A year ago, today, Kim and I closed on The House on a Hill, the first home we’ve ever owned (or, as Kim puts it, QuickenLoans owns). It’s still rather surreal to me, a year later, that we actually bought a house, and that I love being a homeowner as much as I do. I’d been a renter since 1985 and never in a thousand years thought I’d find myself in the place I now find myself.
It’s been a fast year, too. All the travel I did last year meant it was suddenly Labor Day, and then Thanksgiving before I knew it. As such, I didn’t feel completely connected with the house until some time in the late autumn. And then it hit me how much I truly love this house.
Somewhat of a surprise to me was that I enjoy working on the yard so much. When was a kid, I hated cutting the grass. So much so, I’d do anything I could to get out of it. Bob C. was right when he told me that everything changes when it’s your own house. I find it incredibly relaxing and therapeutic.
A year into this, we’ve seen what can happen — Kim weathered Sandy alone (with a little help from Koreen and Barbara) while I was in Chicago, and we had some snow storms, but all in all, it’s been great. Yeah, it’s scary that we’re on the hook for so much money, but it’s so worth it. We’ve adjusted plans over the year, too, about what we want to do moving forward. The deck, which we both love and was a strong selling point of the house, is actually something we’re thinking about tearing down in the future. We’ll build a patio further back in the shade so we can use the sunny deck area for gardens. But that’s in the future.
For now, I’m content just owning this beautiful house with the love of my life. It really doesn’t get better than that, does it? Life is good.
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