The first week...

After months of searching and a particularly nervous final month of going through closing procedures, we finally own a house! This is Brooks, our realtor, who was a real gem throughout the whole process. Knowing so little about home value, small details, etc., we would have been lost without his advice, especially since Joo and I both agonize over even the smallest decisions.

However, being busy with the whole process, I find myself a bit backlogged here on blog entries so let me step back in time to two weeks ago right before we left for the closing. Our garden, which centers around peppers and tomatoes, finally began producing its first edible veggies- yum yum!

Joo also got her first experience at working in a soup kitchen- Our Daily Bread in Bellefontaine. Dad was excited to see her in the hairnet, joking that she had finally become a real Mennonite!

When we did move in, it was rather a bittersweet moment. We had a translation deadline looming over us and it was a frustrating one (every now and then we bid on a translation and then it turns out to take much longer than we thought it would)... so that probably contributed to our first emotions upon seeing the house. We hadn't seen it since our first time going through it over a month ago for only 5-10 minutes, and now it was suddenly ours, and so you can image the anticipation as we walked up to our front step to see how much it had changed from our first impressions.

For me, it was significantly different than what I had remembered. Somehow, I had shifted the whole layout of the kitchen 90 degrees in my mind (which wasn't necessarily better or worse, it just surprised me), and although I knew it needed a new roof, I hadn't realized that most of the bathroom needed remodeling (I had only peeked in before when we first looked at the house), and that the windows needed replaced. On the plus side, it was a bit roomier than I had remembered it, I found an extra storage shed and a closet I must have missed on my first walkthrough, and it pulled in more sunlight than I had thought because of some large picture windows. Joo was a bit more frustrated at first since she found some mildew and had never even seen the bathroom yet. But despite some of the frustrations, we were both extremely happy with the kitchen area which was completely redone with all new appliances, tile countertops and floors, and a beautiful arrangement. We also got lucky in that the sellers were very kind, had cleaned the house thoroughly, and have answered all of our questions and given several helpful tips throughout our moving in process. So this is about what Joo looked like (over my hairy leg) on the first day...

We had haphazardly packed a few things for our first week, so our only furniture was two lawn chairs, our only dishes were oversized cups from a Cleveland Indians game, and our utensils consisted of one plastic serving spoon with which we took turns eating meals. Here's me with a "bowl" of cereal on the second day...

As we adjusted to the house, it became more like a home every day... it was also a bonus to find a local organic pizza place that quickly became our favorite!

Joo continued to work onto her translations as we looked around the empty house, unsure of what to do next...

Both of us being list people, we made about 5 different multi-page lists of things we needed to do and buy; all those little things that come with the first home (vacuum, dehumidifier, trash cans, sink strainer, fans, drying rack, broom, etc.) Thankfully, Mom and Dad had lots of doubles to contribute and what we still lacked, we went on shopping sprees for at Big Lots and WalMart. It was an exhausting first week, especially since we still don't have any beds or even mattresses...

...but it was also one of growth. We felt the value of friends, family, and relationships as we were surrounded with various help and encouragement. We also felt the spirit of the sellers who had lived here before and sweated out countless hours fixing it to the point where it is now. And we made a significant step in our relationship as well, since we have never yet lived alone together despite nearly two years of marriage (in Korea, we lived with Joo's father and brother; in South America, we were often with friends, relatives, or couchsurfing; in the U.S., we were jumping around between friends and family).