We Bought A Zoo...I mean house

While we were in California, Spencer got a call from his soon-to-be boss who asked if we could move out to Illinois a few weeks early. This meant cutting our trip in half and almost eliminating any time in Utah before we left, but we knew we could do it and that they wouldn't ask if they didn't need him so we agreed. (I still think they owe us a week of vacation so we can go back to California though...)

So we went back to Utah, packed up what things we would need to have with us for the next few weeks, supervised while movers came and packed up our stuff (oh how glorious to have someone else pack everything!) and put it in a truck, and got on the road. Two days and 22 hours of driving later, we made it to Jacksonville.

Pit stop on the way. I promised my niece that I would take
a picture as we drove through Sidney!

We made it!

Spencer had flown out about a month earlier to look at homes, and we made an offer on a house without me even seeing it. Spencer had taken lots of pictures and a video though, and I trusted him completely, so after living in a hotel for a week we finally closed on our very own home!

1400 square feet (just the main floor), 2 bedroom, 1 bath. Our stuff wasn't delivered until a few days later, but we were so excited to own our first home. We are still working on getting everything unpacked and where we want it to be, but things are coming together and it's finally starting to feel like ours.

The attic

Full, unfinished basement

Storage room in the basement, perfect for food storage!

Kitchen

Living room

Second bedroom (painting to happen in the near future)

Bathroom

Master bedroom

Backyard (the white post in the back right is the property
line)

Side and garage

I promise to take pictures of the moved-in version soon, but hopefully this gives you a idea of what it looks like.

Spencer also started his new job just a couple of days after we got there. He has absolutely loves it, with all it's challenges and unfamiliarity, and I am so very proud of him!

First day of work!

Welcome to Jacksonville!