Whose woods these are I think I know...

We may be moving very soon!

We are in the final stages of buying a house and land in Colfax, Wisconsin-- about 25 minutes west of Eau Claire. We've had verbal acceptance of our offer and signed the papers we were sent by the seller; now we just have to wait for them to sign. The financing is all arranged. Once papers are signed we need to have the house inspected and the bank will have the house appraised. If both these things "pass", we will start moving in January 31st. If the house fails inspection we can still get out of the deal, but it's already been inspected once (by the relocation company that now owns the house) and we've looked it over good a couple of times, so don't anticipate major problems.

Admittedly this is not the greatest time for us to move (during the school year, and when I'm so close to having the baby). But this was an opportunity we couldn't pass up. We were able to get a really good deal on the property, which includes a house, pole shed (pictured right) and 10 acres of wooded land. We're getting the property for over $30,000 less than it was originally listed at. The slow housing market is working in our favor right now. Our plan is to rent out our Eau Claire house, once we can get it cleaned out and fit for renters.

We want to move to a more rural setting before the kids reach middle school age and become more susceptible to the pitfalls of living in a low income neighborhood (like the one we live in now). Also we want them to be able to enjoy the kind of vigorous outdoor play we grew up with. Jon grew up in a town environment, but it was a small town and times were "simpler"; he was able to play with friends and ride his bike around town with minimal supervision, as a boy. We just don't feel like our kids can do that here; there's too much traffic, loose dogs (some pitbulls), and registered sex offenders living around here.

So challenging as it will be, we're going to do what we can to make this move happen. The picture above shows the living room and fireplace. The kitchen is pictured right-- not real big, but I love the window above the sink and the built-in microwave above the counter.

The basement is finished, with a family room (pictured left) and two smaller rooms that we would use as bedrooms when Susan and David are with us (and probably as play rooms and toy storage the rest of the year). There are lots of built-in shelves and windows all around the basement. There's also a full bathroom and a laundry room down there.

Besides the kitchen and living room, the upstairs has two bedrooms, a bathroom, a dining room, and a 4-season porch. The 4-season porch would probably serve as our home office and my art room, since it has electrical hook-ups, a phone jack, and lots of windows and light. Interestingly, there's also a little greenhouse just off the front of the house (pictured right).

There are a couple of little decks off the house, and some little perennial gardens planted around the yard. The best part, of course, is the woods all around. Jon's snowshoed around the land a few times, and said there's lots of deer sign and some beautiful views.

So keep your fingers crossed for us! Nothing's for sure yet, but things seem to be going very well!