5th Anniversary in Our New Home – Life Then & Now

Wow, it amazes me how fast time flies by.  It seems hard to believe we’ve been in this home 5 years this past Christmas.  We got the keys on December 16, 2016.  Check out our 5th Anniversary in Our New Home – Life Then & Now.

We had been wanting to move back closer to family for quite a while, but our home search was not easy.  Prices and location seemed to be a huge problem.    Things looked pretty daunting trying to find anything in our price range and near family.  Every home needed tons of work.  I think this post tells the story best.  One Year Later When You Let Go & Let God.

In one short year after the Lord steered us to this home, we had so many of my dreams fulfilled.  Our kitchen needed to be remodeled badly.  Two weeks after moving in our contractor had some time available, so our Kitchen Remodel got started – (this is what it looked like when we bought it) Not too many cabinets and the appliances barely worked.  Only 2 burners on the stove would turn on and the oven was 50 degrees off.  However – – – –

by the first part of February, it looked like this.  I am positive the Lord was in control of this too, because it came out so much better than my dreams.  You can see the complete makeover reveal here.

After that we started hunting for the right people to transform our backyard. One of the blessings of this house was that the back yard was a good size and had absolutely nothing in it.  A total blank slate to do anything we wanted.

 

We spent March getting quotes from several pool contractors  The biggest thing on my wish list for a new home was to have a pool.  Well God didn’t disappoint here either.    We found the right builders and by the middle of April they dug the hole.   You just can’t believe how much this means to me.  Living in the desert with temps way above 110 for a good portion of the year, this is the only way you can ever enjoy being outside. By the first week of June Our Pool Was Finished.

Now that the pool was finished, time to clean up the patio and yard.  Here is the dumping ground the patio had turned into.

Here is it now – – –

Some landscaping and the whole back yard became our oasis.

Then it was time to make a few more changes inside.  Our living room went from this  – —

 

 

to this – adding and subtracting a few pieces of furniture and we finally had a room that looked like us.

Looking the other way at Christmas.

Family Room looking into Kitchen – – –

This is the view from the family room looking into the kitchen – – –

This is the view from the kitchen looking back into the family room.  This is where we spend most of our time and feels comfortable for us. This space seemed to be the hardest for me to fine-tune and finally feel like it was “me”.  Several different furniture arrangements later, I love this space.

 

Loft/Office/Girl Cave – I chose this as my special place.  Everyone needs a personal office and girl cave.

I love this space.  I blog here and if I want to slip away and watch a favorite TV program, this is where you will find me. I love how all the furniture pieces that didn’t fit anywhere else came together to create this special Girl Cave/Office space for me.

Master Bedroom –  This is a nice space and the bonus is there are two closets, you can see the single door – that is a walk-in that I chose.  Hubby chose the 8 ft. slider just inside the door.

This room feels so relaxing to us. Everything from our previous home fit perfectly in here.

Things got put on the back-burner for a while.  I had back surgery in June of 2018 and had doctors’ orders to sit on the sideline for a year to let the rods and screws they added to my spine settle in and connect to my bone.   The year is up so – – – – June 2019 I finally stained the vanity and gave it some love.  This is what it looked like when we moved in.

Master Bathroom Makeover Reveal

This room is a true testament to what you can do for free.  Everything used in this makeover was leftovers from other makeovers throughout the house.

 

Upstairs Hall Bathroom

The Hall Bathroom Upstairs didn’t get any updates at all except some flooring leftover from the kitchen makeover.   I hung a few pictures, a shower curtain, and called it good.  It is finally getting a makeover that it so badly needs.

 

Budget Hall Bathroom Makeover

New vanity, toilet, medicine cabinet, and mirror.  Add in some new accessories and this bathroom looks majorly different.  The new vanity is so much nicer than the old builder-grade one.  Hubby uses this as his bathroom, so he is going to love the extra drawers and storage in the new vanity.

This past year I finished a small makeover of two areas we had plans to redo.  Nothing big, but our downstairs powder room needed some love.

A little paint and accessories transformed this space for $50.

Our laundry room was quite the eye sore too, so it got a little love with a really inexpensive makeover too.

 

There are always things to tweak and upgrade, but I love our home and believe the Lord led us here for a reason. There is no way to explain how Blessed I feel and how thankful I am for our new home and how the Lord orchestrated the whole thing.    A beautiful new home and living closer to family was a dream that He made reality.

Five years ago we had no idea that August 13, 2020 Jim would pass away from Covid.  Providing this home and leading us back closer to family has made these last 5 years some of the best.  So many wonderful memories with family and friends.  These last 16 months with Jim gone it has been even more important for me to be closer to family.  They have been my rock as I’ve been trying to navigate loss and healing.  This home is a true Blessing and one I think the Lord picked just for us.

As we were house hunting 5 years ago, I was praying we would find the perfect home for us.  If you are praying for something that is on your heart, sometimes you just have to “Let Go & Let God” and trust.  I know how hard that is to do, but when He is in control and works things out in His perfect timing, it always turns out best and way beyond what you ever imagined.

When I wrote my  “Let Go & Let God” post, I loved hearing the stories about how so many of you are in the same boat I was with a deep desire for some kind of change and nothing was happening.  I do know that waiting on the Lord is the hard part of any wish.  One thing I do believe in deeply is the phrase – “God Can’t Steer A Parked Car”.  I think we have to have our eyes, ears and hearts open to what He is putting in front of us and when he opens a door be willing to walk through it.  My hunt started out for a move-in ready house in a really nice neighborhood with a big yard and pool.  The door He opened was for a Builder Basic Fixer-Upper in a nice neighborhood with a big yard and no pool but at an affordable price that would give us enough money to remodel a few things and to build a pool.  In the end I got the perfect place for us.  So be flexible and be willing to see what He has in mind.

I am still trusting God and Believing He is in control.  I am trying to keep my eyes, ears and heart open to what He puts in front of me next.