Home, next Home

We are in escrow!

Behold, our next home, here:

What? You don't see a home? Tom sure does! He has it all designed in his head - complete with a babbling brook and waterfall (he says this one was "just practice"), a tree house for (future) grandkids, and another gorgeous garden shed. All this won't happen until about 2018, though, so he will just have to keep designing and re-designing until he retires.

Imagine something somewhat similar to this, except with the garage actually a separate structure, placed at a wide open "V" angle to the house. Now imagine total silence, except for those birds singing...and more trees. Oh, and imagine our elk friends coming by for a visit.

Nice, eh?

Of course, the design will change many times between now and when we retire, partly because Tom absolutely must obsess about everything - orientation on the (1.2 acre!) lot, model and floorplan, etc. -- and one cannot obsess unless one is at least somewhat undecided.

I will obsess once it becomes more of a reality (first step: close escrow!) and I can actually place furniture and design rooms.

And just to keep ourselves from completely freaking out -- have we already decided where we will live out our lives?! -- we can just look at this whole lot purchase as a simple real estate investment, breathe, and move on.

But why would we? Tom gets his big, quiet, very private property and his dream house in a climate with four times as many sunny days (and way more snow) than Seattle, I get all that plus a real sense of community, and we both get miles and miles of hiking and biking trails, great recreational facilities, a river and a lake nearby for boating and fishing activities, and great restaurants and wineries.

I'm thinking we might be able get used to the whole idea! What do you think?