use the rent money to help pay on the house as well.

So we all moved next door and are loving living together. Papa, Bunny, Squirrely and I have a bedroom together (We all slept together already, so that worked out well). We split up the house work and the bills and all is going quite well. As you should all know by now, my mama is a saint. Both her and Dad have been great about their house being overrun by wild savages... I mean my lovely daughters. Everything seems to be coming into a new sense of normal. That is about all. That is what is going on and why I have been a bit quiet around here. We will be taking more trips south now, too. I hope to write more about that. Posts about surviving long car trips with children, tips on packing, and getting the house fixed up that way we want it. It is all very exciting and new.