what a long, strange trip it's been...

What a strange feeling!  Instead of facing a bank of windows with a view of a tree-edged pond, I'm facing a blank tan wall as I sit at my computer desk.  Borga is chewing noisily in her crate at my right, instead of being on another floor.  Tall stacks of cardboard boxes clutter the room.  Still, I'm glad to be here.  We're finally in Indiana! 

I don't know how to do justice to the move itself, other than to say that nearly everything that could have possibly gone wrong, went wrong.  Movers called in sick, a major underestimation of the amount of stuff we had, a millipede invasion, mysterious power failures, terrible hot and humid weather, daily rain, injuries...ceaseless work, sleepless nights, sleeping on the floor, etc., etc.  After spending an entire week on the garage (where we kept a lot of our business merchandise), THIS is what it looked like...24 hours before the buyer walk-through, and 1.5 days before the actual closing.

But we were given a miraculous reprieve when, because of a bank error, our closing was delayed by 3 days, giving us enough time to finish up.  What a delight it was to see Todd carrying out the very last box!

I was too tired to take more than a cursory last look at our place.

Do you see Clotilde in the driveway? She stayed close to the Uhaul as we packed, sleeping in its shade or rubbing against our ankles.  I'm happy to report that several neighbors volunteered to take over the care and feeding of our little strays.  We'll miss them, though!

The long drive to Indiana!  We were completely exhausted and had to take at least one 30-minute nap, but didn't want to linger too long.  We wanted to make the trip in one day.

Because of road construction, it took about 13 hours to make it home.  But we made it! Todd had a helpful co-pilot...

...and we made sure to take a few silly pictures on the way.

For the first several days in Indiana, we were so exhausted that we spent a lot of time sleeping.  I don't ever remember being so tired after an experience!  But slowly, we're adjusting.  I joined the gym, Todd arranged his office space and made sure that all the trucks and Uhaul were unloaded into our storage units, and we're now looking for a house.   I think it will take a couple of weeks, at least, until we have some semblance of a normal schedule...but we're getting closer every day.  We took our first hike yesterday, too.  There's a nice trail about 5 minutes from the apartment.  What a great feeling to have a camera in hand again!

Looking forward to more hikes, kayaking, farmers markets, new experiences, and new friends!

the little house in the big woods

After weeks of packing and cleaning, of loading and unloading boxes, of hauling complaining cats in different vehicles and in and out of hotel rooms and boarding houses, we're finally in our new house in South Carolina. 

Although we don't know anyone, and it doesn't quite feel "like home", we feel so blessed to have found this house.  It's got so many elements that we've been looking for.

A long, open living room with a fireplace, and lots of windows.  And hardwood floors...oh, how I love hardwood floors.

A bright and cheery dining room, with plenty of space for family gatherings.

A big kitchen...

...with a big window for my plants.

The view from my old kitchen window was, four feet in front of me, the flesh-colored aluminum siding of the house next door. 

This is my new view!

The tree you see there in the background is a palmetto tree, which is the state tree.

Off the kitchen is the sun room, which was added on to the original house several years ago.

Another sunny, happy place to gather with loved ones!

The house was built in 1950, but the last homeowners added several features.  Besides building on a sun room, they widened the back living room and added a bank of windows that overlooked the back yard.

They also built a patio, just beyond the guest bedroom.

One of my favorite changes...they remodeled the master bathroom to add a 2-person jacuzzi tub and a stand-alone glass shower.  It's so modern-looking, which I normally dislike, but oh, the comfort!

They installed sinks on either side of the bathroom, so I have my own space.  Ahhhh!

I have my own craft room, too, a cheerful little room tucked away at the far end of the house.

I love the idea of being able to work back here with so many windows.  I have great views:

The house is white with green shutters.

Just like I've always wanted, it has a little fenced-in side garden...perfect for flowers.

On the other side, you can see the sun room jutting off the back, and the land start to slope down toward the water.

The back shows all the features added by the previous homeowners to enjoy the view!

And what a view it is!  We can't get enough of it.

There's an 11-acre pond, owned by a neighbor, running the length of our property in the back.

 

There's an outdoor fireplace that's fallen into disrepair, right by the water.

 

We're looking forward to restoring it, and area around it, into a comfortable gathering place for friends.

We're on a dead-end street, surrounded by trees, with a few spread-out neighbors...but just 1/2 mile up the road is the shopping hub of the entire upstate area.  Target, Walmart, Lowes, Petsmart, you name it...just 5 minutes away.  Yet we feel as if we're isolated in the country.  It truly is the best of both worlds!

We don't have much furniture, we're surrounded by boxes, and we have a lot of painting to do...but we're thankful to be here!  Listening to the birds singing and watching the colorful leaves drift slowly to the ground, we're feeling pretty lucky.

