Knock, knock...anyone still out there in my little blogging world? Will you forgive me for not blogging in 5 months? Come on, I've got some good stuff to share...ah, now I've got your attention.

First of all, last May we moved to NY. I know, I didn't tell anyone but Arizona wasn't coming together for us so in a little thought out plan we packed up and drove across the country to find ourselves in a little town in upstate New York. And we love it here. It's beautiful and the air is so fresh and clean. There are apple orchards all over and little road side stands that sell fresh vegetables.
The first few weeks after we arrived, Nate and I would drive around the countryside and just enjoy how lovely it was. We fell in love with a little corner of the valley that had sprawling pastures, green hills and mountains covered with beautiful trees. We wanted to much to find a little place of our own in that little area but the chances were slim.
After a short time, we both found jobs and were soon given callings in the little church branch.
We had a little house that we had fallen in love with but we soon realized that the possibility of getting a loan and purchasing it was not going to happen. I kind of gave of hope on the house but Nate was heartbroken. It was a little hunting cabin that had been added to. It needed a lot of work but Nate and I wanted it the moment we drove up the driveway. We didn't see all the work that needed to be done. We saw a garden in the front blooming with wildflowers. On cold nights in the winter, we visualized a roaring fire in the fireplace and curling up together with a good book. We would be able to go hiking in our own woods. And it was in the little corner of the valley that we loved.
Nate never gave up on the place. To make a long story short, the house went to auction and in a few minutes of torture (while the auction was going on) which turned into moments of disbelief when Nate's bid won (what the hell did we just do?), we owned the house.

This is the day we officially signed all the papers. Our little dream had come true. Now the work was to begin.

I'm not going to show all the pictures right now. I'd like to do "before" and "after" pictures once we are done. But I will give you a little taste of what we have on our hands.
This is the "great" room. We're going to make it into the master bedroom because we like the lighting and location of the room. I can tell you that almost the whole house is covered in some of the most horrible wallpaper I've ever seen. Wallpaper removal is a miserable job. The one room in the house that doesn't have wallpaper is painted peptobismal (sp?) pink with turquoise molding and accents.

Here is my cute little country kitchen. I plan to repaint it but I want to keep the charm of it.

It's a simple little house that some people might find small and plain but for us it was just what we were looking for and the best part is there are no scorpions (big problem when we were looking at houses in Arizona).








This is the bunk house in the back. If you ever come visit us, this will be where you stay. And that little swing is where Nate and I plan to sit on warm days, drinking lemonade and watching our children play in the meadow.

So, there you go. My first little bit of what is going on with us. I will be updating with more good stuff in the days to come.