Hi Ho! Hi Ho! Off to a New Home We Go!

After 6 months of living semi-unpacked and using the upstairs bonus room as my "closet" and tons of other storage (arranged like Sam's Club aisles) Dan and I decided to break down and shop for a new home. Even though it didn't bother me to make the trek upstairs for clothing everyday, it bothered Dan...so off we went shopping.

The pro's and con's of moving were heavily examined because there are many pro's to staying in the rental house. It allows Dan to have a short 5 minute drive to work; it lets him come home for lunch with me everyday; it keeps us close to the base amenities; and if something pops up at the last minute, I can drive over to attend or help out by picking up special deliveries.

But the pro's for moving to Columbia far outweighed the con's. Even though it will be a longer drive, similar to the drive Dan made every day in Little Rock, the houses up there are great. It's a big city with lots to do, lots of opportunity and who can argue with having a Best Buy near you??? ;-)

The little private, members only, community we chose nestled in Columbia, SC is really neat. The houses sit on or around the private lake, there's lots of green space, 2 huge pools, 2 parks, lots of playgrounds, a few pavilions (each with 15 foot high brick grills/fireplaces with adirondack chairs and picnic tables), a dog park is a month away from completion, miles of neat sidewalks and trails, and a small "town square" with an ice cream shop, barber, veterinarian, coffee shop, etc. Every Thursday they have a farmer's market in the little square and every Friday they have "movie in the park" night. You can choose to cozy up on a blanket or bring your own chairs onto the grass. Or if you prefer, go climb into the pool a couple hundred yards away because they blow up a pool movie screen there too. Way cool!

With this move, we also decided to dive head first into the South Carolina lifestyle and we fell in love with the "Charleston Style" houses.
After a few options, we decided on a house currently under construction.

It's gorgeous and will easily fit both of our combined belongings, and then some.

We chose this house at the exact right time and with the help of Mom, I was able to pick the stain for all hardwood floors, tile, etc. It already had the cabinetry, granite countertops and paint, so the task was complimenting all of those with the remainder.

Ginger will definitely love the backyard and the green space it backs up to, I'll get to enjoy planting everywhere and hanging plants on all the decks, Dan looks forward to living in an actual city, the kitties will love observing all the wildlife out all the huge windows, porches, decks and 9 foot doors, and it'll be a toss up of what Dan and I will enjoy together the most...the lake we can go boating on again or the exploring we'll get to do biking and walking around all the trails and parks.

The end of construction and closing (and moving...again!) is scheduled for the 2nd or 3rd week of July (probably July 5th-15th) so we're in the home stretch...pun intended!

We've taken some initial pictures but of course it's a work in progress.
More to come!!