Our new house

So we were excited when my boss said that he might be able to arrange with one of his neighbors for a place to stay for us. I met the neighbor, and talked with him about the place, and agreed to have a look at it that afternoon. I had messaged Cherith, and she was excited too :)!

Then we went to look... Truth to tell, we weren't very excited about it... To name some of the positives first
* It had a really good hot water system (We still have not run out of hot water)
*It had a fairly new, ducted evaporative air conditioning system (Which seems to work really well! I haven't had the chance to test it on a really really hot day, but it sure makes a difference on 30-35 degree days!
*It had a bath tub! :D
*It was bigger than we would ever need....
*We have pretty much unlimited water... Great news for Cherith who wants to put in a garden.
*It was close to work and cheap.
*There was some furniture in the house which we were free to use (Including a bar fridge, which is the only fridge we have at the moment)
Then the negatives....
*It hadn't been lived in for 5 years, so there was a lot of dust and dirt everywhere....
*The paintwork was dodgy, fading, peeling, and just looked aweful.
*It had an aweful smell.
*The carpets were really dirty, and some of the carpets are just aweful...
*The floors are warped, especially in some rooms... (It is an old homestead, so probably something wrong with the foundations...)

Anyways... Those where our first impressions of the house... We were a little bit down after seeing it, wondering "Is this the best we can find in this area??" We talked to the owners then, about fixing the place up a bit, and they said if we wanted to paint, they would give us some paint. They said that they would supply carpet and help us recarpet the rooms that really needed it. They also said they would replace the front and back doors, because they were very badly weathered. He had also said that he would put a fireplace in by next winter, because the one that had been in the house had been taken out for some reason.

Feeling ever so slightly better, we decided to take the place, and told him so, at which he said he would come over and mow the yard, and do a bit of tidying up straight away (They were leaving the next day on a trip for a week, but said we could move in whenever we liked...)

So, Operation Clean Up, got the go ahead. On Friday Cherith went to town and hired a carpet cleaning machine, and we went over all the carpets in the house (I had the day off, because it was raining). We cleaned that day till we couldn't stand it anymore. By the time we finished on Friday, we felt rather better about living here. Then on Sunday, we moved in. Cherith's younger sister Christella, volunteered to come over and do some painting (She had apparently done painting before, and liked doing it). So we gave her the roller and paint the owners had lent us, and pointed her into our bedroom, which needed painting.

Needless to say, the paint all washed out! :D

By the time she was finished, the room looked so much better I felt cheerful about it :D... We rearranged furniture, and started to unpack our things... At least the essentials anyway...

So we have been here for 3 days now... That's not very long I know. but I like the house a lot better now than when I first saw it... With a bit of work, it has become a home, even if it isn't the most amazing house ever built :D. Anyway, wherever my wife is, is home.

My darling wife was very excited about the washing machine we were given as a wedding present! It works very well!

One side of the kitchen...

Back to life....

No... This is not a post about Lazarus coming back to life... :P

It's been three weeks today... I know people are going to get sick of hearing this, but I really don't care! I love my wife so much!!! And every day it gets better. And I've heard too many people tell me in the last few months, "Just wait till you've been married for a few years". The implication is that after a few years of marriage the love kind of dies away... Well, maybe it does for some people, but not for everyone! I've met old couples who are every bit as much in love now as they ever have been. And yes, they aren't quite the starry eyed lovers they once were, but they are very deeply in love.

So that's the plan. The method? Well, it's really incredibly simple. Cherith and I have built our relationship to where it is today (with God's help for sure!), and the same things that built it, will keep building it, and also maintain and nurture it. So that's the plan. Love, kindness, courtesy, respect, patience (God help me with all of these!) and genuine affection.

Now, on honeymoon these are quite easy :)... But when the cares of life take over again, it becomes ever easier to forget the little things. It becomes easier to neglect the little kindnesses and courtesies. And that is something I don't want to do!

So... Tomorrow I go back to work. So this is, as we say "crunch time". This is the time that will tell what will happen. And I'm determined not to let our love grow cold due to neglect or inattention. So, with God's help, we will continue to build our relationship and our friendship.

May God help us! Because Satan has made a very decided attack on marriage. It is even a sign of the end times. But God is always greater. God is always able to help.