In The Beginning...

It was a beautiful Spring day. The sun shone brightly and the air smelled of the renewal of life that comes in May. The year was 2002.

JD and I were driving down one of the main streets in town when an "Open House" sign caught my eye. The arrow on it pointed up a residential street. On a whim, we followed that arrow.

It lead us to an amazing house. We pulled up along the curb across the street. And gaped at what lay before us.

"We could never afford this house", JD noted.

"Let's go look anyway, just for the heck of it", I chided.

We nervously walked up to the expansive porch, feeling out of our element. Feeling like paupers gawking at the crown jewels.



We stepped inside. And our lives changed forever.


As soon as we walked over the threshold, we were standing in the living room.


It was so perfect. The soft colors. The white trim. Oh, all that trim! The fireplace. The built in bookcase next to the fireplace. The lighted shadowbox built into the wall. The closet door with shelves built right into the door. The chandelier. The room screamed "Kim!". I caught my breath.


Next we moved to the dining room.


While I could see this room had undergone some awkward updating, its original charm shone through loud and clear. Someone had built open shelving, floor to ceiling, on one wall. A grow-light and shelf for plants had been added to another wall. The room was wall-papered up top and had sheet paneling down below. But it also had the original hutch with drawers built into one of the walls. And the original swinging door to the kitchen. Ooh la la!


Through the swinging door we went, into the kitchen.



It was a bit of an odd layout, being L-shaped. But it was large, 14x19, and certainly had potential. I peeked into the walk-in butler's pantry. Ooh, who wouldn't love to have a butler's pantry?!




Then we walked through the mudroom and out to the back yard.



I wished it had more than just a back stoop. I saw visions of yet another covered porch or perhaps a deck with an arbor. There was definite potential.




I leaned in to JD. I told him in the firmest voice I could whisper "I want this house." He agreed he really liked it to, but reiterated that we could not afford it. Never mind that we had no idea what the asking price was. We just knew it would be more than we could handle.

Still, we went back inside. Toured the rest of the house. And fell in love all over again.

The house had everything I wanted. Absolutely everything. The charm that comes with age. The cottage appeal. The covered porch. The basement to escape those Oklahoma tornadoes. Three inter-connected bedrooms, perfect for our daycare. A side entrance to those bedrooms, perfect for clients to come and go without having to traipse through our "personal residence" anymore. An attic large enough for future expansion. Superb quality of construction -- you know, the ol' "they don't make things they way they used to". Large mature trees.

Everything was perfect. I could not have asked for more.

Then came the shocker. The house was within our price range.

And thus I began the process of making the house of my dreams a reality.