It seems like every time I load my bloglovin’ feed these days, somebody has purchased a new house! It makes me itchy about living in my shoebox (as we affectionately call it) and eager to purchase my own home. I guess it really lit a fire under me to start getting serious about putting every spare penny into a savings fund. With this renewed focus and inspiration, I’m more obsessed than ever with scouring real estate websites for affordable fixer-uppers with lots of potential. We are no strangers to living in less-than-perfect conditions and I feel like I have the ability to see inspiration in anything. We’ll see what happens! Don’t hold your breath though, because you’d probably be holding it for like a year.
Anyway, this is a fantastic time to share with you some inspirational and influential blogs I follow, that happen to have just moved or will be moving in the near future! I love all of these blogs dearly and very strongly recommend all of them.
- It all started with Emily at Merrypad, who in April began sharing a several part series on their quest to find their new home. Spoiler alert: they bought one! I can’t wait to find out more about their new home as she and her hubby settle into life together with their elementary-aged daughter, oh and not to mention the one on the way. (Squee!!)
- Not long after that, Sherry and John Young House Love shared a bombshell with us: They bought a house and would be moving in within a few weeks’ time. They’ve since re-floored the upstairs, moved over all their belongings, and started arranging the new home!
- And of course there are Kim and Scott at Yellow Brick Home who closed on their new house last Friday, after a rollercoaster ride of finding what they thought was “the one,” then losing it (I can only imagine the heartbreak) and now finding “the real one!”
What?!??!! If there’s one way to ensure that I’m addicted to your home blog… it’s to start over with a blank slate and let me watch you work your magic again.*
- Monday Tanya at Dans le Townhouse revealed that yes indeed, they bought a Canadian lakefront home that they’d been eyeing…
- Ashley from First Home Dreams bought a home a while ago but have just begun to move in…
And just yesterday (!!!) two more bloggers dropped bombshells on us… Little Green Notebook and Oh Happy Day!
This is a very exciting time to be a blogger… and a blog reader! So much hopefulness, excitement, adrenaline, and future-thinking is swirling around everywhere I look! I must admit, these blogs inspired me to finish rearranging my living and dining room and generally refresh my living space. And, of course, as the end of my lease approaches (September) I’m weighing the pros and cons of a new apartment… A new apartment (PRO!) and moving again (CON!) Maybe I should split the difference and sign a six-month lease? I guess it will all depend on the dolla billz.
*I am not implying that any of these bloggers moved simply for more followers, although I’m sure those rumors are swirling like mad. I’m simply along for the ride of their lives and enjoying every minute of it.
My Friend Staci 
There must be something in the water!
I am SO EXCITED for Jenny K’s home and her DIY genius that I could squeal. All of this is so exciting and I find myself refreshing my feed to see if new details have been shared on any of the above blogs. It’s inspiring!
I do the same thing!
The funny thing about the attitude that these people moved for their followers is that it kind of assumes that people don’t ordinarily move houses several times without a blog! I know very, very few people who weren’t born in the 50s and 60s who have stayed in a single house longer than 8 years. Most are around 5! They move for a lot of reasons: the house was great for when they bought it, but things have changed (kids, pets, neighbors, etc). Their children have started school and they don’t like the district they chose after all. They’re into flipping houses and making a profit in real estate. So many reasons! I love that the bloggers are able to do these things that normal people do all the time, but make a living doing it! Now that the economy is in a better shape for real estate selling and buying, I’m not surprised so many have decided to jump.
As for us, who are on the Waiting List for houses, it sure is tough to watch so many people do something we want to do, but can’t! I actually remind myself of something you’ve quoted before of not comparing your beginning to someone else’s middle. They’re in a totally different place than I am, and I just have to remember that just because it hasn’t happened YET doesn’t mean it won’t EVER happen, right? =) In the meantime, time for vicarious living!!
You said that so well! I need to remember not to compare myself to others.
Great post Staci! Don’t worry you’ll move to your dream home soon enough and then you’ll be reminiscing about your shoebox ;)
Great comment, Athena. The Waiting List was the hardest and most emotional part for me, I didn’t even want to write about the house buying process while my husband and I were shopping and negotiating for a new home… it was almost traumatic, especially because the first house we fell in love with ended up going nowhere. As for bloggers moving to find a way to get new followers or needing a blank slate, I agree with you, I like to think that 99% of the time it’s people just evolving in their lives. I’d hate to think anyone thought that of me especially, but I don’t think (hope) it’s not the case. Buying houses is a total pain in the butt and makes me cry a lot. :)
Yikes on the trauma. And so sad that you had to lose a house you fell in love with. I think only people who haven’t had to move from a home they’ve spent so much love caring for and working in, and had to go through the whole process of finding the next Dream Home would think that someone would move just for kicks or for blog posts! The packing up and unpacking alone is a nightmare. Adding in the financial juggle, the offering and waiting to hear back (and hearing “no, sorry”), and the inspecting, waiting, signing…it’s not really something you do unless you’re sure that the house you have just isn’t working for your lifestyle anymore.
Yes! I have to keep reminding myself that I’m still “at the beginning.” However, I do know that if I don’t get more diligent about saving money, I might not get to the middle! I also have a peaceful feeling that when our savings account is ready, then the perfect house will be ready too.
Holy cow, that’s a lot of movement!
Some of those blogs are new to me and I can’t wait to go check them out.
Happy to share!