Fish and Cut Bait

As of July, we have lived in Richmond for 6 years.....the longest we've ever been in one place.  It is rather surreal to reflect on that fact that half of our married life has been spent in good ol' Virginny.  Who'da thunk this possible of 2 people who so dearly love the West?!

And for 6 years, we have lived in our small but cozy little home.  For a house that I went kicking and screaming into when we first rented it because it wasn't the Taj Mahal we had in Williamsburg....it has been a wonderful place to live and become a part of the Richmond community.  We have become dear friends with our surrounding neighbors, it is centrally located to almost EVERYTHING, we have loved walking the neighborhoods, and though we don't own it, we've made it our own.  We've seen 2 dogs come and go, suffered some terrible heartbreaks,......and brought home our little boy to this house.

But.....it is time to move on.  After many years of dealing with the status quo and existing in a sort of limbo state, we sat down in May and seriously looked at a future 5 year plan.  We didn't even know if that would involve us staying in Richmond as we both miss the West so much.  After much deliberation, we decided, with the advent of the Stig rapidly approaching, that it was best to stay at the house for one more year, have the baby, and then re-evaluate.  

God had different plans.  :)  Two weeks ago, we received our lease renewal and that re-evaluating portion of our plan got drastically moved up in the schedule of things.  Our rent was raised on us.  And while it wasn't going to break our bank, we decided that it was time to "cut bait" and start fishing for a house to buy.  Besides, we are bursting at the seams for space in our current house and don't have a fenced back yard for 2 boys to run around in and it was time for a change.  

My mom laughed last Sunday as I was telling her everything (the sellers had just agreed to our offer) and said "boy, when you guys make a decision, you move quickly!" Here is why she made this comment: this....this is the house that we bought last Sunday.

Our new home

Dining room looking into newly renovated kitchen

Family room with wood burning fireplace!!!  :)

Living Room

2nd floor Master Bedroom

2nd of 4 bedrooms upstairs

Completely fenced back yard on a large and spacious corner lot with a place for a fire pit!

We may just be insane!  :)  You know, because with all of our different jobs, a viking toddler monkey who is turning 2 in a week, being in the heat of the summer, and me being 30 weeks pregnant....we're not busy enough!  :)  It isn't in our neighborhood.  It isn't even on the north side of the river.  However, it is closer to Dave's church job and is still pretty close to the things we love to do.

Our good friend was our realtor and he was AMAZING!  Dave saw a couple places with him last week and then we all went out on Saturday for 5 hours.  This was the first house we saw that day.  *Remind me at a later time to tell you why, when I first saw the pictures of this house about a week ago, I knew it was meant to be ours.  It is kind of eerie!!!! :) *  We ended up seeing 6 more that day but found ourselves finishing the day back here and knowing it was the one.  A day later and it was!  :)

We close at the end of July and move shortly after....and we pray that the excitement of packing and moving and unpacking doesn't encourage the Stig to come early.  :)  The short of the long is.....we're staying in Richmond....and for some time to come!!!!  We miss the West but HOME is where you put down roots....and our roots are becoming more and more firmly entrenched in this swampy soil.  :)