The New House

Brian teaches at a high school in the foothills west of Denver. For several years, he tried to convince me to move up there because he couldn't stand living in the city. I hesitated because 1) I was still wishy-washy about Minnesota, and 2) I didn't want to deal with that commute. Two years ago he had our realtor take us on a look-see a little further west and we saw a few houses that we both liked. However, I declared that the commute would be too far and that was that. In February Brian really started to talk about it again. This was after I finally decided that although a large part of me will always want to go back to Minnesota, Colorado is our new home. We'll always have summers off, and let's be honest. That's the best time to be in Minnesota anyway. So, the morning after Ed had his heart attack, we had plans to see some houses in the mountains again. It was a hard day because I truly believed Ed was going to pass, but we ended up falling in love with one house. Our realtor asked us if we wanted to list our house yet, but I was in a rough emotional state and he said that he understood and there was no rush. Time passed and Ed woke up and began recovering. Brian and I both frequently checked listings, particularly checking to see if "our house" was still for sale. By Spring Break, Brian had me convinced to make the leap and *we* (read Brian) spent that whole week getting the house ready to list. That same week, our dream house went under contract. It was like a punch to the gut. It sat on the market that whole time, and then went under contract just days before we put our house on the market? I started to have second thoughts about the whole move, and Brian let our realtor know that we might delay listing our house. He offered to take us on another house hunt to which we agreed. Then, the next morning Brian got an email. Our dream house's deal fell through and it was back on the market! Saturday March 30th we listed our house. We went under contract on April 1 and immediately made an offer on the house in the mountains. We went under contract on that house on April 4, and the rest is history!

Our house is around 2800 square feet. We have three finished floors. The basement walks out to our backyard (which is not very yard-like yet, think sloping mountain side). It has one finished bedroom, one den/office, a 3/4 bath, a large open playspace, and laundry room. On the main level is the kitchen, dining room, living room, family room, and one 1/2 bath. You can access a large deck from both the family room and dining room. We face south with limited views of Pike's Peak from our property. On the third floor are 3 bedrooms, one full bath, and the 3/4 master bath. We feel like this is our "forever house" with plenty of room to grow and a great floor plan for our family. For both of us, the day we moved in the house instantly felt like home. I'm pretty sure with the way everything worked out, it was simply meant to be. However, I do reserve the right to sing a different tune the first time we get a 30"+ snowfall!

View from the front. The driveway down is pretty long and steep.

Kitchen view 1

Kitchen view 2 (can you see the boxes of meds above the fridge?)

Living room

Family room

View from the deck and master bedroom

On a walk in our neighborhood

Our new neighbors (taken from the deck)

No joke, we have a natural waterfall on our acre of property...

and lots of boulders to pose and play on!

I really do love this house, so please pray that this fire season is not as bad as they are predicting and that people use good judgment this summer!