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Wow, I can’t believe that I’ve been so poor at posting the updates after our Dominican holiday. Yikes – sorry people! Will definitely try to do better in the future.

So what news can we share with you – lots actually. We bought a house in the last week of February – up in Brooklin, which is just north of Whitby, so still ‘GTA-ish’, although it’s now long-distance. Yes, living in a long-distance zone from Toronto is giving me heart palpitations. And I think lowering Seth’s blood pressure.

Our house is adorable. The lovely thing about living in a long-distance zone is that the prices drop like a stone up there. So we got our 9 year old house for under $300k. I know you’re supposed to be coy about how much you paid for your house, but really, you’re all family and I hate that secretive bullshit. So yeah, we paid not that much really, for a 3 bedroom/3 bathroom house with a brand new kitchen and stainless steel appliances – yessssss!

Bonuses of the house that we are looking sooooo forward to?

• A backyard. This is probably first and foremost, because we miss grass, I miss tanning and Seth misses BBQ’ing. And hopefully this means we can start to repay all the entertaining we have enjoyed at friends’ houses as much as we’ve always wanted to.
• A dishwasher. I’m not going to lie to you. We both hate doing dishes more than anything else in the world. Well, except maybe Seth and cleaning the bathroom, it’s like drinking and driving – they just don’t mix. Yes, every time I see a commercial for Jet Dry, I get a little bit more excited.
• An unfinished basement. If we had found a house with a basement finished to perfection (like our lucky friends did), we would have jumped on it. But aside from that, unfinished I think is the 2^nd best option. Because now we can finish to our own taste. And to be honest, that’s a FUN home-reno project, because really, it’s just an Adults Playroom.
• A double-car garage. Such a rarity with (smaller) new houses that we really lucked in on this one. Love that we still don’t have to worry about cleaning off ice/snow like we’ve so not become accustomed to with our luxury underground parking the past 5 years.
• Central air. Another bonus to those of us that have still been suffering with in-window air conditioners for many years. It will be wonderful.
• A gorgeous kitchen. This was actually what I went into each and every house hoping to see. I mean, you’re looking at 2-3 year old houses and the kitchens are still crap. I just wasn’t getting it. And then we saw this house, and honestly, I think it was one of the biggest selling points.
• A fireplace. I realize that my romantic notions of evenings in front of the fireplace are never going to happen, but I can’t remember when I haven’t longed to have a house with a fireplace (woodstove not counting), and now we have one. Gas, but still, a fireplace.

I know there’s more – but the list is long enough, you get the picture. Needless to say, Seth and I are super excited about finally getting the house that we’ve been talking about wanting for years. It’s like it’s all falling together.

And of course, I saved the other (best) little nugget of news for last… we’re preggers! Well, technically it’s just me that’s knocked up, but for some reason people always announce it like it’s happening to ‘us’. And I suppose it is in a way. Except for the 6 week morning sickness. Or the cramping. Or the gas / bloating. Or the headaches. Or the insatiable hunger. Yeah, that doesn’t appear to be happening to Seth. Well, maybe the gas… ;)

I actually plan on posting some belly shots soon – so you can monitor ‘our’ progress. And while ‘we’re’ only 13 weeks, there’s definitely a pouch. Bye bye abs.

So we move into our house at the end of August and ‘we’ are due October 4^th. Yes, it’s all happening at once. Which is just the way we like to do things I guess (4 month engagement/wedding planning anyone?) … lots of changes for us Valliers coming up. Good changes. Big changes. Scary changes.

:) S&S

PS - I promise I will post both pics soon