Finally...Welcome Home!

Nearly a year to the day that I first moved to Evergreen, I've finally moved into my 'forever' home. Which is why I've been off-line for the past several weeks. We had the closing and then the moving (we're still surrounded by boxes) but the wonderful news is that after moving three times in one year (and looking at hundreds of houses), we've finally found a home of our own. This is a picture I took this morning after our first big snow.





This is a picture from the front door looking toward the driveway. As you can see, the driveway has been plowed. The magical thing is that it was already plowed when I looked out this morning. Some very generous soul plowed the six inches of snow that covered our very long driveway, without my knowing about it.





This is a view of the hill behind our house, aka, my new backyard.





This is a view from the deck, aka, my front yard. As you can see, we are surrounded by beautiful trees and the mountains beyond.





And this is the view from my upstairs bedroom window.



Those of you who have been reading my blog for a while, know that this house hunt has taken years. My real estate broker, Alice, joked that it's actually been five years that she has been showing me houses in Evergreen. The more astounding reality is that I've been looking for a 'mountain home' since I left my job on Wall Street in 1994. My mother has always said that I'm a late bloomer, and this house hunt has certainly been evidence of that assertion. But after all that searching, I'm very happy to have a place to call home. The funny thing is that Alice first showed me this house in September and several times after, each time I said 'no, it's not the house for me'. Finally, when my brother John came up for a visit and helped me to see it through new eyes, I was able to say 'yes'. The funny thing is, after all the houses I've looked at, it's not the house I would have thought I'd end up with, and yet, now that I've moved in, it absolutely feels like home.



Today I've been reading the year-in-review posts from some of my blogging friends and thinking about how grateful I am for all that I've learned from what you've shared from your lives, about how your goals for the past year shaped up, and anticipating your goals for the coming year. In fact, I can't wait to read those posts of your new goals over the coming days.



I've also been thinking of how much my own life has changed in the past year, moving into this house being the most important accomplishment. I want you to know that I am so grateful for all the encouragement I have received from all of you throughout this journey.



I've also been thinking about what my next goals will be. I'm mulling them over and will write about them soon. In the mean time, thank you again.