Adventures in Home Ownership
"Where you are is who you are. The further inside you the place moves, the more your identity is intertwined with it. Never casual, the choice of place is the choice of something you crave." - Frances Mayes, Under the Tuscan Sun
For those of you who have lived in your own home for longer than 12 months, I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, "Oh, how cute. Rachel and Joey have owned a home for a year and they already think they know everything about the intricacies of home ownership." And you're right- we're feeling pretty good about everything we've already learned and fixed and replaced since we moved to our Heber homestead a year ago next week. After a year I feel like I can hold my own in any conversation about well pumps, dog laws, water rights, raising pigs, goats, and cows, fence posts, river rocks, septic tanks, and horse hay. Not to mention where to shop for the highest quality leather boots and cowboy hats.
And I love it. I've loved this home since we first set foot in it (with the caveat that I don't necessarily love living in the land of 7 winter months, only 2 decent restaurants, and no Target). Our home with its high pinewood beams, giant windows, cozy fireplace, and welcoming openness. Our home with its 2 acres of green field, its wall-less barn, its green spruce and quaking aspen trees, its river rocks that grow like daisies, and its stunning views. Our home with its 5 chickens (yep, it used to be 6), 2 dogs, a buried hamster, and the occasional stray pygmy goat. With neighbors who bring us steaks from the cows we used to watch out our window, neighbors who ride by on their horses and 4-wheelers, neighbors who can tell us everything we need to know about cleaning out our septic tank and fertilizing our garden with fresh goat manure.
We've worked hard over the last 12 months at making this house our own. We've replaced a garbage disposal, changed doorknobs, hung curtains and towel racks, built a fence and a rock wall, and completed a number of other similar projects. We still have grand visions for the next 20 years (including a barn WITH walls, livestock of our own, carpet without dog stains, and granite countertops to name a few) and that gives us something to look forward to. For anyone who still needs to stop by, our door is open! And for anyone who already has, the good news is that we got the well pump fixed. Now you can shower without the water cutting out 5 minutes in. But we can't make any promises about the leaky toilet :)
For those of you who have lived in your own home for longer than 12 months, I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, "Oh, how cute. Rachel and Joey have owned a home for a year and they already think they know everything about the intricacies of home ownership." And you're right- we're feeling pretty good about everything we've already learned and fixed and replaced since we moved to our Heber homestead a year ago next week. After a year I feel like I can hold my own in any conversation about well pumps, dog laws, water rights, raising pigs, goats, and cows, fence posts, river rocks, septic tanks, and horse hay. Not to mention where to shop for the highest quality leather boots and cowboy hats.
And I love it. I've loved this home since we first set foot in it (with the caveat that I don't necessarily love living in the land of 7 winter months, only 2 decent restaurants, and no Target). Our home with its high pinewood beams, giant windows, cozy fireplace, and welcoming openness. Our home with its 2 acres of green field, its wall-less barn, its green spruce and quaking aspen trees, its river rocks that grow like daisies, and its stunning views. Our home with its 5 chickens (yep, it used to be 6), 2 dogs, a buried hamster, and the occasional stray pygmy goat. With neighbors who bring us steaks from the cows we used to watch out our window, neighbors who ride by on their horses and 4-wheelers, neighbors who can tell us everything we need to know about cleaning out our septic tank and fertilizing our garden with fresh goat manure.
We've worked hard over the last 12 months at making this house our own. We've replaced a garbage disposal, changed doorknobs, hung curtains and towel racks, built a fence and a rock wall, and completed a number of other similar projects. We still have grand visions for the next 20 years (including a barn WITH walls, livestock of our own, carpet without dog stains, and granite countertops to name a few) and that gives us something to look forward to. For anyone who still needs to stop by, our door is open! And for anyone who already has, the good news is that we got the well pump fixed. Now you can shower without the water cutting out 5 minutes in. But we can't make any promises about the leaky toilet :)
Wow! You guys really have had a full first year of homeownership. It looks like an awesome home! Jon and I will have to drive up and get the full tour some time. And meet your remaining five chickens . . . ;)
ReplyDeleteYou have such a beautiful house! Hopefully we'll get to visit it again someday!
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