We Moved!

 

Oh my! I have been waiting with anticipation to write this post for quite some time. This past year can only really be described as a complete whirlwind, but has also pretty easily been the most pivotal year in our marriage so far. As many of you know from following along, last July we left NYC and set out for a much more suburban, slower lifestyle with more space for our family. And we have totally accomplished that.

The first half of our adventure (July 31st – Thanksgiving), Chris was still in the city finishing up work and going away for a lengthy Army training and me and the kids were at my parents. This was hard. Really hard being apart. But we made it through. For Thanksgiving, Chris came to join us for good, and we decided to stay until the end of the school year because it was a truly transitional year for Branden and we didn’t want to uproot him (read his full ADHD diagnoses story here) in the middle of the school year.

We were all set to move to a really beautiful rental in Ohio, where Chris started his new job. Our move was scheduled for May. We had our security deposit deposited. Furniture picked out for our space. Uhaul rented. Utilities all scheduled to be turned on. The whole nine yards. Then the week before we were scheduled to move, Chris came home and showed me a home he had found online in the area that he really loved and through the computer screen, I fell in love with it, too.

The next day, he had already set up an appointment with a relator to visit and by the end of the day we made an offer. We seriously felt like we were home from the second we set foot in the door. After a little back and forth with the seller, we came to an agreement and then started the very tedious process of buying our first, and hopefully last home.

In the meantime, I was thankfully able to get most of our security deposit back, cancel our rental, utilities and everything in between and plan our new move to our dream home. It was worth ever single frustration because we are just overjoyed with how everything worked out. See? Everything is an adventure with the Coopers.

Our new home was built in the 30s, so it has an older home feel, but it has been completely gutted and renovated on the inside. There are still some projects we plan on doing down the road, but the seller really paid attention to detail and made every corner of our home special. I honestly can’t decide which part of the house is my favorite, but I think I can narrow it down to the bay windows, our master bathroom and our beautiful kitchen.

After living so many years in a crappy NYC apartment, we have truly worked our butts off for this wonderful place we get to call home. And on that note, I feel like the hidden message here is that you can do anything that you put your mind to. Don’t ever hesitate to go after whatever your dreams may be.

I have to give a huge “thank you!” while I’m writing this to my parents who put up with our family for almost a year so that we could save and plan and make our dreams come true. I’m talking kids constantly screaming, wall art, internet bills through the roof and way too many broken items to count (we love you guys!). For so long, we almost thought home ownership would never happen for us, but it’s amazing how far your money will go outside of New York City.

We are slowly getting settled as new furniture rolls in every day. The kids are getting acclimated and I have a brand new, home office all to myself! I do plan on showing you all updates on our home decor process as we get things more organized, but for now I just have these to share.

I can’t wait to share more with you all!

XOXO,

Allison