We have a winner!

So I believe in the last week I have looked at 11 houses.  That's 11 kitchens, 11 gardens, 11 hobs, countless tiny bedrooms and a lot of stairs.  We have seen some not so good houses.  Like the one that had a view of a dump yard across the street.  Or the one where I could stand in the kitchen and touch all four walls from one spot... wow.  

Or there was this one that was enormous, but hadn't been updated since 1973 and had a purple tub and toilet, and a green tub and toilet... but no shower.  Hmmm.

We have also seen some amazing houses.  Like this one with the most amazing stove I have ever seen.  This house had huge amounts of character, but was right after a blind curve on a really busy street, so cars were driving by it really fast... not safe for the boys.

Did you see the eight burner hob?  Now I could crank out a dinner on that thing!

We also saw a really neat brand spanking new four bedroom 3 1/2 bath house in a new development.  

Then we saw the house that beat all the houses.  Here she is...

This house has five bedrooms.  Three of them have their own attached bathrooms, making 4 1/2 baths.  It has hands down the best kitchen I have ever had the opportunity to call my own.  Built in fridge, freezer, microwave, double oven, and six burner stove.  The entire third floor would be the master suite complete with closets (rare) and built-ins.  It has a cute little back yard that doesn't require much maintenance.  It is situated in the exact neighborhood that we have been looking at, playgrounds galore and is within a walk or bike ride of town center.  It is even within our budget.  We loved the house.  We loved the neighborhood.  The only negative is that it is a 25-min drive from base, which is farther than we really need to be, but we were willing to make that sacrifice for the experience.  

But even though the house was seemingly so perfect, we were still having reservations.  But then we would talk ourselves back into it.  British neighbors we would say, what a neat experience.  And our guests would have plenty of room and their own bathrooms.  And the kitchen.  Oh the kitchen.  I was in love.  So yesterday we decided we would rent it, and would file the paperwork first thing in the morning.  We were done, decision made.

Then we slept on it.  And woke up this morning, and both of us felt like it wasn't the right house for us.  And oh yeah, the day before we found out we could get a base house near the base next door.  Yeah, I was thrilled to hear that after being told I couldn't have a base house, and then spending weeks of my life looking for off-base houses in the area.  

So after a week of house-hunting and seeing the house of my dreams, we decided to take the base house!  Ah the irony.  We're laughing at ourselves quite heartily.  We will be living in a 3-bedroom base house just outside the gate of the base next door.  It is a 15 min drive for E to work, and a 15 min walk (or 5 min drive) to N's amazing preschool.  (More about that in another post... it has a farm!)  Because it isn't actually on base, we can still walk to the local pub, and I can walk N to his British pre-school.  Our back yard leaves a little (OK a lot) to be desired, we will need to give it some love.  But through the fence topped with razor wire (it's a tall fence and the razor wire poses no threat to the boys... it's just the base boundary fence), you can see a horse pasture.  Yes, our back door neighbors are horses.  Literally.  The house is built to American specs, so the bedrooms are really big and there is an open kitchen / family room layout.  We're planning on using the dining room as a playroom.  We will still have a guest room, so still plan your visits.  

We just feel that this is the house God had for us, and that we were being tempted with the larger house.  The base house felt like home as soon as we saw it, and I think it will be a really good fit for us.  The big house was a great house, but I don't think it would give us the best life.  Life is going to be much simpler for us in the base house, and I think we'll all be a little less stressed for it.  So sorry, when you visit you won't get your own bathroom attached to your bedroom, but we'll show you our new favorite pub, and you can walk with us to N's school!

So now you're all going to complain that there are no pictures of the house we will be living in... bear with me.  We should move in next week, and I'll get those too you!  God is good, and we just needed to stop and listen to hear his plan for us here.  I think we found a home.

Conversations with N and e

So much to tell you. House hunting goes on. I'm learning more British words to share with you all... But for now, I thought I needed to tell you some of the funny things we've over heard this week.

E and N were in a public restroom for a potty break.  N went and then it was E's turn.  When he finished, N gave his daddy some instructions, "shake it daddy!"  Yup, we're all about pee pee here.  

On Saturday night we were driving off base to a little party.  This is what we overheard in the backseat from N (to the tune of ABC's).  "Go pee pee, shake it off, underwear up, pants on, then I zip and snap."  We started cracking up so we missed the end, but there was something about flushing and washing hands too we think!  He always sings EVERYTHING to the ABCs, but this was an original, I'll tell you!

