Snow Day! Oh, and we bought a house...

The weather began shifting Wednesday afternoon and schools were let out early in anticipation of freezing rain, snow, and dropping temperatures.  Yay!  3 inches or so of snow and icy roads meant snow days Thursday and Friday.  Phil was home (though he worked late Wednesday night) and we could have gotten a lot done including school with our own children which of course we didn't.  Instead the little ones were running outside, sledding down our road, making snowmen, throwing snow, and having a wonderful time with the neighbor children.  

Sawyer just couldn't resist making a quick snowman before bed Wednesday night when it was snowing steadily.  This is on the front porch LOL.

Thursday, we took a drive to see the winter wonderland where we live.

I love this tree, holding on to its yellow leaves.

...Out Cascade Highway through farm country (all these pictures are just "point and shoot" out the window of a moving vehicle)...

Down Sherman road....where, if all goes according to plan, we will be living!!!  WHAT?  Yes, we found our new home.  Quite random, quite by chance, quite insanely quick...still trying to wrap our minds around it.  We have a lot of things that need to fall into place and I can't quite believe this is really going to happen.  We have an accepted offer and are moving forward with plans.

Our field...

Down the right is our shared driveway.  The barn and house that you see is actually the neighbor's house.  Our house is right behind those trees.

More field and the view we would see looking left.

The windows of the house look out over that tree line...in fact, over several rolling hills and tree lines.

Farm country neighborhood...

...And back down Cascade Highway to Silverton.

So...details details!!

We had an opportunity (thanks to my parents) to start looking for a place that would fit our family a little better.  We have maximized space and usage of our little .2 acre and 1150 square foot house here in Silverton.  We never really thought this would be a possibility, but we someday hoped for a little plot of land and a little more space in a house maybe closer to retirement.

With this opportunity, we could afford a fixer upper..nothing fancy, nothing huge, and nothing move in ready...perhaps a foreclosure, or a house that needed a renovation, maybe a mobile home if the property was right.  We started perusing the housing market just to see what was out there.  Truthfully, there was not much in the area that we wanted..I was hoping for something along the corridor between Silverton and Stayton nestled into farm country but still convenient to town, church, Phil's job, etc..  There was one house that was within our budget.  Phil decided on a whim to check it out.  We weren't thinking of buying.  We figured it would be months before we could even get our house on the market and prepare ourselves for moving and then we would start house shopping.  Phil called me on the way home from checking out this place (I didn't go...I did not want to check out places, fall in love with something, and then be sorely disappointed).  He said, "It is a disaster...I am putting in an offer."  GULP!  Phil doesn't generally see potential through mess and the steps that it would take to get from Point A to Point B.  But he saw great potential.  He saw my dream property.  He knows that I love the sky, that I love the wide open space of farm country, that I love rolling hills and perfectly placed trees dotting the landscape.  He knew his children would benefit from wide open space and room to run and play.  He knew that with diligence and hard work, this could be our home.

I still wasn't convinced.  To be fair, I hadn't seen the place, things were moving so fast, and I was afraid that it wouldn't work out.  There were too many moving pieces on the board.  What if we can't sell our house?  What if finances don't work out?  Besides, what if I don't have the stamina to homeschool (especially tackling dyslexia) and moving and fixing up the new place (and it needs fixing).  What if the stress of it all is too much for me.  What if I can't let go of this place where we have lived for 13 years and raised our children and been part of a small town community.  I made a list of questions and pros and cons to hash things over in my mind and gave them to Phil.  I finally just told him something to the effect of, "You decide...if you feel this is the direction that the Lord is leading our family, then let's proceed forward."  (No pressure!)

We are proceeding forward.  We have hashed out house plans.  Phil has stayed up late pricing things out, making contacts for inspections, lining up workers, making back up plans.  He has been in constant contact with the relator.  We have talked and talked and tried our best to be realistic, frugal, prayerful, and hopeful.

I did finally get an opportunity to see the house for myself (and I forgot my camera!!!).  Saturday, we met the realtor with an entourage (my parents, my brother and Tina and cousins, Mort and his girlfriend, and Tracy) on Saturday.  We walked through the house and the property and indeed, the potential is amazing!  The property is truly a dream property.  I didn't get a chance to really take it all in.  I had 5 excited children that I was trying to keep track of and trying to keep quiet (since the owners were still living there) so I really just got a quick view of the layout.  It was a very overwhelming situation actually, I wanted to look carefully at every room and get a vision for plans and strategies to make this work but there was no way I could think and take my time to look things over with the chaos.  I loved it outside watching the children run through the orchard and down to the bottom of the field.  So much space!  And blissfully, the blanket of snow covered much of what needs to be cleaned up and softened everything and I could imagine a beautiful garden and newly planted trees.  

So the house and property itself....The house is 1920 square feet on 14 acres.  The property is mostly flat fields with a drainage area at the bottom near a creek and a tall tree block near the house.  It is mostly fenced in (was once a llama farm).  There is a metal barn and a couple of outbuildings.  There are a few blueberry bushes, grape vines, and an orchard with apples, pears, and plums.  

The house is actually a bit odd LOL.  It is rectangular and you enter mainly through the garage.  There is a large covered area, the garage space, and then two almost separate living spaces.  The house really feels like 1 1/2 stories because the basement level is half sunken into the ground so the windows are rather high and come out at ground level.  The basement has a living room, laundry room, bathroom, and master bedroom.  Upstairs, there is a kitchen and this large (oversized) dining area and a hallway with 3 tiny bedrooms and a bathroom.

The house needs updated windows, a new roof, new siding and the porch needs to be fixed or taken down.  That will be the first big step and we will start working on that as soon as we give the owners the down payment (we are paying a large cash sum and they are carrying the loan for 6 months until we can fix it up enough to refinance).  We figured that we would reconfigure the house by making 3 bedrooms downstairs and knocking out the walls upstairs so the dining and living room is one long joined room.  We would make a long narrow room at the end for the school room.  We would upgrade only what was necessary (even keeping the kitchen the same except for new appliances and a new sink).  We would carpet the school room and the bedrooms and then some sort of wood flooring (we are thinking cork).  Everything would have fresh paint so it would feel new and clean.  

My short term concerns are selling our house which we will need to do asap and then living in a construction zone.  Phil will have to work evenings and weekends non stop because we have a deadline to make for refinancing.  It will be very hectic and very busy for the next 5-6 months.  

My long term concerns are keeping up with 14 acres!