Have a great week!

it's here, my dear!

I had so much to tell you this week...about how the zinnias, which languished all summer, are beautiful and vibrant now...

...and how the cosmos are all going to seed...

 

...and how the cleomes have formed long, green seed pods, ripening slowly...

 

I also wanted to mention some of the little creatures I'd seen hiding outside, like this earwig:

 

 Or how beautiful the hydrangea blossoms are as their color deepens in the cooler weather:

I wanted to tell you those things and more, but while I've been slowly packing, and the cats napping...

...the days were flying by more quickly than I realized.  But it hit home today...in ONE WEEK, I'll be en route to South Carolina with Todd and the pets. 

One week!

Suddenly, I have a thousand things to do.  Mocking stacks of flattened cardboard boxes are leaning against the wall, and they need to be filled.  Things have to be transferred...bank accounts, IRAs, magazine subscriptions, insurance...and I have to find a place to live for a week or so before we close on the South Carolina house. 

At least I remembered to file for an absentee ballot.  Everyone, PLEASE vote!

So, unless I'm stuck in a hotel room in a strange city with a suitcase, two cats, a dog, and my laptop for a week (gulp), I probably won't be posting until we're officially relocated. 

But I'll eventually be back.  Until then!

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!

In my mind, I'm going to...

I didn't make my regular post last week, but it was because our lives got a lot more exciting in a very short time!  Todd has been looking for full-time work in his field for the past year while finishing up his dissertation.  After obtaining his Ph.D. at the end of last year, he started his job search with renewed vigor in 2012.  Two weeks ago, he received TWO job offers!  After much prayer, we now know and can announce...

WE'RE MOVING TO SOUTH CAROLINA!!!

We'll be settling in the Clemson area in the upcountry, the far northwest corner of the state.  It's a beautiful area in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, surrounded by lakes, and we are beyond excited.  Todd will start work at Clemson University the second week of September. 

So, we took a little drive down there last week.

It's interesting to see how vegetation varies by region.  We saw a lot of the same trees that we have in Indiana, but we also saw quite a bit of cactus and bamboo.  Crepe myrtle trees were in bloom everywhere, and I saw several magnolia trees, too.  As a gardener, I'm especially excited.  Making the jump to Hardiness Zone 7 opens up a whole new world of gardening possibilities!

Did I mention...magnolia trees?!?

Clemson is a small town of about 12,000 people.  The university is beautiful, with a lovely landscaped campus bordered by large lakes on two sides.  There are several other small towns only 10 or 15 minutes away in each direction.  For someone who's used to concrete and traffic, this sort of town-to-town drive is very refreshing:

You can just see the mountains in the distance!  Just beyond the main streets and housing clusters of each small town is this:

Quiet, tree-lined streets.  A little further out, farms.  It's so pretty!

One of the reasons for our trip was to look at houses.  We looked at some more modern homes...

...but we mainly saw old-fashioned ones.

It doesn't look big from here, but this is a 5-bedroom farmhouse, built in the 1930s!

Oh, it's so green.  I've missed the grass.

This farmhouse is partially remodeled...

...but other areas need some work.

This is not the house, of course, but one of the two barns on the property.  Todd is imagining a place to store our business...while I'm more focused on the other barn, which would house animals.

It's a little ramshackle, but it is a barn with 4 stalls and plenty of room to move around.

A beekeeper must live nearby, because we saw these down the street:

They were full of very active bees!

It was fun to look at houses, but we wanted to see the natural beauty of the area, too.  We drove about 20 minutes north of the little town with the farmhouse, to the Jocassee Reservoir.  It's amazingly beautiful, and seemed so large.  I couldn't believe it when I looked on a map and saw that we were only at one tiny finger of a much, much larger body of water.

The water was so warm and inviting that we immediately peeled off our shoes and socks and went wading.

This is one body of water that Todd has agreed to snorkel in!  Scuba diving is very popular here too, as well as all types of boating, swimming, hiking, and bicycling.

It was great to take a break...

...but now we're home and in a flurry of activity.  We've patched and painted the interior of the house, hauled loads and loads of things to Goodwill, and filled a second storage unit with miscellaneous non-essentials.  We're putting our house up on the market this week and are then going to rush to get ready for a toy show we'll have a booth at later this month.  Then packing, finding a place around Clemson, and finally, hauling two cats and a very nervous dog on a pretty long drive!

Phew!

We're ready for the challenge, though!  Todd and I are both excited about this opportunity and are really pleased about the area we'll be moving to.  Moving is never fun, but we've gotten a lot of great advice from friends and family and I think we'll be able to keep things pretty low-stress.

I think.

I'll be sure to post regular updates.  Have a great week!