Tag: i bought a house

Posted in Moments and Musings

Move With Me: 3 Weeks to Go

Posted on by Vikki Lynn Sorensen

I’m in that place where I’m so excited to move and yet, all I want is for it all to be over. All the work. All the changes. All the stress. All the anxiety. I’m just so ready to be done!

Haha! There’s some whining for you on this rainy Tuesday!

Honestly, what I’m experiencing is a temporary loss of peace. There’s not one room in my apartment that’s not in an upheaval. There’s boxes everywhere. Every room is half or mostly packed and it’s hard to clean to my satisfaction.

When my home is in disarray, I don’t have peace.

However, my new home is also in some disarray. The new carpeting is going in this week. And the contractor has started work on the bedrooms in the lower level of the house where Shelby and I will be. Here’s a sneak peak!

If I were there right now, I’d write 1 Samuel 25:6 on that wood.

Peace and prosperity to you, your family and everything you own.”

We bought ceiling fans over the weekend. It’s been at least 26 years since I had a ceiling fan in my bedroom and it’s been on my wish list for ages. And now, I’ll have it so yay me!

We also chose paint colors. Not gonna lie – I went back and forth on that. I really love the shabby chic look. All pink and pretty and girly. In my last house, I had a beach theme, which I love but since I’ve done it before, I wanted something different.

So after much Pinterest searching, I narrowed by colors down to light sky blue, a mild sage green, a whisper of pink and a buttery yellow. I also considered white however, I’ve had white walls in one form or another these last several years of apartment living. Either off-white (the kind all apartments have) or a grey – a dark, dingy, muted, overused grey. I wanted color! Something light, bright and cheerful. It is, for all intents and purposes, a basement bedroom.

I settled for a delicate yellow. It’s a lovely pop of color, just this side of bold, that instantly brought a smile to my face and joy to my heart. (Color can do that.)

It also reminded me of my mother and her bright, cheerful yellow room.

I have a small egress window that doesn’t open. Again, I went to Pinterest for inspiration and found something lovely and unique. I won’t talk about it here but I will definitely post pictures once it’s all done.

Other things have also fallen into place. We’ve hired our movers, submitted address changes as well as our second notice to the apartment management. Shelby will be ordering a new bed for herself this Saturday.

I’m also ready for a different view and some privacy. I’m over this current view.

Twenty-five days to go and counting!

Posted in Moments and Musings

Move with Me: 5 Weeks to Go

Posted on by Vikki Lynn Sorensen

Annoyance. I love my current home but little things I once found so endearing are starting to annoy me.

Like every time someone goes out the side door and lets it slam shut rattling my patio windows.

Like listening to those stupid geese each night.

Like listening to my neighbors talk on their cell phone loudly in the courtyard at midnight.

Like finding other people’s underwear in my laundry.

Like paying $2 to wash one load of laundry and $1.75 to dry it.

Like walking from the parking lot, which is located at the opposite end of where my unit is, just to get into my own home.

Like people not picking up after their dogs.

All the things I won’t deal with in my new home. Of course, being a homeowner brings its own set of challenges. I’m ready to face those because I won’t be doing it alone. It’s a comfort to me not to be the sole “adult” in my living situation. I haven’t had that since my mom died.

Any-to-the-who….I’ve regained my sense of organization where this move is concerned. The office is now completely packed, except for essentials so now, all boxes can go in there. I may move my desk into my bedroom to completely clear out the office.

I’ve also started the “things to move by hand” box. Anything delicate goes in there. My bedroom closet and the office closet is all cleared out and packed also. I like being able to look around and know there’s nothing hiding away waiting to be boxed up.

Shelby and I also took the kids (aka Percy, the dog, and Natasha, the cat) to the vet to ensure they were all up to date on their vaccinations. Not only for their continued good health but also because we’ve booked their overnight stays in a pet hotel for the move weekend. Percy would only bark his fool head off and Natasha would hide where we wouldn’t be able to find her. I have to say I’m still nervous about this as this will be the first time I’d be leaving Percy overnight with someone I didn’t know. But the reviews are excellent and it gives me peace of mind not to have them underfoot.

