I’ll start at the end: We bought another house that’s about an hour away from where we are now. So, yep. We’re moving. Again.
Now, back to the beginning: Many months ago, while it was still cold out and Lucas still had four legs, John’s university job, the one we moved back here for, came to an end. It was unexpected but the right thing. For years he had been consulting on this EPA contract, and when his job ended, they brought him on full time. The office is in Indianapolis–quite a drive from Bloomington–though they said he could work from home most of the time. Around then, we had been driving to and from Indy for my doctor’s appointments and to visit family, plus Emmett’s trips to Purdue, then a very short while later, Lukey’s trips to Purdue. In one of those millions of hours of driving, John said, “You know what? It would be so much easier on all of us if we moved an hour north.”
The seed was planted.
But, because we didn’t have to move and because we didn’t have any sort of timeline, we decided to be extraordinarily picky about our criteria. Some of our wish list: Price and family stuff first, a bit more space inside and a lot more space outside preferably with landscape/trees for the boys, a location that puts John close to his office and puts us an hour closer to Purdue and pretty darn close to my family, and, heck, if we’re being crazy, how about a pool for Cooper? {Aside: Our amazing agent was like, “Oh! There are tons of great houses near neighborhood pools.” Us: “Wellllll, they don’t allow dogs.” Agent: “Say no more!”} In the end, though, my dad jokes that we bought this house for Lucas.
Over the span of months, we periodically drove to Indy and surrounding towns to peek at possibilities. We came close a couple times. Then we found it. Our new house.
It has everything we wanted at the right price, and my dad’s not too far off: Many of the features do suit the boys. The master bedroom is on the first floor so Lukey and Emmett won’t have to climb stairs all the time. The office, which can be converted into an in-law suite, is spacious and the stairs leading to it are carpeted. The yard is pretty darn big and has a little swimming pool for Cooper!
The only thing is… it needs some work. The siding and roof have small problems, so we have contractors working on that. But the inside? Okay, you guys. I know people have different taste. I totally get that. But holy moly… I’ve never seen a house so dark. The trim is dark. The walls are dark (brown in the bedroom and this deep burgundy in the office), the fixtures and appliances are black, the lights in the hallway and above the dining table are black, the guest bedroom is gray and brown stripes, the frames around the bathroom mirrors are black… in fact, the only “light” color in the entire place is the tan they painted the hallways and living room. The lightest room in the house:
Plus, the previous owners left it filthy. Grosser than I ever could’ve imagined. Like, rotten vegetable litter in the fridge and spilled garbage and dust, dust everywhere. The first three days were spent scrubbing. Just scrubbing.
So, we closed on it last week, and now we’ll be spending the next who-knows-how-long going back and forth between Bloomington and Indy cleaning, fixing, cleaning, painting, repairing, cleaning, and then, of course, moving.
No, the timing isn’t ideal with all that’s been going on with Lucas. The right decision isn’t always the easy decision.
Oh, and if you saw him at the house? You’d swoon. He went NUTS! We let them rip around the yard, and I’ve never seen them happier. Silly me. I didn’t take pics or video. We’re going to go back up there for a bit this weekend. I brought some of the fixtures back to Bloomington to paint white and will take those back this weekend. I’ll get some pics of the boys tearing around their new yard.
There you have it! Apparently we’re total lunatics who can only operate in chaotic conditions because… here we go again! 😉 Will share more as it unfolds!
That is so wonderful!!! So happy for you guys!! I have the exact opposite problem in my house. There are plenty of windows and light, but all the cabinets, doors and fixtures are white. I prefer natural wood, but I understand that the sellers wanted to make it look open since it is only 950 sq ft. I do love our house, but with pets, white is not the best choice. Have fun making everything just the way you want it!!
Hooray!!! That is wonderful news!
Congratulations on the new house ? Here you go again, this time closer to family and a pool for Coop! Maybe he’ll share with you guys on those hot, hot summer days? can’t wait to see the footage if the boys ripping around in the new house and yard.
Sometimes what seems like the craziest thing turns out to the best thing. Congrats, you ALL deserve it!
Congratulations!! So much work but so fun also:).
Congrats on the new place!
Good deal! We are right there with you. 16 months after buying the perfec home we sold the perfect home so Ray and I wouldn’t have to climb stairs. This is the new perfect home, or will be after much, much elbow grease.
Congrats! That’s very exciting news, and sounds like a fun project.
Exciting times!!!! BUSY, exciting times!!!! Congratulations!!!!!
Congratulations! New homes are always exciting. We always factor our dogs into the equation when buying and now that our vision is to adopt more seniors, any move we make has to be into a one-story. Have fun with all the fixing, that’s actually a fun part.
Sounds like everyone loves the new house. It is always fun fixing up and painting and getting the house ready before you move. Congratulations! Cooper will love a pool our dogs Schooner and Skipper love swimming.
CONGRATS!! Your family and the boys will be very busy for awhile, but good kind of busy. Keep us posted.
We bought our first house for our dog Brandy. It had a huge fenced-in back yard. We also had to do some painting because I like neutral colors. Our bedroom was dark blue and felt like a cave. The kitchen, which received afternoon sun, was bright yellow and nearly blinding. There’s nothing a giant-sized can of off-white paint can’t fix!
Congratulations! It’ll be so nice once you’re all set up! We say we bought our current house for Abby. 🙂 We went from a 2-story with the bedrooms all upstairs to a one-level. When we bid on the house, our realtor suggested I write the sellers a letter, so I did *kinda* play the cancer card and suggest how much better their single level house would be for our pup. 🙂
As for a dark house – our last house was like that. It was originally bought by a divorced guy, so I think he thought he’d make everything dark to hide the dirt! It had gray carpet and walls and dark gray rubber baseboards (gastly!) and black switchplates and even a black toilet! I know what it’s like to move into a house that needs a LOT of work!
I think it’s great! If we always waiting for the elusive ‘right time’ we’d probably never get anywhere or do anything. It’s always a good time for forward movement! And I would totally buy a house with a dog (or two) in mind so I love it!!!!!
Congratulations on the new home!
I LOVE this, Maggie, because we have put our house on the market and are looking for a new one (in our same area). One of the things high on our list is a pool for the dogs! However, that’s hard to come by in our area.
We are looking for something with less stairs (our arthritic old ladies need that), some kind of water….stream, pool, or pond nearby, and lots of land so we can have our own trails to walk on.
Yes, it’s mostly about the dogs. 🙂 Hubby and I are looking ahead to retirement and aging as well though.
I look forward to seeing more photos of your new place….and please show us the pool!
Oh, and one other thing…we’re concerned about how the dogs will take this move, since they’ve all lived here their whole lives, so it was great to hear how much Lucas loves your new place!
Congratulations!
Monty and Harlow
Wow, congratulations Maggie & John! A pool and everything! That’s awesome!
Congrats!!!! A good kind of work and fun. I too chose my condo for my dog, only one I could find without weight or breed restrictions, and fenced in courtyard so my mom could let her out when I am at work cause my dog is to powerful for my mom to walk. And I love my place, so does the dog!!! Have fun doing all the changes!!!