Our New House

Lots of people have asked how I like our new place, and most of the time I say it's nice without going into any details. Well, here's what I really think.....

I Like-

• The floor plan - it's been great having the laundry on the same floor as the bedrooms, it's also nice to have the master bedroom completely separated from the girl's rooms -they don't drag their junk into our room, and I like the fact that there's not so many stairs.
  
• The windows - There are lots of windows looking out to the backyard, so I can easily keep an eye on the girls while I do my housework. The blinds on the window are also cool, they can come down from the top to let in light without losing privacy.


• The laundry room - it's an actual room, not a hallway. I'm in love with my new gas dryer, we've had electric for so long I forgot how fast clothes could dry!


• The basement - it's much larger, and finished much nicer than the basement we had in Derby. It has a bathroom, something we didn't have before! Josh is in love with the wet bar, he finally has a place for Mr. Beer. I love the storage space - actually more than we had before which was a lot (we need it though, because the garage stinks).



• The mail box - it's so much fun to have a mail box right in front of our house, the girls go out everyday to check for mail.
  
• The girl's bathroom- bigger with two sinks, no more fighting over who goes first.

I Dislike -

• Bedrooms - smaller sizes overall


• Master Bathroom - our bathroom before was huge, so it's hard to compare, but this one is narrow with a small shower. It also has a not so great blue rose wall paper border, the owners were kind enough to leave the matching shower curtain though.
  
• Master Closet - smaller, no room for my beloved vanity table.
  
• The garage - Also hard to compare because he had an enormous garage before, but this one is a small two car with no shelves for storing anything. Josh's truck won't fit.
  
• The kitchen - it's actually very similar to what we had just not upgraded. The whole house throughout could use some updating with the lights & fixtures. The floor is linoleum, the counters are green laminate, and the whole kitchen including the eating area is wallpapered with an ivy, red daisy, and plaid combination paper.



• The Dining Room - there's not one
  
• The Fireplace - it's electric, just flip a switch
  
• The carpet - on the main level it's pretty dirty looking, and the color is too light for a family with kids and pets.
  
• The backyard - no pool, weird drainage ditch problem running along the fence, small deck with no patio for our lawn furniture
  
• The porch - small, no room for our wicker furniture


• The neighborhood - although nice & quiet on a cul-de-sac, I miss the pond we had in Derby, and there's no community pool.

So that's the list, I think we're pretty lucky to have found this place, even with all the little things I don't like. The location is great, just five minutes from church, five minutes to Anya's new preschool, five minutes to shops & restaurants, 10 minutes to base, and 20 minutes to the hospital. The house is also $200 under our housing allowance, we actually stayed within our budget for once!!