A New Adventure

The Sunday before Christmas started out like any other. I was curling my hair in front of the mirror, and Lewis was putting on his tie. We'd had the Earl family Christmas the day before, near Spokane, and we were discussing his family.

"You know," I was saying, "I think you should spend more time with your family. Maybe you should go hang out for a weekend every now and then."

He looked thoughtful, then got a funny, pensive look on his face.

"Or, we could move there." He said.

Our eyes locked, and my heart started pounding. We stared into each other's eyes, and we knew without talking that we were moving.

During church, it was all I could think about. I was sitting up with the choir, looking into the faces that I have grown to love so dearly. My mind lingered on older couples, who when I first moved in, took up an entire row with their children. I saw the empty places where the Hansens' used to sit. How many years has it been since they passed away? I was blessed as a baby in that very chapel. When I'd been living is Kansas, we'd traveled home- here- when my sister died, and her funeral was held here.

Growing up as an Air Force family, this place held the gravitational pull that kept us in orbit. I'd intended to stay here forever.

Adventure was calling though, the unknown! Somewhere new, new faces and new experiences..... so exciting. Lewis' job is not in Spokane. What would he do for a living? Scary question, huh? Little by little, the pieces have fallen in place and God's plan for us is coming together. We've seen miracles, for reals and for trues miracles.

And then there was the issue of where in Spokane. You know how big that place is? We'd be picking the high school our kids go to. If we don't choose right the first time, they'd be stuck. I'm not uprooting them again! We had to get it right the first time. I spent hours scouring homes, neighborhoods, schools on the internet. There's the northside, where Lewis' sister lives... or the valley, where his other sister lives. There's over by the temple, that would be nice, or what about downtown? An urban area might be cool, we'd surely be in a ward that really needed us.... It was a huge question mark, always in my mind. One day, I found a home outside of Cheney, where I went to high school. I called Lewis' dad to see if he would check it out. He was surprised that we were looking in his area of town. He didn't need any more encouragement than that. He looked under every rock to find a home close by them, by Medical Lake.

At this time, we were up to our eyeballs in construction. It would be months before our home sold. What was the point of looking at homes there? I told him that I was taking a break in my search, until we were closer to having our home sold. He called the next day.

"I found your home."

"Oh, is that right?" I asked him, hiding a smile.

I hopped on the computer and asked for the address.

"Wow!" I said, it looks great! Just then, Lewis walked in the door for lunch. He looked, and he loved. We got really excited.

We arranged to see the home two days later. We threw in a home in a subdivision just for kicks too.

It was very dark, cold, and very wet when we finally made it to the house. The home was a bit dated, but the property was perfect. Then we went to the subdivision. It was a newer house, with 6 bedrooms, and all the room we would need, all rolled up in a neat package. It repelled us. Alas, subdivion life is not for such as the Earl's. I think they would kick us out. It wasn't long before we knew, knew, knew that this was the place for us. Want to see it?

It looks so peaceful and serene, doesn't it? It has no idea what's in store for it. Want to see what comes with it?
All this land! Just shy of 4 acres!!! And see that huge shop? That'll be my husband's new office. Want to see how big it is?

This is just part of it. Big enough for the greatest spook alley of all time, come Halloween, huh? There's a 1 bedroom apartment framed in here too, which we plan on finishing off ('cause we can do that now!)

Back here is where my orchard is going in. Much thought and stewing is taking place on what kinds of trees I want to plant. Peaches, apricots and apples, for sure, but what about cherries? They're gross and wormy when you don't spray them just right.... any ideas?

Here's my new master bath. Sigh. No 6-foot jetted tub here. But it does have a bidet. I'm going to have to google how to use that puppy.

Views of the kitchy-kitch.

That fabulous hood makes me laugh so hard. It totally looks like a treasure chest!

This is the view from the balcony of my bedroom. First thing Liam did when he saw it was to drop trow and try to pee off it. We grabbed him quickly before the realtor saw and he got mad and threw a fit. We shoulda just let him pee.

The orange carpet causes me pain, because it's going to have to stay until we #1: sell our home and #2: save up for hardwood floors. Angie gave me a tip though, and I'm totally going to use this. It's going to be beautiful!

It's a pretty nice house, and if I hadn't just gone through (and am still kinda going through) renovation hell, I'd be a lot more excited about updating it and making it our own. We have time though, and we now have all the tools we'll ever need to practically build our own house.

Here's more room for storage (no more food storage in the house!) and this is the area where the CHICKEN COOP will go!!! We've been in intense negotiations for years about when I can get chickens. My friends, now is the time. I'll have two flocks, one for eggs, one for meat, so my boys will have to master the art of chicken plucking. Fun, huh? I'm so excited about that.

The vineyard will go on the other side of the shop, by the field. I'm thinking Concords, with table grapes on the other side of the house eventually. Oh, and I haven't even told you about the massive experimental garden behind the shop yet! That will keep for another time.

As of right now, we have just shy of four weeks until I pull the boys from school. The day after Lewis' last day of work, we head off in the motorhome (thanks grandma!) on a California adventure for 10 days. As soon as we get back (29-31 of March), we load up and head off to our new life outside Spokane. And hopefully, sometime between now and then, our house will sell.

In the meantime, my mood swings wildly between intense grief, and hopeful excitement. The boys will have their grandparents in their ward. They'll learn to shoot guns, hunt, and all that manly stuff with the Earl side of the family. I'll have a whole crop of new people who have never heard my skinny dipping stories. I'll have my husband home WAY more often- and the chickens, never forget the chickens.

How's that for a new adventure?