"a house is made of walls and beams; a home is built with love and dreams"

These past several weeks have brought us many life-altering events. If I was to go into detail about all of them tonight, this first blog post would be as long as a month of Sundays (I just googled similes and that was the best I could come up with). So instead I will focus on just one of the biggest changes for now. That way I can break up the big events over a few posts and keep you readers intrigued for what's to come!


Our most recent adventure was our move. But first, here is a little background story on our lives so far. Nate and I got married June 7, 2008 and have lived in 3 different apartments over the last 4 years in Champaign, Illinois. We kept busy with going to college and working our jobs and sometimes wondered how we would make it through the hectic work weeks and the late night studying. There were many days when Nate would work 1:30 pm - 11:00 pm and I would work 8:00 am - 5:00 pm, and we wouldn't see much of each other at all. Then we would often be busy on the weekends with family, friends, or traveling, so we tried to make the most of the small amount of time that we got together, just the two of us. It was difficult at times but we managed and wouldn't trade those times for anything. Looking back to it, it helps us to appreciate where we find ourselves now. In those long days when we didn't get to see each other, we often encouraged each other with reminders of our hopes and dreams ... our hopes that one day we'd have a house to call home and we would have our own little family to fill it.


By dreaming together and working towards the same goals, we have finally been able to obtain what we have been hoping for since we began our lives together. We have bought a house, Nate works regular day hours in construction, I'm a stay-at-home housewife, and we have 2 on the way! :) We now live in Madrid, Iowa (not pronounced like Madrid, Spain like one would think ... it's pronounced by saying the first 3 letters as you would say the word "mad" ... yes I'm still getting used to it). We purchased a house that sits on 2.2 acres tucked back in a wooded area in the Des Moines River Valley. We both grew up in the country, then got somewhat used to the apartment living in town with all of its conveniences, and now we are readjusting to being back out in the country. I will gladly put up with the spiders and unwelcome critters because it beats hearing the highway noise when lying in bed at night. A lot of this new place reminds me of "home" back in Charleston, IL where I grew up. When I was 5 years old, my parents built a house outside of town where there were well over a hundred acres to explore. I spent much of my time 4-wheeling the trails through the woods, mushroom-hunting, playing in the creek, and just being outdoors in general. I think it is wonderful timing for us to have moved into this house because my parents are actually moving in one month, and this way I feel like I can keep a bit of my childhood with wandering into the trees, seeing deer in the back yard, and playing with a dog in the front yard. I'm also very happy that our children will get somewhat of the same experience with having some room to explore the great outdoors.


The closing date on our house was May 25th and we moved in June 16th. A few of our things had already been moved over here in between the two dates since Nate was living and working here in that amount of time. Our apartment lease wasn't ending until June 30th, so I stayed back in IL to work as long as possible with my last day being June 15th. It was good that we had those few weeks before getting all of our belongings settled into the house because we had to get rid of the smoke smell first! After having the carpets shampooed, the vents cleaned, the ceiling scraped and repainted, the walls repainted, and the help of several nicotine odor absorbing products, the smoke smell is gone! I must say a HUGE thank you to all the people who worked very hard over here to save the pregnant lady from paint fumes and headaches! It's now a very comfortable place to live and breathe.


We're already feeling rather settled in, both in the house and in the area. We had so much wonderful help on moving weekend. Everything was packed up in the trailer and in the vehicles by Friday early afternoon, and it was all unloaded and a good majority of it arranged in our house by Saturday evening. It began looking like home very quickly. All we had left to do the following week was take care of the odds and ends, like getting the rest of the boxes unpacked and putting up decorations on the walls and such. It's so nice knowing that we get to do what we want to this place without the restrictions of apartment rules. We have yet to do some projects around here but I hear that sort of thing is never-ending. I've known that it's a lot of work to own a house, but we're realizing now all that goes into it. We've been enthusiastic with taking care of things around here so far because we are excited to have a place to call our own, so hopefully that continues for awhile. It's been pretty great being married to a handyman ... I didn't know all that this guy was capable of! He's been putting up new light fixtures, changing all the door locks, building raised garden beds, putting a railing on the staircase off the back deck, keeping the flowers/plants alive, the list goes on and on. I've been thoroughly enjoying my spacious kitchen, which includes plenty of cupboards, ample counter space, and most importantly .. working appliances. The dishwasher actually works!! I battled with the one in our previous living quarters - I had to scrub the dishes before even putting them into the dishwasher, which was basically pointless. I may as well have just washed them all by hand. Now I barely rinse the dishes, stick them in to let the dishwasher do its thing, and they come out sparkling. It's marvelous.


As far as feeling settled in the area, it's nice to already know the folks around here quite well. Nate's parents live about 5 miles away and his grandma lives about 5 miles in the other direction. Nate grew up here so knows pretty much everyone, and since we have come to visit his family often, I have gotten to know them all pretty well too. It has made the transition easier since we weren't dropped into a place full of strangers. Since this is the first time that I have moved out of state (that I remember), it has meant so much to receive such a warm welcome.


Surprisingly, I haven't gotten lost yet. It took me 4 years to get to know the streets of Champaign upside-down and backwards, so I was a little worried as to how I would get along out here. However, I better not speak to quickly because I have only ventured into Boone on my own so far. I have yet to do a solo-discovery of Ames and Des Moines. I'm thinking that will be the true test. Maybe my bravery will kick in this week and will send me to scope out some good shopping and coffee places.


More to come and pictures to follow :)