Goodbye House, Hello House

We closed on our "old" house yesterday morning, the ending of an era. If I sound a little sentimental, it's because I am: we are saying goodbye to our very first house, the place we have called home for over fourteen years now. When I think of all the memories we made, all the home improvement projects and work we poured into it, and how much we truly loved living there, I can't help but feel a little sad to leave it behind. We spent Labor Day weekend packing everything up and when the house was completely empty and we left for the last time on Monday, I'll just admit it: I cried.

Goodbye, house! Thanks for the memories.

Now, go ahead and laugh at me because we only moved one and a half miles down the road! As a creature of habit who is highly resistant to change, I am incapable of going very far. I need to keep my grocery store and my McDonald's for weekend Egg McMuffin runs, after all. (As a little backstory, when we moved to Charlotte, our apartment was .8 miles up the road from our first house, so you can see that I refuse to move more than 5 minutes of drive time in any one relocation).

It's only been a few days, but we are getting settled in and trying to make things feel like home. As you may know, I live by the mantra "a place for everything and everything in its place," so organizing and figuring out where everything needs to go has been a big process. We are getting there, and it will probably only be a few years before we know what all the light switches go with and where all our belongings are (wink). Our new neighbors have been so welcoming--I even got a beautiful pot of yellow mums as a housewarming gift! We are also delighted to discover what a dog friendly neighborhood we are now in...well, Cotton, not so much, as he does not recognize the fact that he is actually a dog and prefers the company of humans instead. There is a little white bichon named Lily who lives across the street, and we have already enjoyed a morning walk with an adorable little schnoodle named Archie. 

I know everyone wants to see pictures of our new abode, but we are basically still in shambles. We haven't hung anything on the walls just yet (I'm waiting for my mom to come and give her blessing before we scar the place with nail holes), there are still a few boxes to unpack, and the rug that we ordered for our great room came, but in the wrong color. Nothing says welcome to our home like living on top of a 10x14 foot rug pad, am I right? I will update with more pictures once we get our act together, but just so you can visualize where I am and where the chaos has moved, here are a few snapshots of the new Stancil headquarters:

Mayhem manor has a new address!

My new kitchen; isn't she lovely? Obviously too pristine to get dirty with actual cooking.

His and hers vanities, a huge walk-in shower, and that bathtub.
I've got to buy some bubble bath.

A big fenced-in backyard for Cotton, and visions of a swimming pool in the future for Clint.

The king of the castle is making himself at home.

We are exhausted, excited, and ready to put our feet up and enjoy our new space. Poor Clint's honey-do list is as long as the Dead Sea scrolls, but I know we will feel at home here in no time. As always, the question I am asked the most is how Cotton is adjusting. He has the comfort of his trusty blanket, his two well-trained, doting owners, and plenty of neighborhood admirers already. He has been alternating bouts of energy and curiosity with periods of being grouchy and moping for his old house. Truth be told: all of us have been that way. As my friend Sylvia put it so well, it's time to close one wonderful chapter and turn the page to a brand new one. Goodbye, house. Hello, house.

Please update your Christmas card lists accordingly.