Preferably under starry skies.

We went to visit Finlayson, MN last weekend. Chris’s dad owns a chunk of land up there, and suggested we build a house on it. It’s only 1 1/2 hours from the Twin Cities area (our families), which cuts the driving time we have now in half.

Unfortunately, it’s not going to work out. It is a nice wooded area, but the towns just aren’t right. I can’t see my business thriving – even existing – in any of the surrounding towns, and I don’t think Chris could find a suitable job in the area.

So, back to the drawing board. But still making progress. I had a Realtor visit my house today, and I was quite surprised at what he told me! His estimated selling price – as is – was MUCH higher than I had anticipated. Seems we’ve done well with the house (this is a good thing). And this gives us a nice down payment on something new!

There are a lot of things that need to be done before we can sell though: the windows still need trim (inside and out), the 60-amp fuse box needs to be updated, the basement door needs to be replaced (thanks dogs!)… but he said that he wouldn’t bother with expensive siding, and even leaving it as-is or painting would be just fine. (A new paint job won’t last long because of its current condition, but he said, “Out of sight, out of mind. Just mention the house will need to be painted more frequently than some other houses.” Hmm.. kind of sneaky/scammy, but I bet the next owners would just put siding up anyway. (I’ve been wanting to for a few years now!)

So, the plan now is to look for towns that will suit us. Then, call up real estate offices in a few towns and tell them what we’re looking for. We’ve been talking so much about building our “dream home”… but I think (Chris may disagree!) that we should just find a chunk of land we’re satisfied with that has a crappy run-down house on it. Then, either gut/renovate the thing piece by piece or slowly build a new home on the same property as we can afford it. I guess the idea of new-house-this-year won’t come to fruition, but I really hope new-land-by-next-year will. We deserve it, and so do the dogs.

Before we move, I need to make my website business full-time. It’s getting there… Iceberg Hosting is averaging a new client every week – which is excellent. But we can expand… If you’re reading this and know of anyone who needs a website, please send them my way!

. . . In completely unrelated and incredibly exciting news, I am going to be an aunt either tonight or tomorrow morning!