Home Sweet Home

I did something a little unconventional yesterday - I committed to buying a house that I've never actually seen.

Really!

I joked to Todd that the next time I play the party game "Truth Truth Lie", I'll have another outlandish "truth" that will help me win the game (besides "My parents used to hunt rattle snakes in Death Valley", "I once drove over a cliff", and "My high school friend once worked with an infamous serial killer"!). 

It's in Anderson, South Carolina, about 20 minutes from Todd's new job at Clemson University.  He was there last week with the son of a family friend, who videotaped their experience. 

The house was built in the 1940s and has a lot of charming features, I think.  There are four large bedrooms:

Bedroom and Patio

It has a cheerful kitchen with a big greenhouse window.  Just beyond the kitchen is one of my favorite features, a big sun room that overlooks the back yard and the 11-acre pond that borders the back of the property.

Kitchen and Sun Room

The house has a big finished basement with another bedroom and bathroom.

Basement

Beyond the basement is a one-car garage (perfect for storing our business) and a two-car carport (beneath the sun room).

The house sits on almost 1 1/2 acres.  A little white fence encloses a small area by the house - perfect for a vegetable garden!  In the front and side yard, I'll slowly start building a cottage garden!  I love the thought of being able to sit in the sun room and look down on the garden.

Front Yard

I'm so excited to really get settled in.  I feel like I've been a nomad for quite a while.  After high school, I moved several times:  to Indianapolis/Broad Ripple for 4 years, then to the south side of Indianapolis for 4 years, and to Portland, Oregon for several months before buying a house on the south side of Indianapolis about 8 years ago.  I moved into each of these homes with the knowledge that I wouldn't be staying for too long, which felt a bit unsettling because I'm the sort of person who has a very strong desire to put down roots somewhere.  For the past three years, while Todd has worked on his dissertation, we're talked about this:  where do you think we'll end up?  Now we know:  we're going to be in South Carolina, and in this house.

I can finally plant roses in the garden!