First 100 Days

We have officially been homeowners for 100 days now. Like all the politicians with their "first 100 day plans," I too had some lofty goals, most of which went to the wayside as soon as we actually moved in.  Everything works in our house, but the original owners didn't really update much in the last 40 years so there are plenty of things we can do.  But, so far I feel like we've really only installed a microwave, washer and dryer, replaced some outlets, and refinished the deck.  The numerous trips to hardware stores makes me think we got more than that done though.

 

At move-in.

 

I think we moved in the perfect season, because I was just enthralled with the beautiful spring blooming all around us when we moved in.  There were a dozen (somewhat overgrown) bushes blooming all over our property, and those of our neighbors.  We went on adventure walks and found both beaches that are within walking distance, and other than a little too much rain (and pollen, and tree debris) it was a beautiful spring.  Which was great, because we had to spend a lot of time outside raking up leaves, trimming bushes and re-staining our patio.  After always living off of main roads (with the accompanying noise of traffic and sirens), it is SOOOO quiet here in comparison.  As I write this at 5:00 am I do hear birds chirping though.  Always chirping.  I may end up becoming a bird watcher here because I get to excited to see them.  And we also hear the occasional swoosh of a golf ball taking off because we back up to the tee here.

Our only two "before-and-after" shots so far.

Removed some of the lattice, re-stained lighter, and hung baskets in the new windows.

 Got rid of the ugly exhaust fan, and added a microwave.  We do NOT have enough counter space for any other kind of microwave.

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The actual move was just about as crazy as we would have expected.  Our amazing realtor and mortgage agent pushed through our closing in less than 30 days, which was amazing considering the difficulty and paperwork involved in getting our type of loan.  A bad appraisal almost put a stop to the whole thing, but in the end everything worked out and we got the keys with about an hour left on our lease at our old place.  We are always the procrastinators around here.  The carpet cleaners ended up being a no-show, the new place ended up not having a washer and dryer, the owner and manager of our last place were late showing up to close out, and it was starting to sprinkle while we were unloading the truck, but everything worked out.  Brian's parents came out and were very helpful in getting us into the new place, especially when we needed to be at both properties at the same time.  The boys were all pretty good about the whole thing.  My favorite moment was once Brian got the moving truck, and Elijah just started carrying things out without even being asked to help.  He was pretty excited about his new home.

Logistics:
Moving Truck: 24 ft (plus, used every inch of space in the vehicles)
Storage Unit: 15 x 15 ft (just in case we didn't close in time, used it to store some things as we packed them and so we wouldn't have to rush to fit everything in the moving truck perfectly)
Movers:  paid 2 hours on each end to move all the heavy furniture
Boxes:  about 20 large, 30 medium, and 40 small boxes, plus about 40 plastic totes/crates
Distance between homes:  2.3 miles (not quite the 2304 of years past)

What I Wish I Had Known/Done:

1. Really do pack the "when you get there" box.  I didn't think it was necessary, and ended up not having toilet paper and other basics for a while.  And after all the physical moving of all our belongings, nothing felt better than the first shower in our new house.  Having the supplies for that all in one box would have been helpful.
2. Label bedroom doors 1, 2, 3 etc. so it is easier to tell people which room furniture (especially heavy dressers) and things need to go to.  We realized we all describe the rooms differently.  The "front room" means different things to different people.
3. Apparently have back up cleaners in mind.  I'm still pretty angry our carpet cleaners kept claiming they were on their way when we started calling them, and they never showed up.  As a stipulation of our lease was we had to have the carpets professionally cleaned at move out, it added extra stress when they completely failed to show (and never even apologized for not showing up).  Luckily we found a guy to come at the last minute.