Home ownership: one month in

Hard to believe that it has been a month already since we got the keys for the house. 

The much-anticipated keys signify so much - most notably home ownership as well as entry into a new community.

Home ownership. 

Again.

When we decided to sell the tree farm we assumed that we might one day again own property somewhere, but we also learned to appreciate the freedom from being tied down so we were unsure when that day might come.  

I guess it kinda’ snuck up on us.  There we were pretty content in the middle of a one-year lease on a little apartment and all of a sudden we were looking at old houses.  

We had both commented that we might be happy to stay in the apartment indefinitely, but once we began the house-hunting process, we both realized how ready we were to move on!

Hubby had enjoyed the reprieve from the responsibilities of being a land owner. He kinda’ loved not having to shovel snow or cut firewood.  He had especially reveled in not being a landlord and being the one that got the call in the middle of the night for some needed repair.  But now after a few years of that freedom, he was beginning to feel ready for a new project so he found himself looking for a fixer-upper.

I was content with many aspects of apartment life. I had taken advantage of so many things that I discovered about life in a small town and I had done everything I could think of to try to fit in there.  But I had to admit that I had not found a sense of connection or community there for all my efforts.  It was only after we began to meet people in Flint that I began to find my niche - and once we bought this house the connection has increased almost exponentially.

In fact, that has been one of the biggest and happiest surprises for me - the sense of community and connection.  And it began to happen so quickly.  The first week we were here we noticed that we had already connected with more people here than in the entire past year at the apartment complex. Our hearts are warmed by all the gestures of welcome that come our way.