A New (And Clearer!) View

We've lived in our house for over 11 years. My in-laws built it. Layne grew-up here until he was 19, then his parents moved when he was on his mission. A little while after we got married, the house came up for sale and Layne wanted to take me through it-- just to see what his house looked like when he was young.

I fell in love.

Layne's parents wanted the house back in the family as badly as we did and they helped us to get into it.

The house is perfect for a family and we have loved living here. But, like every older home, it is starting to show some wear and we are having to do a few things to take care of it.

We've wanted to put in new windows since we moved in, but it's never been the right time. However, with a huge tax credit, utility rebates and a generous Christmas gift, today turned into the right time.

Here's the house this morning:


And here's this afternoon:

Isn't that awesome? Thank you to Layne's parents for the awesome Christmas gift. Thank you to my fantastic bro-in-law Jared and my sister Nicole for helping us take down blinds, move stuff (including a horrible dead mouse!) and putting everything back together.

My house feels warmer and quieter and who knew you could actually see out of windows? Poor Layne, though-- one change around here usually begets another. Wonder how much it would cost to get new doors? Redo my bathroom? Carpet in my room? Maybe a new roof?