We kept looking, knowing we had pretty specific parameters (no brick, one story, large acreage in the country, had to fit our tight budget). You can imagine how hard it is to find something like that. We had actually resigned to a smaller piece of land to build on. Finding an affordable parcel is almost impossible here! It’s either $5,000 an acre (which is on the high side in South Georgia) or only sold in large 100+ acre parcels.
Feeling the squeeze of our small house shrinking by the day, we went to visit Justin’s great uncle and great aunt’s house even though it fit none of what we were looking for. Here we were in a two story, brick house on three acres—effectively meeting everything we DIDN’T want on our list.
We looked through it and I was in love. I knew instantly it was a family house; one we could watch our kids (Wyatt and any future kiddos we have) grow up in, one we could host family get-togethers in, and one we could work on bit by bit to make completely ours.
We sat down with Justin’s Uncle Glynn and Aunt Faye, came together on an agreeable price and went forward to secure financing. I had all of our ducks in a row for the mortgage company, but since it was a long drawn out process I was constantly emailing updated pay stubs, letters of a million varieties, etc. We went through two different lawyers after the first one bailed on us with family/employee crises. We dealt with title companies, tax assessors, county courts, more lawyers, and five million phone calls. Our closing was supposed to take place in September. We FINALLY closed on November 26.
Because we were in closing limbo for so long, I had maybe ten boxes packed in our whole house the night before we went to closing.
I was just afraid of living out of boxes in our old house indefinitely. I got a call after we finished signing papers from my sister-in-law Amanda that she and my middle sister Suzi were packing furiously. I had a mini panic attack. My personality doesn’t lend itself well to others “helping” out and throwing my system off. I let my panic go and realized that my sisters know how I am and they do very well understanding my process.
They were determined to get us moved as much as possible that day. Keep in mind that it RAINED THE WHOLE DAY we closed. Justin and I resigned to the fact that we would not be moving that day and would just have to wait until Wednesday.
We loaded up all the vehicles we could spare and even borrowed our friend Jonathan’s box trailer and were able to spend the night that very night. Over the course of the next few days we got the entire contents of the inside of the house moved and mostly unpacked, and even had Thanksgiving in there somewhere. We still have to get all of the outside stuff moved but the progress we have made in the past week is tremendous. I cannot thank my family and friends enough for all they have done to help out. We are going to have a big housewarming party and it will be a true celebration and a great way to end such a stressful year.
Here are the pictures I snapped on the day we moved in.
The brick is probably my favorite part of the house. I might hate it in ten years, but I lurrrvvvee it now!
Our living room with a gas fireplace. That thing can warm up the house in no time! We turned off the central heat during the day and let that baby run! In the back of the living room is going to be Justin’s man cave. It is where all the taxidermied animals will reside.
The formal living room (left) will be Wyatt’s playroom. The dining room (right) will be mostly empty until we get a dining room set (Santa? You out there?). The colors of the carpet and walls aren’t my choice, but that carpet is so plush! I will paint that sometime soon.
The two story front foyer is a little too green for my taste so getting that repainted is on our master to-do list. Also, the wrought iron rails will get a quick coat of black spray paint.
Our bathroom has harvest gold tile and toilet, but we have plans to upgrade the master throne and we have found tub and tile paint to cover up the gold in the tub and the backsplash.
Our master bedroom is so roomy! We bought the bed and dressers in there and it is so nice having “adult” furniture that we haven’t pieced together with hand-me-downs and thrift store finds. The difference between a king and a queen bed (what we used to have) is magical!
The aforementioned green/gold carpet continues upstairs and is in the three bedrooms. One room is Wy’s room, one is for an office, and one will be a nursery when we decide to have another baby. For now, it will just be a guest room.
The upstairs bathroom is a gem. Pink, pink, pink! It would have been my dream to have this bathroom growing up. As a matter of fact, the paint in my room was almost this exact same color until I was 15. I don’t think Wyatt will appreciate it though, so it’s getting the same tub and tile paint treatment.
I got some photos of the outside on one of our earlier visits to see the house. I figured the rainy day wouldn’t do it justice. Justin’s Aunt Faye is a master gardener so the grounds are perfect! I only hope we can live up to the pressure of keeping it all as wonderful as it was before. I am constantly finding new plants I have never heard of before. I even have a rosemary bush that’s about half the size of our dining room table. I can’t wait to walk outside and pluck some fresh rosemary to cook with.
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