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Finding “The One”

…rental house that is 

Before hitting the road to NC - Farewell, Corpus rental house!

Before hitting the road to NC – Farewell, Corpus rental house!

Did you know it’s possible to tour 16 rental houses in a day? Neither did I until two weeks ago! DP and I found out in mid-September that we’d be moving to MCAS Cherry Point in Havelock, NC. We also found out that we’d have movers at our doorstep in early October. So, the panic ensued and we quickly made an insane plan to drive cross country twice (I told you it was insane…), and house hunting in between during that two-week period.

Not only did we have the move to plan for – I also had two work trips back-to-back. Our plan went like this:

  • Drive to NC for the first time on a Friday-Sunday
  • House hunt Monday
  • Sign a lease Tuesday
  • Fly to DC on Wednesday (me), Fly back to Corpus on Wednesday (DP)
  • Packers pack on Thursday
  • Movers move on Friday, I fly back to Corpus from DC
  • Drive to NC again on Saturday
  • Arrive on Tuesday, fly to WI for work
  • Fly back to NC on Thursday
  • DP leave on Sunday for training
  • Movers arrive on Monday in NC

So now that DP has left for his training and we’re at the end of this madness, I’m finally getting around to writing a post about what rental house hunting is all about.

When looking for a rental house, I focus on two main things in this order: functionality and quality. I’ve mentioned before that since I work from home, it’s crucial that I actually enjoy our house – the way it looks and the way it works. It’s important to me to feel comfortable and content within the four walls of our house, even if it’s only for a temporary amount of time. DP would say this makes me picky – I think it makes me happy in the long term 😉

We started our house hunt bright and early Monday morning and had a day jam packed with 16 showings. The first house was perfectly functional – right layout, great size, and even had space for a man cave. It was equally as pretty and high quality. Hardwoods throughout, updated light fixtures and hardware, etc. But the one thing it didn’t have? A fenced in yard. Lilly may be small, but she loves to run her little legs off. So, it was a dead end and not a great way to start our day.

We saw a few more houses and they all led to disappointments. Too small, too old, no fence, poor quality, etc. Towards the end of the day I was really getting disappointed! We had only seen one house that marked every box on my checklist. But, it was $150 over our monthly budget. I called the landlords (who happen to be the owners of the house) to let them know how much we loved their home, but that we just couldn’t make it work because of our budget. And you know what happened?! They came down in price! Some things are just meant to be.

Lease signing day!

Lease signing day!

So now I’m sitting in our NC rental house and I couldn’t be more excited for our things to arrive tomorrow and to start decorating. The owners custom built this house for their family, so it’s a beautiful home with so many upgrades and personal touches. We’ll spend the next 4 years here and I can’t wait for the memories we will make. It’s already been an exciting ride and we’re just getting started!

Tonight, it’s just me, my laptop, and our new mattress. I might make a few Wayfair purchases while I wait for our furniture to arrive tomorrow… 😉

Time Flies

To say we’ve been busy this past week would be an understatement. DP wrapped up flight school and we had 5 people come into town for his winging ceremony. That’s right – 7 people sleeping at our 3 bedroom house, one of which is my office, so it doesn’t really count as a bedroom  We’re super excited to have loved ones visiting and were creative with sleeping arrangements so everyone could be comfortable.

The day of the ceremony was packed from 6:30am-midnight. I told DP it’s like a wedding day except this time, he was the bride. We started the morning with the Blessing of the Wings ceremony, followed by his “soft patch” winging where he received a new patch for his flight suit with his wings on it. Then we went to the simulator building and tried our hands at flying – I landed twice without crashing! The formal winging ceremony was that afternoon and DP received his wings of gold.

It was such a special moment and the culmination of many years of hard work. I couldn’t be prouder to be his wife or more excited for what’s to come.

After the ceremony, I asked DP’s visiting friend to keep him busy for a couple of hours while my mom and I set up his surprise party. The theme was “time flies” and it turned out even better than I expected. DP was over the moon about having everyone in town to celebrate and really appreciated the special touches at his surprise party.

My mom is much craftier than I am, so she helped with a LOT of the decor. I spent a ton of time (and way too much money on sticker letters) creating this “Departures” board filled with significant events in David’s time leading up to his winging.

We still have a few visitors at our house until later this week. It has been so nice for everyone to see and enjoy our home before we move next month. There’s nothing better than a home full of love and laughter!

I received so many compliments on my decor, which was a huge confidence boost as I begin this journey in publicly sharing my style. It’s easy to scroll through Instagram and get lost in how my house isn’t “this” or isn’t “that”, but with a rental house you really have to take what you get and make the most of it. I’m really grateful for friends and family who unknowingly reaffirmed my excitement and boosted my confidence.

I haven’t officially shared this yet, so here it goes: our next stop in this journey is Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Cherry Point in Havelock, NC! We are so excited to head back to the East Coast for a few years to be closer to friends and family. Stay tuned for the house hunting and moving adventures ahead!

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