Holy Toledo

Kurt asked me recently, "What's next?"  Wellllllll... we bought another house!

our next humble abode

Crazy, right?!  I know.  It has absolutely no curb appeal and even this picture makes it look better than it looks in person.  But it has soooooo much potential.  And what better people to see that potential through than us??  John found this gem back in November.  We took a walk-through before Thanksgiving and left thinking, "Wow -- that's a lot of work."  We decided to put it on hold until after the holidays and come spring, if it was still on the market, we would take another look.  Then we went back and forth on what our "plans" are -- what our next direction should be.  After much deliberation and weighing several options, we decided what was best for our family was to purchase another house that we would move in to after renovating it and sell our current house (tear...and more tears...).  And big picture, this was the best time to do it.  John kept coming back to this house.  We walked back through again and ran a bunch of numbers and decided to go for it!  It is going to be a busy (and that's an understatement) next 6 months.  We have a few more projects to finish on our Greenbriar house before it is ready to be on the market and we close on the Outer Park house on March 30 (approximately).  John thinks he can do it in 2 months, but his goal is 4 months.  My expectations are for 6 months.  John has so much passion and enthusiasm for this upcoming project.  He has been doing all kinds of research on different flooring, cabinets, etc and his excitement and attitude about it is infectious.  I love seeing him so enthralled and invested in it.  Passionate is really the best word to describe it.  He really loves this kind of work and it shows through everything he does.  He is such a go-getter, has so many great ideas, sees so much potential, and I'm so happy we are able to do this together.  I have nothing but faith in him, and us, to make it great.

I say "him" because things are going to be a little different this time around.  I won't be able to be as much help, for obvious reasons.  And he plans on doing a lot of the work during his days off.  This is going to be very much like John getting a second job.  I asked that he still be home on the evenings that he isn't gone all night at work and to spend at least one day a week at home or hanging with me and Rudy.  He was more that willing to agree to that!  Which is great because I'm not willing to give up my husband completely!  LeeAnn is going to watch Rudy an extra day or two so John can work on the house on the days I'm at work (which is so amazing and selfless of her!!!  Can't thank her enough for that!!).  And Gran and Grandpa Ballweg will help out more on the weekends so I can do some work on the house, too (more thanks!!...although Dad may be busy at the house, too -- we have a good amount of tree work for him :)  I'm sure he's thrilled about that).  I am too controlling to have no presence in the new house!  Someone needs to crack the whip and keep things progressing! :)  I am going to be just as involved in all the decision-making, just not able to put in as much work.  It is going to be a challenging time, but I am so thrilled about it and excited for the end product!  

I'm trying not to think about the fact that we could be moving out of Greenbriar in 6 months (assuming we can sell it!).  I am very excited for this new challenge, risk, move, etc but leaving Greenbriar is going to be really hard for me.  I have so much pride in this house and I am emotionally attached to it.  John said, "Home is where our hearts are" ...but I put a lot of my heart AND soul into this house.  I didn't think we would be here forever, but I didn't think we wouldn't be either...I honestly didn't really think about it.  As we have been going through the negotiations and thought process of this house, I was also feeling really guilty.  We had so much help with this house from our families and friends and now we are going to just up and sell it???  I didn't want to upset anyone with our decision.  But our parents were nothing but comforting and understand that this is a great opportunity for our family and they are more than willing to help again -- we are so blessed.  The ultimate goal, after all, is to make extra money to allow for me to stay at part-time and be at home with our children and also be able to provide for our family...and of course our families are happy to help us achieve that goal.   

So why this house?  Well it's about 3,600 square feet, has a huge back yard (lucky Rufus), 5 bedrooms and 3 full-baths.  The floor plan is very unique.  Lots of floor to ceiling windows, a brick "court yard," what will be a master suite, 2 fireplaces, and one of the coolest parts in my opinion, a library/dining room.  It has floor to ceiling book shelves with one of those ladders on wheels that rolls around the entire room to access all the books, which for whatever reason I am very impressed by!  And its in a great area.  Downsides -- it needs a new roof (and its a verrrrry large roof, considering all 3,600 square feet are on one level), no basement, and no garage (although our plans include adding one), not to mention it needs a ton of cosmetic work inside and out -- pretty much new everything again, just like at Greenbriar. 

We haven't talked about this with hardley anyone, mostly because we didn't know at first what we wanted to do and then we weren't sure if everything would work out.  Part of me still thinks something is going to fall through and we won't end up with it.  I guess I just can't believe this is really happening...it hasn't hit yet! 

Let the fun begin!!!...