News

Now that everything's official, I can announce that we will be moving to Denver this summer! Most of you already know, or might have heard it through the grapevine, and the rumors are indeed true. M will not have to commute any more for school, which is a huge relief to all of us! We will miss Fort Collins terribly. It has been our home for almost four years now, and I could not have chosen a better place for us to begin our family. As sad as we are to leave, we know that living in Denver will be the best thing for us, as M finishes up the next three years of seminary.


The past few weeks have been an emotional roller coaster. M has finals (today is his last day of school for the year! Yippee!), and we have been frantically trying to find a place to live in Denver that fits our needs and our budget. Trying to find a home on Craigslist is an incredibly soul-crushing experience. You find a place that you fall in love with, and then it doesn't work out. The budget you come up with in your head vs. the reality of living costs in a city... Extremely depressing. And what are the chances of finding a place that fits all of your needs, and your budget, and your time frame? Needless to say, there were days when I thought we would never find a place to live.

But then, I found it. The house itself is perfect. The neighborhood is almost exactly where we wanted to be. The price is expensive, but still within our revised expectations of what a 2-bedroom in the heart of the city would cost. I sent M an email with pictures of the house, and I'm pretty sure the subject line said something along the lines of, "This is our house."

{Please disregard that giant sun thing, and the watering can o' flowers.}

I thought there was no way in a billion years we would get it. The house is actually priced relatively low for the location (which is within walking distance of major Denver attractions, such as the football stadium... I don't care for pro football, but if there is a Celine Dion concert, I can walk to it!) Even though M had to study for finals, we made an appointment to see the place and drove down to Denver last Saturday. We were competing with 13 other people, and even when we seemed to hit it off with the landlords, I was determined not to get my hopes up. 

But somehow, probably because we brought Lucy, they picked us! We move in on June 14th. One month from yesterday. And, as much as the thought of packing and moving with a one-year-old stresses me out, I am so relieved that we have found the right house for our family to spend the next three years!

I can't wait to paint that brick and lighten the place up.

The kitchen is nothing spectacular, but look at that exposed ceiling!!!

View from the living room to the back bedrooms.

Also, imagine how dramatically different it will look without that red. I want to open a paint can right now!

The floors, except for the kitchen area - which is tile, are a polished concrete. Normally, I don't know how I feel about that, but I actually think it looks really good in the space. And the dogs won't be able to ruin it.

Hallway to the bathroom and bedrooms...

I don't love that the washer and drier are visible from the hallway, but I love that our house has a washer and  drier. You wouldn't believe how many places we looked at that had a communal laundry room in the basement!

Tiny bathroom, but it works.

Bedroom 1... Again, those ceilings!

Bedroom 2... Sorry for the poor quality of the photos!

Every room has one of those brick walls. I will have a lot of painting to do.

This house doesn't really have a yard, but there is a front, private courtyard area - fenced in - and a back outdoor space - also fenced in. Both bedrooms have access to the back outdoor space. This worries me slightly with Lucy being the escape artist that she is, but we have talked about installing some sort of alarm system. Fortunately, the fence surrounding the back outdoor space is pretty high. The space isn't very big, but there might be enough room for a sand box :)

Most of the other houses we looked at were ranch-style with small windows and choppy layouts. They were pretty out-dated, and many of them had carpet. When I saw this house, I was immediately drawn to the lines and the openness of it. Plus, the house is super low-maintenance; I won't have to worry about spills or even potty-training accidents. And the neighborhood seems fantastic. They are building a brand new library around the corner, and we will be a couple blocks from the Light Rail, Denver's public transportation. There are parks close by, and the Aquarium and the Children's Museum are right down the street. I am so excited to go exploring. 

And, of course, we welcome visitors! :)