Almost two weeks later on the 13th of August the house was finally ready for viewings - before it was listed online so we still hadn't pictures of the inside. We were already pretty confident it would be the house for us but just needed inside to see if it was big enough and if there might be room to grow. I fell for the house very quickly but the estate agent wasn't sure if the family would accept an offer before it went on the market.
We discussed it all afternoon and looked at the photos we'd taken approximately a 100 times before calling late afternoon with an offer. With no real sense of how it would go I was nervous and on my way back from the shop that night I drove past again and saw a man putting a for sale sign up outside the house. However, at just after 9am the following morning we got a call to say our offer had been accepted!!! The countdown to our move out day was already ticking (5 weeks) but we were prepared for the dates not to line up. We'd long ago made the decision to break the chain and move in with our parents if necessary.
As it turns out our move out date got moved a week later and everything lined up to move straight into our new home on the 18th of September. The plan was to gradually move everything to my boyfriends parents (with the help of his Dads van) and be left with the bare minimum on the final morning. The solicitor couldn't give us an idea of times so we aimed to get out and hand in the keys at around 11am before we were chased.
At 11am with no keys and no idea how long we would have to wait we drove back to our future home where my parents were taking some plants out the passengers side of their car. Slightly cheekily, because we knew the house was empty, we went round the back to see the garden again. Still feeling at a loss of what to do and with the sun shinning we found ourselves sitting outside happily chatting.
Lunch time arrived and we were still outside chatting so my dad and I went to Lidl to get some picnic bits and made something up using the few kitchen bits we'd packed into a box in the car. Filled with so much possibility and sitting outside with three people I love I don't think I've been happier. There was just one thing missing - a key to our home.
The afternoon was getting later and we were still waiting. We'd been back on the phone to our solicitor who was trying to find out why they hadn't received the money for the flat yet. I discovered the garage door was open so at 3pm we decided to just go for it and move our boxes and furniture from my boyfriends parents into the garage. It took around 1.5-2 hours with the 6 of us working as a team but still no sign of keys...
Thankfully, just before 5pm we got a call saying our solicitor had received the money and was happy to give us the keys. There have been fewer moment in my life where I've been happier or more excited - I think the photo says it all.
The next hour was a mad rush of getting essential into the house, building and making our bed and cleaning. We couldn't have done it without my mum and my boyfriends mum cleaning the kitchen and bathroom (yuck!) and everything our parents did to pull things together. However, at around 6pm everyone left and suddenly we were left in a strangers house. It had been a long day and while not as stressful as other people told me it would be I was still shattered and found myself just wanting to go home to our cosy flat where everything was familiar... a strange feeling I wasn't prepared for.
Anywhere with my boyfriend will always be home though and we now live within walking distance to our favourite chippy so we went for something to eat and cosied up infront of a DVD (old school without a TV or internet). I knew then that the hard work was only just beginning but this is a house that is all our to do anything we want with. Despite the mixed feelings I went to sleep so happy that night.
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