"Traveling this gorgeous state has left me at first, less sure about where to settle down, but now, confident in an area. As a former Long Islander, I am far too accustomed to choices and options at my fingertips. I cannot live more than 30 minutes from a city or In a town that shares one school with 5 other towns. I need grocery options and a "Bed Bath and Beyond" to walk through while clucking my tongue at the prices, and I need to be able to jump in the car and get ice cream but also...far enough to see the stars and milky way at night...and hear nothing but nature and children when I stand in our yard, and have our own woods to walk through, and maybe find bear pies in the driveway ...and Southern NH offers all of that. Fortunately, we love to drive, so the fact that many a kindred spirit I have met here lives in the central/Northern regions is only a slight challenge, and I will simply have to drive and visit and host gatherings from wherever we end up. "
When I wrote this in April of 2016, I was setting my intention and really lighting the beacon so to speak, in hopes that something would soon present itself to fulfill our needs and wishes.
As it turns out, it was about a week before we found our house.
I had been up in bed surfing the online listings once again, hubby asleep already next to me as it was at least 1:00 am, and I was still up combing through lagging internet real estate aps. On my last sweep of the South-western region of New Hampshire, I saw a new listing pop up. It had passed my filter test, (acreage, square footage, price range...) but the pics were odd and rather limited. Since it did have the space and price we were looking for, I immediately emailed our agent and asked if she knew anything about this property. I had resolved to do the drive by the next day, to scope out the area and the property itself.
Our agent got on the line as soon as she could, and got us an appointment with the seller's agent to see the house that Friday. Being that this particular house happened to be in a very desirable neighborhood and at the price it was listed at, it felt like it would be gone if we waited at all. The next day was Mother's Day, so after having a family breakfast at a diner in the area we were hoping to move to, I insisted that we swing by this house that just went on the market, to make sure the area was doable. We did, and we were all very impressed.
Our agent got on the line as soon as she could, and got us an appointment with the seller's agent to see the house that Friday. Being that this particular house happened to be in a very desirable neighborhood and at the price it was listed at, it felt like it would be gone if we waited at all. The next day was Mother's Day, so after having a family breakfast at a diner in the area we were hoping to move to, I insisted that we swing by this house that just went on the market, to make sure the area was doable. We did, and we were all very impressed.
The town was impeccable; quintessential small town New England, and though the driveway of the house was a very steep hill, the house looked like a MUST see.
Meanwhile, I grilled a local friend about the area and she told me all the things you want to hear: "That town is gorgeous! They have a very nature-oriented community, great lakes, a nature conservation center, wow what a great find! Get over there and check it out!"
So Friday rolls around, and I have my appointment to see the house for that evening, but I was just feeling antsy, like I had to drive up sooner and sneak another peek. I received a call from our agent, and she told me that the house was not lived in at the moment. The sellers were out of the country and the house had been rented briefly but was currently vacant. I had been out for the day doing errands and my little Cheech fell asleep in the car, so on impulse, I decided to forgo heading home, and I headed to THE HOUSE instead. I figured, I could sneak up a little closer and peek in...and get a better idea of what I might be seeing...and if anything glaringly off was afoot, then we could cancel our appointment. Well, as I pulled up by the mail box, about to haul up the driveway, when another car pulls up along beside me. It was apparently, the seller's agent and another agent from the local office who were going to check out the house, as it had just been listed a few days prior. I told them how I was just popping in but I was her 5pm appointment, and she invited me to just check it out then and there with her coworker. So me and my little one took the offer, and got an impromptu tour of this amazing house. Room after room I'm pretty sure my jaw dropped lower and lower, though I THOUGHT I was hiding it. When we finished the tour, I text messaged Rob saying "You are coming to see this house at 5pm. I WANTS IT!".
I went home, and that evening, Rob went to see it with our agent and got the tour. He comes home and says "so yeah, we found a house".
