One Month Later

It's a full month after we closed on our new home. Kind of hard to believe, but here we are. 

First, I'm happy to report that we absolutely love the home. The quality is evident in just about everything. The products appear to have been installed competently and just about everything is working as expected. 

Second, the D.R. Horton team has not abandoned us. In fact, it feels like they've made an extra effort to ensure that our entire experience was a positive one. We've had impromptu visits and, even though they don't need to, they sales / construction team has continued to help us directly on the small number of issues we've had.

The Move

Nobody likes moving. However, ours went smoothly enough - though is was kind of exhausting. We had a 10 minute drive between houses, so we elected to move all the 'movable' stuff ourselves and only hire movers for the heavier items. Laurie got a pickup truck from Avis, which came in very handy. We probably made 20 trips carrying stuff. My little Audi A3 - 15 years young - also made many of the trips. By the time the movers arrived on June 14th (9 days after settlement) we had already moved most of what we thought we could handle. 

We also had a friend, Lauren, who often stays with us when passing through DC, there to help us for a few days. She was invaluable. Without her help we'd have been a few more days behind schedule. Thank you Lauren!

The movers were great. They needed two trips, which made for a full day. They moved a lot of heavy stuff. I don't know how they can do that day after day without having a physical breakdown. 

Once everything was moved out of the old house, we spent the better part of one day cleaning it and making it ready for the new owners. It's a little weird cleaning the house you lived in for 6 years after it's become empty. Many happy memories pass through your mind. It's the time when you realize that you are about to enter a new chapter in your life. It feels a bit unsettling. 

After we finally felt the old place was clean enough, we all retired to the new place, rested, and then went back to the old house for one last dip in the hot tub. Definitely something we are going to miss until we can get a new one. 

Unpacking

After the last hurrah in the hot tub and some Chinese takeout, we crashed. The next few days we did just the bare minimum to live. We were just too exhausted to do much else. the next day I connected the basement TV to the Internet.  I set up my office about two days after we moved and so did Laurie. We just lived with the boxes for a while. 

Both Laurie and I are a bit fanatical about making sure we get a workout in nearly every day. So for a week we just concentrated on getting a routine going in the new place. As things normalized, we started feeling ready to take on more energetic unpacking tasks, like hanging TVs and pictures on the walls. It took a while though!

The Yard

I cut the grass for the first time last weekend. Instead of the previous 40 minutes, it took 2.5 hours and I didn't even do the septic field or larger part of the front yard. Plus, it's a bit hilly-er and there are large parts that are natural and not graded. So the yard is a bigger project than I expected. What this means is that we need some bigger equipment. I didn't expect to have to buy a large mower but - I do. So I've been looking. 

We also realized that we have to have our fields (about 5 acres worth) bush-hogged at least once a year and possibly twice a year. Bush-hogging is not cheap. We've reached out to local farmers to see if they want to do it and take the hay, but we've had not responses and I've been told that 5 acres just isn't enough to make it worthwhile. 

The Change

Adjusting to a large lot on a dirt road has been a challenge, of course. In fact, I'd say that both Laurie and I still harbor a kind of 'out-of-our-normal-world' kind of feeling. It seems to be subsiding slowly as we do more and more around the house and make it our own. It did slow us down a bit as far as unpacking and decorating goes, however. But now we seem to be gathering momentum.

I learned from our last place that a house is not alive until a family makes it so. You can't just own it. You've got to live it. The landscaping is just dirt, trees, grass and plants until you take care of it. The rooms are just rooms until you set them up with your stuff and exist within them. The front porch is just a porch until you put a flag on it. 

Feels like we belong in a corn field

 

We've also gotten used to grilling in the driveway, since there is not back patio or deck yet. That's another project we'll have to get started soon. 

The new patio!

So, we are getting there - bit-by-bit. 

All issues we've had are minor:

• A cabinet door was damaged.
• The cook-top wasn't properly adjusted for propane.A floorboard came loose during the move.
• The cool video doorbell doesn't 'ring' inside the house.

Some things we've learned:

• 10 acres requires more landscape maintenance work than 1/3 of an acre, even if it's a more rustic environment.
• Well-water pressure is not city water pressure.
• Deer-resistant shrubs are a must.
• Close proximity to neighbors has its disadvantages, but it's also nice in a few ways! 
• Bush-hogging is not cheap!
  

The Net-Net

While its been an adjustment, we both feel that we've made a great move that will bring us happiness over a long (hopefully) chapter of our lives. Thank goodness for that since we definitely spent some money to get here!