As excited as I am, however, I’m also taking the time to slow down a little. With 5 weeks to go and 60% of the apartment packed up, I can afford this. My walks with Percy are longer now that the weather is nicer. I’m noticing the buds on the trees. There’s a pink tulip bud about to open in the tulip bed in front of my building. I’ve noticed more growth on Grandmother Willow and the grass is started to get greener (well, what’s not covered in goose poop, that is).

The weather is typical Spring Midwest weather. The kind where you need hat, scarf and gloves in the morning and shorts and a tank top in the afternoon. We’ve already had temperatures up to 75 degrees accompanied by storms. And this weekend, they’re calling for 1-3 inches of snow. Very typical weather.

Each year since Mom passed has brought some huge change of one kind or another. And it’s all been good. I’m really looking forward to this one!

Posted in Moments and Musings

Move With Me: 7 Weeks to Go

Posted on by Vikki Lynn Sorensen

While my closing date is 3/22, my moving date will be slightly delayed. My two sisters will move into the house immediately after closing but we need extra bedrooms for Shelby and myself to be constructed in the lower level of the house. Plus, we need to live out our lease here in our current apartment.

Nevertheless, the packing has begun!

We’re seven weeks out from our tentative moving date of 4/27. This date is special because on 4/27/18, I lost my mother unexpectedly. This year will be the 6th anniversary. Typically, my sister, Kathleen, and I would go to her grave with some water and paper towels. We’d clean off her gravestone and then pull any weeds surrounding it. Just make it nice and pretty.

I wanted to remember this day with joy instead of only sadness and grief so we’re going to have a new beginning of a different kind – a joyful kind.

At this point, the purging is almost complete. That’s step one in this long process that will most likely go by much quicker that it will feel. I really do not want to pack stuff that I will then unpack only to donate.

If it doesn’t bring me joy now, out it goes!

I did most of the kitchen last week. I have no clue why we ever owned so many coffee mugs! Shelby doesn’t drink hot drinks at all and Emilie only drank tea on occasion. Yet, we gave away about 20 coffee mugs! I also gave away two stacks of small dessert dishes and a set of pudding bowls.

I also did a purge of my books. What I didn’t want went to Half Price Books. I made $39 dollars, which I used to treat Shelby and I to some dinner and Dairy Queen. But my books are packed along with my Build-A-Bears.

Yes, I collect them. They’re adorable and it’s the of the few things I can share with Shelby.

So once the purging is complete, the goal is go through each room and pack what I don’t need to see or use for the next 7 weeks. And that’s the challenge. There’s something inside of us that feels a little panic-y when we put something in a box and seal it all up. I have to remind myself that I WILL see it again.

Weird!

Purging is hard, however, even for someone as non-sentimental as me! After so many moves in my life, I’ve learned the value of letting go of stuff while holding onto the memory or the feeling it gave me.

My mother also helped. By the time she passed, we had a whole basement full of stuff she wanted to keep “just in case” up to and including information from houses sold long ago. Boxes of paperwork from a business she hadn’t had in years and years….so much stuff! In the midst of loss, it’s overwhelming to have to go through that much stuff. So I’ve learned to make memories. And crochet a blanket or two to wrap those memories up in.

I did pack 90% of my yarn!! We’ll see how that goes. The real test will be not buying more yarn these next 7 weeks.

Decisions, decisions!

Posted in Moments and Musings

Moving to a New House

Posted on by Vikki Lynn Sorensen

I BOUGHT A HOUSE!!!!

On March 22nd, my sister and I will be closing on a lovely end-unit townhome we bought together. I haven’t been a homeowner since 2004 so this is very exciting for me! Finally, a home where I can put paint on the walls!

Two kitchens! A fireplace located in a lovely loft. Oak wood finishes that are in perfect condition and best of all, only 2.5 miles away from my dad and stepmom.

So exciting!

But also, a lot of work! My sister and I will be merging households which also puts a new spin on this. While she’s mostly packed, I’m still in the purging phase. I text her a lot of pictures that usually have the caption of “do we need this?” or “do we need two of these?”.

This house will only be the second I’ve ever owned. (I don’t count the one I bought with my now ex-husband because my name was no where on it.) And it will be my 20th move overall! Hopefully, this will also be my very last move.

So, let me invite you on this journey with me!

Photo by Brandable Box on Unsplash