Boxes, boxes and more boxes!!

We have made the move to the Atlanta area!! We arrived here on Sunday evening and checked out our new house. We are a very adventurous family! We had never even seen this house before we moved into it. We have been coming up here since last summer and have looked at two communities that are just amazing. We finally settled on the one we liked better and started looking for homes to rent here till we know the area better.

Our house is still for sale in Orlando. Can I tell you how much stress has been relieved from moving from the house? I am a perfectionist and now I don't have to worry about it anymore! It is empty and clean and as funny as it seems people are more receptive to it now that it is empty. They say it looks lighter. There are things I miss from our perfectly designed and decorated house but not having the stress of it outweighs it by 100%.

So the house we are in now is 9000 square feet!! Yes, you read that correctly. Our home in Orlando was 6200 and we thought we had space but man this place is a mansion! The difference is the basement. We are house managing this house. It is something that is becoming quite popular because the housing market is so bad. This house is also for sale and for a heavily discounted rent we will show the house when necessary. There hasn't been a showing here for 8 weeks. Here in the community where we live there are tons of homes for sale in this price range and many of them being new construction so they will most likely sell first.

We are basically unpacked. I have put out about 1/2 of our things just in case the house sells. Here is what I love about the house besides all of the space...it is a little roughed up and has some quirky things going on. The beautiful wood flooring has some scratches. The laundry room used to house the owners dog and he feasted a little on the trim. Not that I would ever let my kids destroy anyone's home, if they make a little scratch I won't lose my mind. That for me is huge! And for the kids...they don't have to listen to me nag all the time about the walls and messes.

The best part about this house is the back yard. The house sits on about an acre. We back up to a creek and a treed area. Here is a picture of what I see when I look out from my seat where I eat.

The picture doesn't do it justice. After it rains the creek is really full and sounds so nice.

I love listening to the birds. There are a couple of little ones that live above the porch. They are in love...they are so sweet to watch. Problem with them is they are making a mess on the front steps. I am going to try a fake snake to get them to move their little rendezvous area. There isn't a nest there so I am not sure why they like to spend the nights up there.

Did I mention how it smells here? It is like jasmine. There is a walking path across the street that leads over the creek and into a huge open meadow. It is so fragrant. The kids and I were sucking on some Honeysuckle. They had never seen it before. There are walking paths like this all over.

I have let the kids stay home from school since the school here let out 2 weeks after our move date. I am still home schooling Tetyana every day. I will post more about that later...They think it is great except they aren't making any friends. Since Luke was an only for so long he depends on having a social network. He is having a bit of stress over this. We plan to get outside each evening and on the weekends to try and attract kids. I am also going to put them in summer camp at the club so they can meet friends their too. I think it will help all of us! ;)

So our new adventure begins. We love exploring new cities and surroundings!