What I Learned from Buying this House

 

The outside at our first tour.  We ended up having to pay to get this repaired and painted BEFORE we could buy it :).

• Space is good!  Love doesn't only grow in little houses.  Places of retreat for quiet reading, napping, practicing instruments can be very relaxing and harmony inducing.  When we first moved in I told my Dad we'd never live in all of the house or need it all for storage.  He said, "You'll be surprised how you'll use it."  Parents, why do you always have to be right?  We don't have it filled by any means but we do enjoy empty cupboards when re-organizing and the random extra room or basement when we have visitors or the kids need a place to run around in our long Omaha winters.
• When Daddy is happy, the whole family is happy.  Okay, that's not how the saying goes, and in fact I think Mama often sets the tone, but as much as I resented it at first I'm glad Casey got the garage he wanted, despite the issues of the house attached :).  He's used it so much and organized it just to his liking, and fulfilled a lot of his creative wood working urges out there.  It brings me joy to walk out to my car in the morning and smell the wood shaving smell.
• The negatives can become positives.  I moved from maybe the most social housing place on earth to this quiet street and it was lonely.  I hated how everyone kept to themselves or was simply too busy or in a different stage of life to engage as friends.  As the year progressed and we had TV crews show up at our house and awkward comments on the internet about me I was glad to live in my own privacy bubble.  In fact now I embrace it.  I love not seeing anyone I know for days at a time.  That's yoga pants and sweatshirt season year round, folks!