Greetings From Farm Country!

I've lived in a few different cities. I realized several years ago that I am NOT a city person. I came to the conclusion that what I really wanted was to live in the country - specifically with enough land that I could stand on my roof and not see my nearest neighbors.

Don't get me wrong, I loved living in our Victorian house. It had all the charm and old character that I could ever have imagined. When we moved to ND, we were in a really difficult financial situation. But we were hopeful, and a little blind. The home owners were willing to do a contract for deed with us. If you're not familiar with that, it's basically a rent-to-own situation, only you take over as the home owner as soon as the papers are signed. Which meant that while we had the freedom to do whatever we wanted with the house, we were also responsible for any repairs and the insurance. Unfortunately, with all the trials we've had happen over the last couple years, we weren't able to get the loan to buy out the contract with the previous owners. They were not in a financial position to extend the contract any further, so the only option was for us to move out so they could put the house back on the market. It was devastating, but I could certainly understand their position.

So the search was on to find a rental. It didn't seem like such a big deal at the beginning, but we were so wrong! Some contractual employees had locked up all the rentals in our little town. We started to look into renting houses that were for sale just to have somewhere to go. It actually became a well-known joke that if you had a house you were having trouble selling, you just needed to agree to rent to us! We had one house that sold literally THREE DAYS after the owners had said we could rent it!

Finally, as we were down to the final moments of our time in the other house, everything fell into place and we were able to find someplace to live.

Whew!

We have NO complaints! We had gotten to the point that we were going to have to settle for something much less than what our family needed, just to get into a house. What we ended up with was EXACTLY what our family needs - a farm house with some amazing extras!

I have a big, beautiful kitchen with lots of cabinet and counter space. There is a side-by-side refrigerator complete with water and ice dispensers - Surfer Pirate and I both enjoy that. We've also got a dishwasher! Our old house had one major problem - no main floor bathroom. Now? We have TWO of them! One in the laundry room, and our large, amazing main bathroom even has a whirlpool tub! Our master bedroom isn't big, but it has a walk-in closet! The kids' rooms are upstairs. Pirate Munchkin's room is the biggest one in the house, and has it's own large closet, plus attic storage and a built in dresser, complete with pull-out homework desk. Our living room is big enough for our large furniture. Surfer Pirate is thrilled to have a garage again. We have great landlords who are more than happy to let us rent for many years to come, and who've been very accommodating to us. The school bus comes right into our driveway to pick up and drop off Pirate Munchkin every day.

But possibly the best thing about our new place is where we are. We're just outside of our little town, but still out in the country! While I could possibly see our neighbors if I stood on the roof, I can't see them from the yard. There are other farmsteads near us, but with the windbreaks around them, we can't see the houses. So essentially, I've gotten my long-time wish!

Most of all, we just feel really blessed that we've been led to this wonderful place where our family can settle in and rest for many, many years.

And yes, I will be posting pictures once I feel like we're settled in.