Bittersweet

The move to Maine is officially complete and we are no longer homeowners in the Commonwealth of Virginia. While we are extremely happy and excited to be moving on to our next chapter in life, it is bittersweet to leave that home behind.

What's the purchase of your first house without a little bubbly?

 As soon as we bought the place we started work. First thing to go was the tree outback that was in danger of crashing down on our house or our neighbors. With the violent rain storms, hurricanes, earthquakes, and freakishly large snowstorms over the ensuing five years, we're glad the tree was gone.

 Not too long after buying we added Harry to the family. Athena was more than happy to mock him at first.

One of the reasons we bought the house was because of the historic nature of it. Most of the windows had original glass - not the best for energy efficiency, but really cool looking in the winter.

 The energy efficiency was helped by having the windows restored. The one downside to this was while the windows were being restored some neighbors thought our house was condemned.

 ...and then the remodel. There's nothing quite like living in your master bedroom with two cats, a 70 lb dog, and your (in the grand scheme of things) relatively new spouse all while having your house become a construction zone. Thankfully we survived.

 One neat thing about the remodel was to fine the original siding on the house. Here you can see at least two or three layers of siding on top of the original. Not sure why anyone would every put up fake brick...

Remodel complete. It only took six months.

And then it started to snow.

 Among many memories of the house and our time there, the additions to our family will definitely stick out as some of the best. Here Molly hangs our in her new kitchen with her new best friend Harry.

 And really, when you have a newborn why not turn your patio into a construction site?

After Molly was born Katie started to get into baby wearing. While some in her immediate family (not me of course) may poke fun at her a little, the ability to carry the kids around without using a stroller or your hands has been amazing. It is hard to see how some people survive without it sometimes.

The final addition to our family was Wes. He may have not spent all that much time in the house, but he should know it was a good one. It was a great place to start and raise a family. Hopefully it will bring the new owners as much joy and happiness (and the stresses of owning a 150 year old house) as it did for us.

And then we moved to Maine