Thursday, September 23, 2010

Favourite Thing Friday

My Favourite Thing this week is our home. We are approaching the 9th anniversary of the day we purchased our home. October 23, 2001 was the day our house was for sale by public auction. For those of you not familiar with the concept, the house is auctioned off to the highest bidder with the approval of selling price [by the owner]. Typically this is common in a house formerly owned by an elderly widow(er). In this case, the son of the former owner lived out of state and was anxious to settle the estate quickly. The new buyer is responsible for paying 10% the day of the sale and will inherit any liens or back taxes on the property.

When we first toured our house, I reached the foyer and then turned around and left. The previous owner had raised German short-haired pointers and was unable to care for them when he became ill. To say the house was filthy is a gross (emphasis on gross) understatement. Rob toured the house and was inspired by the potential. We were pre-approved for a mortgage and our budget was $100,000.

The house was dirty and the yard was overgrown, but it was a solid brick rancher with three bedrooms, 2.5 baths and in a great school district. It had central air, a relatively new roof and relatively new furnace/hot water heater. Rob's aunts were visiting and attended the sale along with my parents and grandmother. Once the auctioneer passed $100,000, I was disappointed and lost interest in the back and forth banter. When the auctioneer yelled "going once, going twice, sold" to Rob I shrieked, "WHAT"? I know, I could have come up with something a little more colorful, but that was my first response.

Little did I know, but my grandmother also fell in love with the house and was whispering and tugging on Rob's arm not to let this chance get away. She said, "I'll give you $11,000 today if you buy this house". She knew, like he did, that $111,000 for a house was a steal.

So, we bought the house. She gave us $11,000 - in cash. I'm not kidding. We spread the money out in Rob's parents living room, sprayed it with Febreze and then took it to the bank.

I love our house. I love our neighborhood.  It may not be the biggest house (it's one of the smaller neighborhoods in our district), but it's ours.  I hope our kids look back some day and call this, "the house that built me" like the Miranda Lambert song. Our kids are the first children to live here and my dad always says that this house is really lived in.

We've brought home two babies into this home, we've had countless birthday parties here. We've had fights here, we've made up here. We've laughed and cried. We've had sleepovers, we've had sleepless nights (filled with puking). We've refinished wood floors. We've installed carpet (and uninstalled it). We've treated termites, installed bathrooms, and painted every room.

It's usually dirty (somewhere), it's old and small, but it's one of my favourite places to be [with some of my favourite people in the world].  It's home.


Josh's room, love the bullets, football, and the American flag!
making memories in the front yard


the girls room - it's not usually this orderly!

our living room



beauty shop in the hallway bathroom


our "retro" original marble bathroom floor


the shower in the "master bathroom to be"

8 comments:

  1. Kirsten, I so enjoyed your post. What a pretty house, a wonderful story about how you acquired it (bless your grandmother!), and the beautiful memories you have. Your favorite thing post made me feel happy.

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  2. Kirsten...your Favourite is not just a house. You've turned it into a home. :o) Oh, and I practically awoke everyone when I laughed aloud about the Febreezed money! Thanks for sharing. Happy FTF! :o) Larri at Seams Inspired

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  3. We have auctions down under too. You have made your house a true home.

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  4. I love the look of your house Kirsten. It feels like home to me too.

    Thanks for sharing it with us, and showing us what it means to you.

    This was such a fantastic post. Like Michelle I felt really happy reading it.

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  5. I am just shocked that it took you nine years to go from pink to blue. I love it, by the way! I think the shock is from the fact that you have been living in that house for 9 years! Time flies. It's a good thing you didn't take a sledge hammer to the pink bathroom.

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  6. Fantastic. HOME is absolutely the correct word.

    I have to ask, why did you spray the money with Febreeze, though? :)

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  7. Kirsten-I REMEMBER Febreezing the musty money on the dining room floor--& the look on Gpa Teagues face when he unexpectantly walked through on his way upstairs (like, what did you guys do, rob a bank???)! It was a story I've told many times--and the Febreezed money still smelled musty when we took it to the bank the next day-poor bank teller! Great memories that made my heart smile-thanks! Aunt Jean

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  8. What a beautiful post! I love going through friend's homes and getting a feel of who they are & what they love & how they decorate - yes, I just admitted that. So thank you for this awesome post and letting me walk through your home!

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