Then, lest you think we're all about potty talk, here is a wholesome conversation.  We had been driving around for a long time looking at different neighborhoods, and we were almost back to base when the boys got a little giddy.  This is the conversation we heard from the back seat:

N:  Dear God, thank you for the food, dear God, Amen.

e:  (while laughing hysterically) 'gain, 'gain! (again)

N:  Dear God, thank you for the food, dear God, Amen.

e:  (while laughing hysterically) 'gain, 'gain!  

It went on like this for quite some time, they were both cracking up, and during the praying, were holding hands across the back seat.  We didn't know if we should be proud of them for praying, or scolding them for yelling in the car!

British word of the day...

Good job Adria!  A hob is in fact, a stove.  I cannot tell you how long it took me to figure that out.  I kept looking at house descriptions online, talking about gas or electric hobs.  I honestly didn't know if that was the stove, the oven, both together, or the clothes dryer (also usually found in the kitchen here apparently).  

Today's word is easy, but just funny.  Zebra crossing.  Pronounced with a short e, as in Ned or Ted, not a long e like we would.  Zebra crossing.  As in, "Wait until traffic has stopped from both directions before entering a zebra crossing."  That sentence came from the highway code that I'm studying to get my driver's license.  Here is the sentence that follows.  "Remember that traffic does not have to stop until someone has moved onto the crossing."  So... I can't enter the zebra crossing until traffic stops, but traffic doesn't stop until I enter it.  Anyone else see a problem with that rule?  More funny highway code words to come...

P.S.  E did pass his driver's test and yesterday we practiced driving around base on the left side of the road, and he practiced some round-abouts.  So this afternoon we're heading off base for the first time to explore.  Wish us luck!

Tractor time!

Another Iowa post... sorry for the out of orderness.  It's driving me crazy too, but these pictures are too cute to leave out!  

One evening we headed over to my aunt and uncle's house so N could see my uncle's tractors.  He farms, and the front door of their house opens onto a corn field, really.  N was very excited to get his tractor ride, and as you can tell from this picture, my uncle was very excited to give a tractor ride, so it was good all around.  He even power washed them all before we got there.  So we gave him an excuse to use his power washer too!  Boys and their toys...

He even let N steer, not that N knew how to steer, but it was lots of fun anyway!  Don't mind those tractor tracks in your front yard...

Yup, it's a John Deere, my uncle points out.  He's teaching them early, all tractors should be green!

Then E got to play.  Here he is up in the combine in the shed.  No, he didn't get to drive it, but he was pretty happy just to climb in.  N was scared of the combine.  Our theory is that is because of Frank, the scary combine in the movie Cars.  Darn those scary combines!  By the way, E refers to this shed as "a waste of a perfectly good hanger" because it is that big.  Let's just say E and my uncle have different views of what big boy toys are!

Little e didn't get to ride on the tractor, but he did get lots of attention from my aunt and my cousin's girlfriend.  (Also, check out the corn in the background... see, literally right out of the front of their house!)

This is one of my new favorite pictures.  It is a four generation picture, with my grandparents, my dad, me, and the boys.  And we're all smiling and looking at the camera at the same time.  Amazing!  You'll notice some physical similarities between my grandpa, my dad, and little e.  They all kind of act alike too!  My grandpa even said that e was a lot like my dad... likes to talk!  Ha!  It's so true.  For both of them.

Thanks again for the great evening.  We had a ton of fun!

British word of the day...

Yes, you were all correct.  I was pushing my large double stroller when I was reprimanded for it's size.  But, seriously, even the sidewalks here are small!  At least in Korea the sidewalks were a decent size, (when there was one!)

Today's word is one that stumped me for a while when I was looking for houses online.  Hob.  As in, I hope I can find a house with a gas hob.  Let's see if you can figure this one out!

A girls weekend!

I got the pleasure of meeting two great friends from Alaska in Minneapolis last weekend for a wonderful, child-free, weekend of shopping and hanging out.  We had a great time.  I mean, great time.  We hit the mega-mall, and some outlets, and well, we found some new clothes that would work!  However, we all agreed that the best part of the trip was the meals.  Nochicken nuggets, no endless cutting up food into bite sized pieces, no "mama I want", and we could even stay and have coffee and gasp, linger!  Oh yeah, the hot tub at the hotel was pretty nice too.  The only bad part of the trip was the coffee at the hotel.  It was horrible, I mean, like undrinkable.  So us three coffee snobs were forced to find a coffee shop every morning, where we did some more lingering!

Here we are in our new finds heading out for one of those nice, childless dinners.  I know, it was rough, but someone had to do it!

Thanks girls for flying down.  I had a great time.  Can't wait to do it again!

British word of the day...

Push-chair.  As in, a British man yelled at me today that my push-chair was too big and was taking up the whole sidewalk.  Anyone want to take a  guess?