House Hunters

Since we moved up to the Northwoods in July, we have been in house hunting mode.  After having owned a home, we felt we were a lot pickier about what we wanted with our second one, making the search a lot tougher.  As a mom and triathlete, I also had a wish list of things that I wanted to accommodate the lifestyle.  Well, as of about two weeks ago, we closed on our new home!  So how did it match up to our needs and wants?  Read on!

One thing I liked about our last house was that there was a second bedroom right next to ours.  It sure made having to get up during the night with a baby a lot more convenient (as if it’s ever really convenient).  Unfortunately, with our new house I now have to trek down two flights of stairs to the kids’ rooms.  There is a loft area next to our bedroom though that a newborn can stay in at first, just for the simplicity of being closer when getting up multiple times a night.  I’m not sure how I feel about having kids two levels down from us at night, but it will be nice not having them on the main level for when we are awake and they are not.

We are now only about 7 minutes from the YMCA, which means I basically have a pool in my backyard (well almost).  We do have a lake though!  HOWEVER, I’m not sure if I would want to swim in it.  The water is so dark that I can’t see anything in it, and frankly, that freaks me out.  It also has a fisherman/weeds shoreline and the information we found on it says that the bottom is 85% muck.  Yuck.  Well, there’s a pool 7 minutes away.  Even if we don’t swim in it, a paddleboat was left behind that we can use in the summer, and I already cleared a skating rink!  Right now we are the only house on the lake, and the end of our dock not only has gorgeous surroundings, but it is also a great place to unwind in absolutely peace and quiet (stolen moments that every mother needs).

We now have a 3 car garage – yes!  That means there is plenty of room for all of our workout equipment (weights), and to set up my bike on the trainer.  When we looked at houses, space for that was definitely something we were looking for.  An additional bonus is a paved driveway!  Say what?!  I should clarify that we now live out in the country on 7 wooded acres with a long driveway, so I could have only assumed that such a setting would mean that we would have a gravel driveway.  However, now I don’t have to worry about getting my bike down a gravel driveway and out to pavement (because as a mother, we all know that every minute of an opportunity should not be wasted). 

Running?  Well, I lost my trail that I had in Three Lakes, but I at least had it for my marathon training.  When it’s winter, I don’t want to take Baya out in the stroller anyway (and the trail is obviously out of commission for it too), but I have the Y nearby with treadmills, and we are on pavement for when it someday warms up again and I can bundle her up enough to take her out when the road has cleared off.

Another bonus is separate his and hers walk-in closets in the master suite.  This means that Andy no longer has to see or complain about all my workout clothes hanging all around.  Overall, we are in love with our house, even though it needs some work done on it (including the immediate attention of a new water heater).  We are excited about this being a place where our kids will grow up.  Our driveway even does a loop in our yard where they can ride their bikes around.  That is, until someday when they are ready to venture out on bigger rides with their mom!