The dreams started shortly after we moved into our house. I heard the doorbell chime and opened the door. He was dressed in a black suit, pressed and proper. He usually wore sunglasses like Will Smith in Men in Black. He was not unkind – just cold and matter-of-fact. “I’m sorry ma’am, there’s been a…
Home
Location! Location! Location!
In my mind, the most important thing about the house you buy is where you buy it. So many things about houses – the size, the layout, and the other details – you can live with or they can be changed, but once you buy that house, you can’t move it. Unless you live in a mobile home I…
Longing to Live: Fitting life into small spaces
There are stories we tell each other with vivid recounting of memories, include a funny anecdote or a surprise punch line that makes you feel like you were there. Then there are stories that don’t need to be told but are captured in a moment in time. Just by looking at an old snapshot, reading…
5 Things I’ve learned as a homeowner
There’s nothing like the excitement of buying your first home and I couldn’t be happier for Laura and her family! In the two and a half years since my husband and I bought our first house, we’ve made mistakes and learned a few things along the way. Here are five things I hope to remember…
Moving on…
We built our first house when my oldest was five. We made mistakes…several. The entire experience from picking out cupboards and flooring to getting a mortgage was all new. We weren’t entirely sure what we were doing, it closed late, stress was high and in the end, we moved in feeling a great amount of…
10 Tips To Help You Enjoy Moving
So you are moving. Congratulations on; buying a new house, getting a new job, having a baby,finally moving out from your parents basement, finding a place that is cheaper/bigger/nicer/less drug lord infested! I am so excited for you. Well I am mostly excited for you. I am also somewhat sorry for you. Because now you…
Should I Stay or Should I Go?
I loved our house when we bought it, so why should I move? And should you move? Here’s my story and a few tips that will help you stay in your home! We moved into our 1930’s bungalow while I was 6 months pregnant with our first child. I finally had the old house that…
In a sea of action figures
From one end of the basement to the other and as far as my hands could reach–on all sides–any way I spun I was surrounded by toys. My husband Mitchell sat not too far away from me on the floor. In the middle of his own toy piles. I held up yet another action figure,…
Committed
My husband and I dated for five years before getting engaged, but it wasn’t a timeframe or financial security or a baby on the way that finally sealed the deal. It was a house. For me, the desire to be a homeowner came suddenly. I always figured we’d buy a house eventually but I had…
Houses That Aren’t Mine
I have a confession. Please don’t judge me. I don’t hurt children or animals. I don’t sleep around, steal (on purpose), or wear a regular bra with a strapless shirt. I do, however, wear white after Labor Day (I’m sorry; it’s a stupid “rule”). But. I stalk owners of the homes we didn’t get. We…
Chicken Coops and Other Homes
I tell people I haven’t moved much in my life, but that is not exactly true. The true part is that I haven’t moved permanent addresses very much. I’ve lived in four homes (all in the same small West Michigan city) my entire life, and one I was too young to really remember, let alone get…
