Our Dreamy Bungalow: An Ode

Well. It's official. Our dreamy little (not so little if you are looking to buy - wink wink, nudge nudge) bungalow is officially on the market.

I am filled to the brim with mixed emotions. I am also in a sort of detached and absolute denial that the time will come when this house, our home, will no longer be ours.

We put our offer in on this house less than two weeks after our wedding in 2009. Between June 12 and July 1, we got married, drove from Wisconsin to Georgia, packed up what remained in our apartment there, picked up our other car, drove to Virginia, started looking at houses to buy, looked at approximately 20, put an offer in on this house, had it accepted, did the inspection and on July 1, A boarded a plane to meet his new ship on deployment.

But, I felt completely confident in our decision regarding this house. You see, our house was actually the very first one that I ever pulled up on the internet back when I was still in grad school and we thought, maybe we could go back to Norfolk, and maybe we could buy a house instead of renting. And  I fell so hard for it. So, so hard. I never in a million years dreamed that it would still be on the market when we started looking. But, there it was!

And then it became ours.

Meant to be.

This is the home that housed our first homecoming, the only place we have ever lived as a married couple, the home that we have brought two babies home to, and learned every DIY thing that we know about DIYing.

(Admittedly, still not experts, but still.)

It has been nothing but the best home for us, in the quaintest little neighborhood and holds millions of memories. It will always hold such a special place on our hearts.

And so, in that spirit, my next couple of posts are going to showcase our bungalow of dreams, and just how far we have come. An ode, if you will.

Let's start with the front of the house.

This was the house when we bought it.

Admittedly, adorable.

This front porch absolutely sold us on this house before we even saw the inside.

Oh, hello adorable front porch swing.

My husband loves to tell people that a front porch is important to us, essential really, because that is where our relationship really developed. Sitting at night on the front steps of my house in high school. He would get me home by curfew and then we would hang out on the porch steps until my dad flickered the light that it was time to come on inside. Young love.

Well, we have put our own spin on the front of this house.

We have:

• Painted the front door red
• Installed a new porch light
• Painted the porch ceiling light blue
• Changed the location of and style of the address numbers
• Added the flag
• Leveled the grade of the front yard
• Tried to grow grass approximately 12,000 times (see: failed projects)
• Added black shutters
• Installed a new storm door (that I don't hate with the fire of a thousand suns)
• Put new hardware on the existing door/new door bell
• Installed the planter beds out front
• Planted the tea olives and geraniums
• Planted the crepe myrtles out front
• Spent countless nights front porch sittin'

Theirs:

Ours:

Evelyn Rae is two and a half, Liam is one

…and this is another favorite photo from the front porch.

Just a one day old Evelyn Rae. 

Don't mind me... I'll just be over here getting all misty.