Over the past couple of years, I have mentioned how we cannot wait to find our dream home. We started the search a few months ago, and decided on an area that has a man-made lake in a gated community. We really loved the homes on that lake, so that made concentrating on an area pretty easy. Best of all, this is the town where my BFF lives!
We won’t be able to move permanently for about 2 years, but it is only 3 1/2 hours away from our current home, and we will be making frequent weekend trips, as well as spending our vacations there. It is actually kind of nice not to have to rush out of our current house – we can take our time moving things down, and I am having a BLAST decorating the new home (the pics below are from when we toured the house…not my decor). I will post some new photos once it’s all prettied up MY way 🙂
When we walked in “our” home, we swooned from the sheer beauty. As you enter the front door, you can see straight through and out the window to the lake. Beyond that (on a clear day) you can see the Sequoias, which at this time of year are snow-capped.
There is a beautiful indoor pool/spa (it is to the right in the picture above), and here is a view from the hallway:
In the pool area there is a shower and a bathroom, and it also has sliding doors to the backyard:
Here is the kitchen and family room. The kitchen is bigger than it looks here – it has really long counters (finally countertops that will allow me to go crazy when baking) and if you are at the sink, you are facing the big glass doors and you look out at the lake (I don’t think I’ll ever mind doing dishes again!).
View from dining room:
The master bedroom is ginormous!
Here is the master bathroom. I am so excited to have a big tub again…at our old house (9 years ago) I had a huge tub, but when we moved to our current house, there is only a shower in the master. I have to share a regular sized tub with the kids. This new one is mine…all mine!
And I am loving all of the room in the master bedroom:
View down the lake – see the snow-capped Sequoia mountains (Sequoia National Park) in the background?
We went down to our new home again last weekend and had so much fun. My husband even picked up a fishing pole, and it was so good to see him relaxed (trust me – this is a rarity!).
We saw this couple sailing by…
We enjoyed having coffee in the backyard, watching the ducks and geese on the lake. It is so peaceful, and definitely something special to wake up to each morning. We even met a nice duck couple – we named them Dave and Darlene (I might have fed them some crackers too but shhhhh…)
I have been doing a few craft projects down there too, and it’s been a blast. I will be sharing a few tutorials and decorating ideas in future posts (make sure you see my post about making decorative pillows out of place mats!). Â I will also be sharing some items I have bought and/or received for review, during my upcoming “Sprucing Up and Moving In” event!
It is SO hard to leave though, when it is time to come back to our other (current) house…
33 Responses
LOVE IT!!!!
Wow! It is beautiful! Congratulations and I look forward to seeing the “after-decorating” pictures. 🙂
Thank you! I am so excited to share the journey with you all!
Yay! I’m so excited and happy for you! The house is just beautiful and such a relaxing place for your family 🙂
Wow! It is absolutely gorgeous:)
Beautiful!
Beautiful! So jealous!
Congratulations! It’s gorgeous and I wish you many happy years in your new house. Retirement is fun!
Thank you!
How absolutely beautiful! I hope you love it!
What a beautiful place! We should have an EightyMPHMom blog contributors vacation at your house sometime…LOL! I know you and your husband are really going to enjoy that place for years to come.
Wouldn’t that be a blast? It’s got plenty of room!
I’ll never see a home like that in my lifetime, but I am so incredibly happy for you!!!!
You can come visit!! And thank you!
Its Gorgeous!!! I am so envious, I’d love to have an indoor pool and all that space
Wow all the rooms are huge, & that master bathroom is amazing as well as your kitchen- love the counter space.
and how nice it will be waking up & seeing all that scenery, I dont know who wouldnt love to look out their windows to those amazing views. 🙂
Its very, very nice!!
Oh my goodness how absolutely gorgeous! That is a dream home for sure! I am so freaking jealous! I will never have a home like that, never! With the water & palm trees on one side then the snow capped mountains on the other is the best of both worlds ! How perfect! I say it again that it is GORGEOUS & Im Soooo jealous! Enjoy it sweetie. Hugs!
It looks beautiful! I absolutely love the view of the mountains. Amazing.
Wow. It is beautiful! Heavenly in fact. I’m happy for you!
Holy cow is that beautiful! The pool is amazing, and all that space… I’d have no clutter anymore!
Thank you! It has SO much storage…something I’ve wanted forever!
Oh, drool! That is beautiful! I can understand why you don’t want to leave!
That is so gorgeous- if I had a home like that I wouldn’t ever want to leave either!
It looks amazing, Jen! I bet you are so anxious to move there for good–I would be too! 😀 But at least for now, you have a nice oasis where you can get away from it all. 🙂
You already know I love it. saving my pennies for a passport and a plane ticket when you move.
What?!!!! That’s jaw-droppingly (if that’s even a word) beautiful! Looks like the blogging life is treating you well 🙂
Wow! The view of the mountains is breathtaking! Congrats.
It’s beautiful! Congrats to you both!
Thank you Jamaise!
beautiful! i wish my husband and i could move into our dream house….maybe someday as we are no where near retirement age. enjoy!
annae07 at aol dot com
Wow Jennifer, I’m so thrilled for you!! It looks like all of yours and hubby’s hard work paid off! Not only did you find a beautiful, open floor plan home but the scenery there is gorgeous. Wishing you many years of happiness there.
What a beautiful home. I’ll sit here and dream about living there with you. 🙂
You should come visit sometime! I’ve thought of having a blogger vacation – how fun would that be?
OMG it is soooooooooooooooo beautiful 🙂