home sweet home

We've lived in our new home for a month now, and finally we feel mostly settled in, hallelujah! So we thought we'd share a few pics of the new digs. Drumroll, please!

I shared a while back that we were searching for less pricey accommodation, and we weren't exactly excited about having to move. In fact, the whole moving process felt like somebody was pulling our fingernails out. We were both in a state of stunned disbelief for at least a week after arriving. The place was so dark, dingy, and cramped, and smelled like musty old carpets.

I'm now wondering what happened to that place, because I'm living in a fresh, airy, happy home. I've become quite smitten with our cabin in the woods. It's a gift that we arrived just as winter was turning to spring, because I feel like this home has come alive along with the earth.

It turns out that the previous owners were professional landscapers, and we have a big, beautiful yard that's now in full bloom.

I've loved bleeding hearts ever since we had them in our garden in London.
I've counted nearly 50 trees on the property. This house was originally built as a weekend/summer cabin. I love the windows, which strike me as very English cottagey. It's been glorious having all the windows open on these beautiful spring days. I love waking up to the sound of birds singing in the trees outside our window (Rob thinks he heard a bear out there the other night, but we won't dwell on that...).

We have a magnificent fireplace in the living room.

That's it on the house tour for the moment. More to come in the coming weeks!

In addition to the charm of the house, we've also been pleasantly surprised to discover that we're living in quite a wonderful community. It's a club community, which means everybody pays annual dues, and then you get a multitude of activities and events. Everyone I speak to is almost giddy in anticipation of the summer. Apparently they have swimming lessons, tennis, soccer, sailing, etc. Elliot is super excited to learn to swim. Did I mention there's a lake a 5-minute walk from our house? In fact, there are 2 or 3 lakes close by and 7 beaches where we can swim.

They also have a fantastic playgroup twice a week, which we've been faithfully attending. So many nice families and potential friends. And the most exciting development of all - we've joined a hiking group! I've been dying to get out in the woods since moving to this area of the country 2 years ago. But it's too risky to go out on my own with little kids - those irksome bears, you know. So I've been unsuccessfully searching for a hiking group that accepts little ones - until now. Quite a few of the same folks that go to playgroup also do the hiking thing. We went for the first time today, and had a blast. To call it 'hiking' is a bit of a stretch, but it is nice to get out into the woods. And look - it even involved some rock climbing today!

Isn't it amazing that we thought we were making a huge sacrifice, and it turns out that this new life is actually pretty fantastic?