This house was the third home I've owned, but the first time I was selling a home when I owned a digital camera. As such, I took a bunch of pictures for several reasons. The main reason was I had so many happy memories in this home. I had wonderful neighbors who really looked out for me. Plus, even though my home had all the top features "ADT Home Security" offered (mainly due to the previous owner having worked for ADT), I never needed to activate the system. Naturally, the best memories were created in this home once Russ and I became a couple.
Secondly, being in the military, it's not uncommon for my friends and family to not get a chance to visit before I'm moving again. This house was a prime example. I bought the house in December 2003 and now a year and a half later am already selling my home due to another military relocation. So posting all these pictures was a good opportunity for my friends and family to get a chance to see where I lived.
Our home was in the Kiln Creek community of Newport News VA.
It had a beautiful back yard with lots of trees. (Even my mother, a tree lover, would have approved of the number of trees we had on this lot.)
The breakfast dining area had a great view of the back yard. That's the table where Russ proposed to me on the Scrabble board while I'd been in the kitchen fixing the brownies.
The kitchen had plenty of room for my dishes and cookware.
I could watch a show on TV or the news while fixing dinner.
The formal living room was great for unexpected visitors since my kitchen or family room wasn't always in "showroom" condition.
We didn't have a formal dining room set, but I've never understood why builders put carpeting in a dining area. Even careful adults spill occasionally (as evidenced by the choice of wedding gift Russ' best friend and Chad and his wife Sandi gave us -- a carpet cleaner). For homes with children, there just must never be any meals served in the formal dining room.
I wasn't thrilled with a 2-story home since I'm not the most graceful person on stairs. (And yes, even as an adult I managed to trip and knock my head on these stairs. At least they were carpeted so I didn't need a trip to the emergency room for stitches.)
The master bedroom was at the top of the stairs.
No, I didn't keep a microwave in the bedroom for popcorn or other midnight munchies. Russ doesn't call me an ice queen for having a cold heart. He's amazed at how cold my fingers and toes get during the winter and cooler months. So I'd heat up some foot and hand warmers before going to bed so I wouldn't shock him with my cold extremities.
This photo was taken from the loft area, which Russ used as a home office. I don't know why the coffee table looks like it's floating, but all the photos from the loft had the same result. It was very convenient to have the loft open towards the kitchen since Russ and I had different ideas about relaxing. I liked cooking (most especially baking) while he'd do "flight-related stuff" in his office.
The other two bedrooms and bathrooms were standard for homes of this size. We loved this house and were sad to be leaving it after such a short time.
The good news was that the first people who looked at it the first day it was on the market (today) made an offer. It's now under contract and we can go house hunting in the DC area, where we'll be moving in July.
