OY! KRISTEN

I keep telling myself to breathe.

Create boundaries.

Say no.

Because there is a lot happening in the Hale household these days. And when I say household, I mean it, because we are in the midst of purchasing our first household.

I shared a few weeks ago about how we put an offer in on a short sale house, and we would have to wait quite a while to hear back on it. In the mean time, we decided to keep house hunting. One day we stumbled upon an amazing opportunity - our house. The one we are buying. Today.

Our brother in law knew of someone who wanted to put their house on the market, in the same neighborhood we had been looking to buy. Only this house wasn't a short sale. It wasn't even listed. But we called the owner up, went and looked at the house at 5pm on a Tuesday evening, and put in an offer later that evening.

We squealed a lot.

Then the next morning we got on a plane for NYC.

We've had a few weeks of due diligence, which included inspections and, you know, furniture dreaming. But today at 9am we are closing on our first home purchase and it feels a tiny bit magical. 8 years of marriage, 4 cities of adventure and 1 phenomenal baby later, we are actually committing to this location.

I feel the oncoming swell of moving, renovations, new furniture, new projects, new routines, new everything, and I am a bit overwhelmed. Just a bit. Actually I'm sort of immobilized by the enormity of all of it. I'm nervous about how my kid is going to react. I'm nervous about the idea of putting down roots. If you know me at all, you know I have a bit of a complex about settling down. I love love love adventure, traveling, dreaming about changing the world and the idea of settling down in the suburbs, one where I grew up, it's like, WHOA. What the heck. What. The. Heck.

And yet, I know that this house and this purchase is the right choice for our family. It's time. We have lived small for years, exploring amazing cities and constantly downsizing what we own, constantly being forced to live light. But with a 1-year old in the picture, things have changed. We are spewing with baby gear at any given moment. Need a diaper? I am never more than 6 feet away from a diaper, a pack of wipes, and at least 4 toys that probably need some disinfecting. In other words, having a little more room (and a lot more storage!) just seems to fit our new phase of life. And it's so good! I just have to keep reminding myself that I'm not 23 and goofing off in Boston or New York. I am 27, I am a mom, and I spend the majority of my time in the kitchen. Having a little more space wouldn't hurt. And this house! We love it so much, it's just the kind of place that feels like home. It's green! I'm buying a green house!

I am so excited about having a home. I'm just a bit nervous about the unknown.

Is all of this silly? This is what has been happening lately. Prayers and advice for the moving, reminiscing, slightly frazzled lass would be much appreciated!

A Picnicing Trio.

Lately I've been feeling a little bit claustrophobic and cooped up. I have a newborn and we spend our days indoors, while I beg him to nap and he begs to differ. So when the weekends roll around, all I want to do is have FUN. And my definition of fun is getting redesigned, since there are only a handful of places that we can comfortably take our newborn child. Without getting glared at. I wish we were in a phase where would could easily tote our little babe along anywhere, but that's just not the case. Enter the perfect solution/afternoon plan: the picnic.

Ah, the picnic. A great American pastime. The darling weaved basket, the iconic food, the oh-so-slurpable wine. Picnicking is what adorable people do, like couples in endless love or families with golden retrievers and approximately 2.5 children (probably donning Land's End polos. Yes, the retriever, too.) Then it dawned on me. WE THREE SHOULD PICNIC. I mean, we live in Georgia again. There are lawns around here. We might not have a precious pup or an assortment of prepster gear, but we like to eat! We should be having some picnics.

// Lake McIntosh //

// What a babe. Both. //

// We thought we would read. The folly. //

// How bout them Braves, son. //

So last weekend we took off for our impromptu outdoor family date. And it was SO fun. We stopped by the fancy Fresh Market, treated ourselves to deli sandwiches and chips and some other tasty delights (that Fresh Market, my oh my, it's almost as decadent as walking through a Tiffany's.) We took our bounty out to a hill, overlooking Lake McIntosh in Peachtree City. Okay, we might have crashed a golf course and spread ourselves out on the lawn aplenty. But it had been a long time since I experienced such peace and joy. I breathed in the crisp air and held my baby close. Laughed at my awesome husband who has done everything in his power to make me happy. We ate and laughed and talked and played with our baby. And it was so so fun.