The Dream House

 

To dream, there must be a vision.

A long time ago, when moving to Florida was still just an idea, I could see images in my head. Images of our Florida home. I could see a beautiful swimming pool,  surrounded by plants 🪴 that I love so much. I could see Crazy Bird hanging out with us on his own deluxe jungle gym. A  cozy exotic lounge area with lightweight curtains that add some elegance, overlooking the inviting pool. Our pool. I could feel a breeze and the humidity in the air and feeling so happy that we are surrounded by all of this.  Joe and I and our animals.  

H O M E.

Let me tell you,  the road to get to this place has been windy. There were detours.  More than we anticipated.  

So here we are and we figure it would be fun to tour some Open Houses. Those and model homes are just so much fun to look at. Regardless of whether we actually want to purchase a house or not. I remember throughout the years,  especially in the cold winter months in Colorado,  this was something we occasionally did as a fun activity.  

So yeah we decided: Let's go and tour a few. The difference in style, price and landscape was noticeable and interesting.  

But more than anything it was inspiring. Our brains started to go in to a slight overdrive mode. Hmmm, what if we actually do this thing? You know. THE thing!

So we did.  

One afternoon our lovely realtor Janice and I went to look at 3 homes that previously peeked my interest,  while scrolling through listings.  

 🏠 # 1:

We walk in. Passing through the spacious living room,

the dining room, 2 bathrooms, 3 bedrooms. A newly redone kitchen 

I find myself saying out loud "this house is ✔️ all of our boxes"!  I continue through the kitchen and office with french doors, a bright and inviting Florida room

 

before stepping into the backyard when my next view is this beautiful swimming pool.  Somebody pinch me!

Somebody had already done a great job renovating this 1954 rancher. Yes, there are tons of possibilities for Joe and I to get creative and turn this into our perfect tropical sanctuary. 

I can see our dogs chasing each other in the backyard 

and through the house. I see Peanut jumping into the pool while O'Malley is safely observing his brother from a distance (he doesn't care to be in water where he can't stand).  I see endless days creating my own jungle while Joe is enjoying tinkering around with his own projects that include an old car to tear apart, just to put it back together and other various projects that he enjoys so much. 

A house big enough to welcome our kids, our family and friends to visit.

A carport where I can haul home a dresser that I find somewhere for next to nothing.  Somebodies "trash" that to me is a treasure.  Because I know that after getting my hands on it, it will be unique. 

I get into my car. At home I show Joe the video I took of this place. Intrigued, the next day he sees it for himself.

We knew this was it.  This could actually be the one. Oddly enough there weren't a whole lot of conversations that took place between Joe and I before making up our minds about saying yes to the house. 

Fast forward.

This is where reality sets in. In its own unique ways.  In form of...hey, there's already an offer on this house. Wait. What?

I was heart broken 💔. 

Joe on the other hand felt that if it's meant to be our house, then it will be. Simple as that. 

We submitted an offer anyway. In case the 1st offer didn't work out, we'd already be the first on the list for the seller to go down as the next prospect.  

I couldn't allow myself to further imagine living there. The disappointment would be too much.  I saw the odds shrinking rapidly. In my mind being close to zero. So I kept busy to distract my mind.  

A day and a half passed.

There's an email!  Followed by more. Followed by phone calls with our agent. 

Juggling our jobs while comparing lenders, scheduling inspections of all kinds. This is what the following week looked like.

We did it. It's ours. We are under contract! 

Our next adventure awaits us. Hell ya!