Back in August, we moved from our little rental house in Beaverton to this super charming cottage in SW Portland. And as of last night, five and a half months later, it’s no longer our home. Unbelievably, we’re homeowners! We unintentionally started this process in November, when we went “just to look” at a house for sale ten minutes down the road; we kept taking the next step to see how far we would make it, and then we just never really hit any obstacles. Last night was the first we spent in the new house and it still hasn’t really sunk in that this is mine. There are already so many wonderful things about owning a house that I will talk about someday later on (and indefinitely, since for the foreseeable future I never! have to! move! again!).

Even though owning our own place is far superior to renting someone else’s, it was tough to leave this last rental. I loved living in this house. It was big (but not too big) and old and updated and charming and in a great location. I would have lived there forever – if I could buy it and change the yard (and add a garage). But even if the owners were to sell it someday, there’s no way we would have been able to afford it. In true Emma Kisiel fashion, I was thinking about what we were going to do when the owners moved back to Oregon from probably our first week living there. I remember wanting to get settled in it right away so we could enjoy every day we had there. I’m glad I did, because it was a lovely home for that late-summer and fall.

I have photos from the first snow and the holidays and my sister’s and Dan’s visits – last year! I will get to them someday, but for now I have to make rooms at least maneuverable, and kick this horrible illness I got right in the middle of our move.