FIXER UPPER Gran Adventure

December 2013, my children and I began a GRAN ADVENTURE. I purchased my first home ALONE. Prior to this purchase I had been a home owner multiple times, in various cities and states but I had never purchase a home by myself.

I purchased a rambler in Alexandria, VA, shortly after my divorce. It was and is a FIXER UPPER. Through this blog, I am going to share my gran adventure or ownership as well as the gradual transformation that my Little Shoe-box-of-house will eventually undergo.

Since I bought it, I have had to postpone repairs for financial, work, environmental and health reasons.

When I made the decision of buying a home, my children and I were commuting over an hour each between Stafford and Alexandria pretty much every single day. We endured that hellish commute for a year and we were done. I promised my children that I soon as it was possible, we would relocate to familiar surrounds and cut the commute as much as possible.

On a chilly Thursday afternoon in October 2013, I made two calls after receiving some painful news...I called my priest and then my realtor. My priest sprung into action to help my family pull together as a result of the divorce and my realtor sprang into action to help us find a place to call home. In a matter of weeks, my family and I found ourselves, downsizing, decluttering, packing and processing all paperwork to hopefully achieve the goal of buying a home.

On a cold, frigid afternoon in December, I walked in to the settlement office to sign the final batch of papers for my new home. Afterwards I cried... actually I sobbed. I had used up EVERY SINGLE PENNY I HAD to accomplish this dream. I told my children, I had no other Christmas gift for them but, a home of their own again, with a tremendously short commute, close to friends and our beloved parish....that was the best Christmas in a several years.