Homeownership Part II

Part II- Moving In

Where did we leave off? Ah, yes. I had just closed on my home roughly four hours ago, I went into my house to discover it had spiders as a result of sitting empty for several weeks, so I went to Home Depot to buy bug bombs... when my car died and wouldn’t start again. BUT! Kait and Phil to the rescue! They came to pick me up at Home Depot and we left my car in the parking lot to head out to my celebratory dinner in honor of closing on my first house.

After dinner, Phil and I drove back to the parking lot and he tried jumping my car, with no such luck. He struggled for awhile to get the battery out, (because it was underneath this one panel we couldn’t figure out where it was screwed in at). Finally, after much pulling and prying, he got my battery out and graciously loaned me his vehicle for the next few days while he was out of town.

Long story short, it wasn’t my battery, it was my starter. After taking the next day off work, waiting several hours for a tow truck to take it to Firestone, and $600 dollars later, it was running again. Already, I was off to a rough start with this house, but I pressed on. I bought tons of paint and cleaned that house from top to bottom while making everything white, everything. 

While I was making this house more presentable, I knew I wanted to change the kitchen and bath, so I called a contractor, who surprised me by promptly coming over to give me an estimate. I wanted to take a wall out, move the corner sink over, out of the corner. I wanted to change the tile, add some different lighting and I wanted all new cabinets in the kitchen. The estimate was insane, but I kept it in my back pocket and told him I’d call him when I was ready. After my weeks of painting a cleaning, the house was finally ready to move into.

I headed north to Valparaiso, Indiana with my little brother, who so graciously helped me move my things to Nashville, Tennessee. While we were up North, we visited our parents and friends and lastly, we moved my things. It only took me three hours to move everything into my U-haul and once that was done, he and I headed back South, a very quick trip. Six hours later, we arrived at my baby blue box house, once again. It was dark and as we got out of the truck, we looked over and noticed that my neighbor was moving his grass with flood lights on to guide him. We both laughed as I unlocked my front door... then we proceeded in. My eyes darted back and forth to the dead bugs lying on my floor from the bug bombs I had set off a few days prior. 

Reluctantly and with a large lump in my throat, we unloaded the truck piece by piece; working together without many words between us. My little brother worked and set up my bed frames as I stood there and stared, wanting to bawl. Why was I moving in here? Did everyone feel this on the first night of a new house? Why did I choose this house!? Why!? He continued to keep me grounded, trying to crack jokes and urging me that it was okay, that it’s fine, not to worry, but I still felt awful.

When we finally unloaded everything, we drove the U-haul truck to a drop off center in Nashville and I text Kait and Phil to see if I could stay with them a few more nights until I had another bug person come out there and until I was more settled. After a few days, I moved into my house and cleaned relentlessly. Little by little, slowly but surely, I began to get used to the noises. I hired Terminex to do quarterly sprays inside and out, and the bugs and spiders were less and less existent. 

About eight months later, I was fortunate enough to have my contractor come and turn my kitchen and bathroom into something that I had only been able to dream. Out of all the turmoil and craziness that began when I first bought, I couldn't believe I was standing in the same house as I looked around. Sometimes, dreams do come true! 

B.