So Friday rolls around, and I have my appointment to see the house for that evening, but I was just feeling antsy, like I had to drive up sooner and sneak another peek. I received a call from our agent, and she told me that the house was not lived in at the moment. The sellers were out of the country and the house had been rented briefly but was currently vacant. I had been out for the day doing errands and my little Cheech fell asleep in the car, so on impulse, I decided to forgo heading home, and I headed to THE HOUSE instead. I figured, I could sneak up a little closer and peek in...and get a better idea of what I might be seeing...and if anything glaringly off was afoot, then we could cancel our appointment. Well, as I pulled up by the mail box, about to haul up the driveway, when another car pulls up along beside me. It was apparently, the seller's agent and another agent from the local office who were going to check out the house, as it had just been listed a few days prior. I told them how I was just popping in but I was her 5pm appointment, and she invited me to just check it out then and there with her coworker. So me and my little one took the offer, and got an impromptu tour of this amazing house. Room after room I'm pretty sure my jaw dropped lower and lower, though I THOUGHT I was hiding it. When we finished the tour, I text messaged Rob saying "You are coming to see this house at 5pm. I WANTS IT!".
I went home, and that evening, Rob went to see it with our agent and got the tour. He comes home and says "so yeah, we found a house".
offer was made, back and forth for a few details, and we were in.
The closing was set for July 25th; 60 days from when our offer was accepted, and as the closing day grew nearer, there was the expected whirlwind of packing and preparing and excitement and stress going around our little family. One of the many thoughts was how much stuff we have and how proportionately, how little furniture. We would be moving to a house double the size of anything we'd ever lived in, and we would have no sofa once we got there, and not a lot of money to make big purchases right away. Then, I got word from our agent that the sellers wanted to offer us (the buyers) a chance to take any furniture that was in the house before they dumped it all. They had retired to another country, so anything their family didn't want was up for grabs. I did a little happy dance at the prospect of free furniture, and arranged to go over there the next morning. I arrived to meet one of the sellers and presumably her sister or friend, helping her clean the house out. The garage was filled with boxes of random stuff, old lamps, little household odds and ends, and she invited me in to look at the larger things that they didn't want to have to move out if not necessary.
I immediately requested the couch in the living room, and a few little tables and things from the garage, as well as a queen sized bed in very good condition for us to use as a guest bed.
Before heading out, I was told to feel free to look through the garage for anything else I might want, and though determined to NOT accumulate any more "stuff" we really didn't have use for, I felt I needed to at least look. My eyes immediately fell on a small box filled with old dolls.
Now, I'm not an "old doll" person by any means. I loved MY dolls, but I have no affection for creepy old staring painted faces, let alone those found in the dusty attic of someone else's house, but this doll was something different.
See, when I was about 4 years old, my mother and I were shopping for groceries, and I had brought my favorite little doll, Lemon Baby (named for her yellow outfit and lemon shaped head). That is the last time I recall seeing her, because she was lost to me at some point in the trip, and never found. So...flash forward about 32 years...
Sitting on top of a pile of other old dolls, in this box, smiling at me, is this small, yellow, saw dust filled baby doll. This is not MY doll, but this IS MY DOLL.
I got goosebumps.
I snapped a pic, and thanked Lemon Baby for keeping my house cozy for me all these years. Even if it wasn't my exact doll, (though who knows...) this moment of connection to the home that my children could be raised in will be burned in my mind and heart.
After all that clearly clandestine excitement, I returned home to finish the preparations for our big move.
Then the BIG DAY arrived; CLOSING DAY!!!
After we closed on the house, we drove up together to show our children the house for the first time. The friend of mine who had directed us to our amazing real estate broker was at our mailbox, trying to make a quick getaway. She had left a surprise for us...
All along our driveway and on the house, she had pinned up balloons to add to our celebration. I took one look at the "Welcome Home" sign and the tears came. The gesture was overwhelming and added the perfect touch to our homecoming.
We then pulled out the Besom (ritual broom) that we have had above the door to our home since we fist lived together in 2002, and as with the wedding tradition of hopping the broom into your new life, we all hopped the broom one by one, into our new home.
Two days later, at long last, the official MOVE was upon us!
Movers came to load up our lives onto trucks and take us to the next chapter.
WELCOME HOME KIMBALLS!
