Stressful

We are back at home after a crazy week away.

John and I had reviewed MLS for weeks and months leading up to our house-hunting trip so we figured that we had a pretty good idea of which house we would buy.

Until we drove past it and saw all of the exterior flaws that were not evident through pictures.

Let me just tell you that MLS can make a scary house look awesome.

However, pictures do not show the smell of cat pee throughout a house.

Or the PILES of dog poop in the backyard.

Or the fact that a house is really a mobile home placed onto a foundation.

Or the smell of cigarette smoke.

Or the serious work that would need to be done on a house.

Yikes.

We were so worried that we wouldn't find anything.

In fact it actually became a process of elimination.  Which house do we Dislike The Least?

Sad, but true.

However I think we will be pleased with the home we chose.  It has a new kitchen, new flooring, new windows.  The one big downside is that it only has 2 bedrooms on the main floor.  There are 2 more rooms in the basement, however I'm just not confident that either of our girls are ready for that adjustment, especially with the stress of moving and switching schools already.

So we left the decision up to them and they have chosen to share a room.  Which of course means that they need a bunkbed.

We also have many other purchases that are necessary:
New fridge (as our existing one is old and probably won't come out of the kitchen now anyways)
Dishwasher (portable, since the redone kitchen does not have room for a built-in one)
Water softener (in small town Sask this is a necessity!)
Book shelves (goodbye built-in wall units...sniff..sniff)
Area rugs (no carpet on the main floor and I am always cold)
Loveseat or Couch for main floor living room
Computer Desk, ours was free many years ago and it is ugly

Oh yeah, and we also said that THIS time we would buy a house with a garage.  We have said it before, but never ending up purchasing one that came with.  So of course, this house does not have one either.

We are looking into the possibility of putting up our own, but the lot is small and it also is beside an alleyway.  It may not work, but we will check it out anyways.

So those costs are adding up VERY quickly!

It was a stressful trip.  The only saving grace was meeting John's new co-workers who all seem really nice.  Plus, we stayed an hour away at a wonderful hotel where we could soak in the warm water every evening to unwind.

The drive everyday was beautiful!  I am looking forward to living in another section of the province that I am not familiar with.  We saw a lot of wildlife which is something that I never tire of.

So in about 6 weeks time, we will be moving.

The reality of it hasn't quite hit me yet.