Amid some my hardest and darkest times our family has also received so many blessings. The day after Dad passed away Pete got a call formally extending a job offer with a different company with an office in South Australia. We knew this was on the cards but had put it to the back of our minds (well maybe just I had) while we were in Tassie in the weeks before Dad passed. Pete was head hunted for the role from an old Ericsson colleague who had moved to this company (Visionstream) a couple of years earlier.
We had felt for a long time that we needed to return to Adelaide but it was still a tough decision. We had grown to love Melbourne and I particularly was so settled there and had made an amazing group of friends.
When we got home from Tassie we started having a look at where we would rent. With a great pay rise we were now in a position to buy a house for the very first time but thought we'd need to rent for a while so we could house hunt properly. We still had a look online at lots of houses to get an idea of where we'd live and what our price range would be.
Once word got out that we were moving a friend of ours contacted me and asked if I wanted some stuff she was selling. Her family were moving to the USA and were selling EVERYTHING. I bought a bookshelf from her and she joked with me that we could buy her house or car. I laughed but still had a look at the link she sent me on Realestate.com. Pete and I were sitting at the computer together and almost immediately realised it was the kind of place we were after and we really had a good feeling about it. I was a bit hesitant though as it wasn't in a suburb I envisaged living in. However, being one of the biggest suburbs in Adelaide we were assured by multiple people that there were good and bad spots. Having a brother in law as a Detective in the area certainly helped too as he knows where all the dodgy people he has to arrest all the time live. The house was at the top of a quiet cul de sac and in a fantastic location for schools and public transport etc. Of course, knowing the people selling it and knowing they were honest and good people we felt reassured that what we saw was what we'd get...and we really liked what we saw!
As Pete and I made phone calls and kept looking at the photos and then compared them to the other houses that had caught our interest we started to get excited. I said to Pete that I thought he needed to go to Adelaide the next day to check it out. So we organised a flight for that Sunday morning and he arranged to come back Mon night. Even though it was happening fast we were realistic. A couple of friends had said that when you look for a house you had to prepare to have your heart broken. We kept this in mind as Pete left the next day. Obviously, it's no surprise that Pete loved the house in person too and we decided to make an offer...However, there was another bidder. Another guy from Melbourne. I'm sure he felt like we did, in that you'd be paying double the price for a place like this in Melbourne. We knew our bid had to be decent. We were given one shot to place a bid. Whoever offered the most got the house. We decided a price and said to each other that if it wasn't successful that we would just shake it off and look again. After all, it was the very first house we'd put an offer on. During Pete's whirlwind visit he looked at 3-4 other places but there was no comparison. He'd also rushed to the Bank to arrange a pre-approval for the loan. It was crazy but so exciting. Pete arrived home about 8:30pm Monday night. Our friends were leaving for the USA the next day. We were still waiting to hear from the Agent but Pete sent a sneaky text to our friend to ask her if we were successful. She said something like "Thank you so much!!" We tried not to get excited as it still wasn't an official call but we felt it was going to happen. It wasn't too long until we heard back from the Agent that our offer had been accepted and that our desire to go for a 1 month settlement was good too. Everything proceeded so quickly and with very minor difficulties. We loved that we could just move straight into our new home in Adelaide and began packing pretty quickly.
Mum commented during that time that she felt Dad was watching over us and 'had a hand in all this.' I agreed and felt so grateful that one of our dreams was becoming a reality. It wasn't that long ago that I was lamenting about not being able to buy a house. It's great to read back over that post written 3 years ago and realise just how blessed we have been. Our first home has exceeded our simple dream. I'm not saying the house is perfect but it is perfect for us!
So I guess I need to share some pictures. I'll just share photos of the outside for now, as we still have a lot of unpacking and sorting to do. We've been here 5 months but it's been a pretty rough few months so I'm trying not to beat myself up about living in a bit of a mess still.
Henry had no idea what was happening but was happy to pose for photos!
And Will too of course.
The boys loved playing in boxes for weeks after we moved.
The Maple tree is gorgeous, except for the horrible spiky balls of doom that spread across the whole backyard :-)
I'm sure a lot of you would be aware of our first major project - building a shed. Isn't she a beauty. She deserves a blog post of her own!
Mum bought a cute swing for the tree and will
finally stop nagging us about it now that it is up.
We love the yellow gate at the front...though aren't keen on the fluro yellow front door :-P
We have a lovely view of the Onkaparinga hills from our front yard. Of course my poor photography skills are not going to do it justice.
This is a quick shot of the backyard...though it doesn't look like this now...we have to use it as a thoroughfare to cart dirt etc for the shed so the lawn is pretty hacked up. Sorry about the random pose Will is doing. Funny kid!
It's in shadow but this is what the back looks like now...Notice the house next door! Hopefully they'll finish building it in the next 8 weeks. It's been a slow process...but not too bad.
So it is an old house. It was origingally going to be a Doctor's surgery so it has a few quirks and odd design features. It was built in 1969! It has 5 bedrooms and has been completely redone on the inside so is quite modern. I love our wooden flooring and the lovely carpet in the bedrooms. The kitchen is a bit of a downer but it is still functional...and we really do love that wall oven Eden! The Asbestos roof is a killer but maybe one day..if we win a lot of money or something, we could replace it. Of course it all depends on if we stay here long term. I really hope we do. I don't want to move again until the kids are way older...or at all really. I love our place and want to establish roots in this area.
A warning to readers, the next photo will be a little disturbing....
Pete ran into this 'little' guy during the first week of living here. It freaked us both out. Gotta love Australia for these critters. Urghhh. Needless to say I've used some pretty effective surface spray around the entire house and we haven't seen any of these orb spiders since. And, we've seen much fewer millipedes.
This last photo is also just for fun. As I was unpacking the boys rooms I pulled out the drawer and discovered Will's doll. I let out a big yelp. She freaked me out big time. Ha ha. Still better than a spider though don't you think!
