clarification

"You're buying a house?" "What's happening on the farm?" "Who's that guy?"

These and many more questions have been coming up as I posted that Adam and I are buying a house in Bellingham. We started looking in July and found our dream home a few weeks ago on Bellingham's South Hill.

look at this beauty!

It's a 125 year old 4 bedroom/1 bath house that's seen better days. The surrounding houses have been much better maintained and looked after and while people kept "our" house from falling down they didn't update or change much of anything in the last 50+ years.

Very old doorbell and antique stove included!

The location is ideal as it's a few blocks from our work and only two blocks down and one block over from our current apartment — moving should be a snap! (Hah!)

Right now we're waiting for inspections and final approval from the bank and we're set to close the beginning of December. We're under the impression that a lot of things are "wrong" with the house right now — plaster and lath walls, old wiring, sketchy linoleum throughout covering hardwood floors. I did a bit of crawlspace spelunking and everything looked fairly sound (not that I know what I'm looking at/for). A new foundation was added 30 or fewer years ago making it more stable than similarly aged houses in the area.

my crawlspace outfit

In a funny twist of fate I stayed in Bellingham mostly because of Adam and now we're buying a house that's of similar vintage to the farm. I will miss out on having a lot more land (our lot is very very small) for chickens and goats, no barn, no shop, no greenhouse. I will, however, get to stay in one of the most beautiful places to live in a great neighborhood with slightly better access to independent films and great coffee.

We made the decision to start looking for a house when I realized that the things I'm most interested in: DIY projects, chickens, entertaining and the like were nearly impossible to accomplish in our meager 400 sq ft apartment. I want to host a dinner party for 6? Great, two people can sit on the couch.

We already have some initial projects in mind but in general we're going to give the place a good cleaning (it really needs it), refinish the floors, do some painting, and move in. We're excited to be able to host a few more people and enjoy having a room *each* to ourselves — mine for writing, sewing, calligraphy, whatever, and Adam for his computer-ing. We're also thrilled to hopefully have a guest room for visiting friends and family (get in the queue now!).

This house will undoubtably challenge us everyday. It will stretch and strain our relationship with each other, our families, and ourselves but in the end I think it will be a great amount of fun and well worth the struggle.

A huge list is forming in my mind of the things I'm most looking forward to in the new house. Here are a few highlights:

1. Our fridge will be on the same floor as our kitchen. Right now the large fridge is in the garage below our apartment. Hulking Sunday dinner ingredients up and down the stairs is no good.
2. Not living above a garage.
3. Not having to park 1/2 block away, up a giant hill. I cannot stress how nice it will be not to have to text Adam to come meet me in the alley to do a Chinese fire drill to get groceries into the house.
4. Having a small garden and a few chickens. I won't have to entirely give up my dream of having a few egg-layers around. I will have to drastically downsize my chicken palace I designed.
5. PROJECTS. I'm a bit of a busybody, more so than even I realized before I moved in with Adam. I definitely have weekends where I just want to watch Scandal in my pajamas and eat pasta but more often than not I want bake pies and go for long walks and shop and clean and explore new things. Having the space and unlimited area to play around with will be incredible.

So what am I doing right now? I'm watching This Old House, and trying to curb my anxiety of course.

Another update to come after inspections — wish us luck!

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