Big News!

Well, it’s been an exciting month in the Hamer house! After living in our wonderful little house for more than 7 years we decided that the time was right for us to move. Fiona is starting kindergarten in September and we didn’t want to move her after she got settled and made friends, so we wanted to move before that if we were ever going to. The interest rates are still really low in combination with the housing market significantly picking up, so the timing was good.

We gave ourselves 3 weeks to get the house to show ready condition – we rented a storage unit and were so grateful to have the help of Ben’s brother-in-law Erik and his Dad in taking trailers full of stuff over there one Saturday. His Dad also helped us do some painting and sprucing up, and both of his parents were wonderful about taking care of the girls so we could work on the house. Somehow we were ready in time and it looked really nice. It went on the market on a Thursday and the couple who came to see it on Friday morning loved it and made a really great offer that day! Woohoo!!

After that we just needed to find somewhere new! We’re moving to the south metro area and were initially considering Eagan and Apple Valley. Ben works in Eagan and his family lives in Apple Valley so either of those places would be really convenient. However, the same luck that helped us sell so fast also caused other houses to go fast too, so we expanded our search area to Lakeville, which is a little further south. We found the most wonderful bright red house just 5 minutes drive from Ben’s parents, with great highway access so it’s not much further to drive north to take Adele to preschool or for me to go to work (which I do a couple of times a month). It’s also really close to shopping and the zoo and the hippy food co-op, which was a strong preference for me :-) We made an offer and were expecting to be told that it had already sold, but luck was with us again and the seller accepted our offer!

We close on the new place on May 10^th and have the next week to move all of our stuff in before closing on our current house on May 16^th.

So about the house!

First, as I mentioned, it’s red, which I love! It has a deck in the back with a hot tub! There’s also a wetlands in the back and a little pond with a path around the pond which leads to a playground, and the girls are very excited about that! We stopped by to test it out last week and even though it was covered in snow they had a lot of fun.

Inside the front door the laundry room/mudroom is on the right, and the formal living room is on the left. However, we’re not really formal people, so we’ll use that as an office. I work from home so it will be wonderful to have a real office.

Behind the formal living room is the formal dining room but we’ll use that as a playroom. It’s open to the “office” so I can watch the girls while I work and there’s a doorway from the kitchen so I can also keep an eye on them while I cook.

The kitchen is gorgeous with granite countertops and a window overlooking the pond. The dining area is by the kitchen, and then leads into the family room where Ben is already obsessing over the perfect TV for the space.

It has a gas fireplace which I love, and lots of windows, also overlooking the deck and the pond.

There’s a little bathroom off the dining area, and then we’re back to the front hall and laundry room/mudroom, which connects to the garage.

Living in Minnesota where we are currently on month 7 of winter and snow, I have longed for a mudroom. Having a space where wet coats, boots, mittens, hats, snow pants, socks, scarves, kids and dog can be contained, washed off and dried will be wonderful!

In the basement there is a game room, guest bedroom and bathroom. The bathroom also has a sauna which I imagine we’ll probably use once, but it’s a fun novelty.

Upstairs is the master bedroom with a humongous bathroom. The bathroom even has an inner bathroom so you can close the door on whoever is using the toilet and still access the sink in the outer room for tooth brushing. Those of you who are more familiar with Ben will understand why this is such a blessing ;-)

Upstairs there are also two other bedrooms and a bathroom. The girls want to keep sharing for now, so they will have the bedroom with the pond view, or as Fiona calls it, the nature bedroom. 

So that’s the house! We are super excited and looking forward to having lots of people visit! Come and see us soon!