home sweet home

hi lovelies

it has been a REALLY LONG TIME since i have written a true blog post.

truth is, i wasn't feeling it. we've been through a lot. we've made some big decisions. we're following our dreams.

one big step in that was putting our house on the market. when we bought and built that house as a newly engaged couple we thought for sure it was our forever house. we built the dream.

but life happened. dreams changed and now we realize we want something else. we want a different life. we don't need that big house. we have different priorities.

so we took the plunge and put that house on the market. it was SUCH a roller coaster. excitement, tears, frustration, hope, anticipation, you name it. we went through the emotion.

and we came out on the other side.

and so on friday we moved into our new "dream house."

it is VERY different from our "old" dream house in so many ways.

for starters we traded in city life for country life. we live in kemptville, about 30 minutes outside of ottawa. we traded in the large house with no lot for a smaller house with 1.5 acres of great outdoor living. we have an above ground pool, a big deck, a hot tub, a fire pit, a screened-in front porch. we have tranquility and space. denis has always been an outdoor guy so he's in heaven. i've recently discovered my love for a different way of life.

it seems so bizarre to say, but this feels like home. it feels right. ironically we built our first home together and denis built his first house too and yet this one seems like the best fit for us.

that being said, there is a lot of work to be done. we want to make it our own with both large and small renovations - you know us, we're never without a project.

for starters, the master "suite" is much to small for our stuff and for our liking so we are taking over the fourth bedroom to expand. we're also going to use part of that fourth bedroom for a second floor laundry room too. i'll still have a scrapbooking studio and we'll use the last room as a guest room. there is an office on the main floor that i will use as my work office now that i'm working from home. denis actually painted it last night and it is GORGEOUS. i can't wait to use that space. the current colours of the home are rather brown, dark and earthy - not our style at all. that room is so bright, crisp and clean. i love the colour so much i think i'm going to use it for my scrap studio as well!!!

(in case you are wondering, it's sarah richardson's blue box - i REALLY love her work and hope to use other colours for the rest of the house!) i'm eyeing either daydream or robin's egg for a primary colour in the rest of the house. there are a lot of windows here and i want an overall feeling of bright and airy.

we will be changing some of the flooring too - the previous owners had pets and we have allergies. so far so good, but i have had a reaction here in the past.

down the road we plan to change the kitchen as well and do some other stuff. fun fun fun. never a dull moment.

we ordered a sectional last week for the family room. this is BIG NEWS for us because we have been talking about getting a sectional for YEARS. we love to snuggle while watching movies and finally we'll have the right furniture for it!!!

i can't say enough about the neighbourhood...in the first 24 hours we met three sets of neighbours - i think it took us weeks if not months to meet that many at our old place. our next door neighbours showed up on saturday with a bottle of wine and told us to help ourselves to their garden. so sweet. this is country living my friends!!! the others were equally friendly and welcoming. and the nice part is they are our age.

we had our first visitors yesterday...katie and her little sweeties. we started at the local farmer's market and it was wonderful. just as quaint as i imagined. we loaded up on fresh local yummies - fruits, vegetables, jam, bread, cupcakes, even soap! i want to go back every single week!!! (i think katie does too and little kasey keeps talking about it!)

they gave me the perfect housewarming gift...a pink gardening set! it even has a pink hose attachment! there are MANY flower beds and plants so i think i better develop my green thumb pretty darn quickly!!!

we swam and then the girls ran and ran and ran in the yard as we prepared a bbq including FRESH CORN (omg it was amazing) from the market and chipotle cheddar bread!

the girls were pretty exhausted after a busy afternoon so katie headed home and d and i went for another swim and then relaxed in the hot tub. the sky out here is beyond words. there are so many stars it looks fake. i've been a city girl my entire life - who knew i had this in me?

the downside is it's so relaxing it feels like a holiday home and it isn't very conducive to getting boxes unpacked!!!

if all goes well, we'll have our first out-of-town guest this weekend...my great friend JODI from winnipeg...FINGERS CROSSED!

who knows what the future holds, but we're hoping this new direction is the start of something pretty incredible.

here are a few pictures that were taken before we moved in...

 

the fire pit in the side yard...and as katie said "YOU HAVE OUTBUILDINGS" HE HE (they are two little sheds)

the front porch - LOVE THIS SPACE

 

the pool...

 

the deck and hot tub (ohhhhhh the hot tub!!!)

so there is a quick tour...i'll add pictures as we go along with the updates.

i also hope to share a bit what country life is like for this city girl!!! MOVE OVER PIONEER WOMAN - PIONEER DIVA IS HERE! (as i was typing that statement i had a fly crawling all over my face - we have a lot of those right now!!!)

happy summer

night lovelies

Comments

[Julie C]

Laurie,

I love this post! You're living my dream! :)

[Katie Squires]

PIONEER DIVA....I LOVE IT!!! Your home feels like heaven. Truly a slice of heaven. Thank-you for sharing it with us :)

[Stéphanie Pouliot]

Looking great!!!!
So happy for you!
And to work remote ( i was wondering about the driving...) but that's one of the best things for sure! Enjoy your new lifestyle and the beauty of the country living!

[Stéphanie Pouliot]

Looking great!!!!
So happy for you!
And to work remote ( i was wondering about the driving...) but that's one of the best things for sure! Enjoy your new lifestyle and the beauty of the country living!

[Louise Dubord]

Pionneer Diva! That's excellent!Good luck with this wonderful adventure! I have been working from home for about 8 years.... so if you have any questions or comments about how come some days laundry looks more exciting than work, I am here : louise.dubord@bell.net