And the seed was planted...

It takes a certain amount of strength to allow the process of life to unfold. We quite often have this strong desire to control what may be coming next, or happening right now in our lives. But Pete and I remained committed to being open to whatever direction life may take us.

There were many ideas for our next step, one of which was renting. We could then allow ourselves the time we needed to find our next property and just take our time. The reality of buying in the same market that we sold in soon became evident. The competition for a good house in a great location was fierce.

We did find a house in a beautiful part of Belmont that we really liked. It was located on the high side of the street - a 70's house with great bones and tonnes of natural light. We talked over numbers, over and over and over again. The budget would be tight but we dreamed of how we could transform that house and make it something very special. I invested way too many hours thinking about that house. I guess it's natural to go ahead in your thought process and reinvent in your mind.

I love transformation. Making something out of nothing. We both do. And we know we could be a renovation power house one day.

We gave it our best shot. It was the first auction that Pete had ever bid at and he was pretty brave! We went 10k over our budget. Still, when that agent yelled out "sold!" and pointed in the direction of the other bidder, the tears began to stream uncontrollably down my cheeks. I really thought I wasn't that invested. But obviously I was wrong.

It didn't take long to get over the disappointment. You just move on - no point getting attached to an outcome or something that ultimately is just not meant to be. There's something else out there for you and trusting in that brings comfort.

So I guess you must be wondering about that seed...

When we were getting our home ready to sell, Pete's dad dropped around one day and during a conversation he said to us "why don't you build on the back of my place?". Pete and I looked at each other and thought... ahhh... wow...ok...maybe... "we'll think about it" we said. And we did consider it... briefly. But we brushed it off, deciding that we'd probably like a bit more space between us and our loved ones.

So we continued looking at Real Estate dot com. We became obsessed with it actually. Looking 3 or more times a day, hopeful for new listings:

In our desired suburb,

In a good location within that suburb,

In our price-range,

With a good northerly orientation,

In a style we liked,

With loads of potential,

With room for a shed,

With a place to grow our food,

Made of brick construction,

With no major structural issues...

It was a fairly long list and it became increasingly obviously that it would be no easy feat. Of course with anything in life, compromise is needed. And we definitely were open to a home or project that had the potential to be renovated or changed to be more suited to our needs or desires.

The renting idea came and went. Then there was the caravan idea. We could live like hobo's for a year or so on mum and dads land in Teesdale. That also got canned. After much soul searching, Pete and I decided that his mum needed us and we should stay with her in Newtown for a while. She was getting to the point where she could use some more support, and we could look for a house from a convenient location in town and save money on rent and expensive caravans.

So it was decided! Two hundred and fifty eight thousand trailer loads later, the relocation from East Geelong to Newtown was complete. It was a big job, but it felt strangely good to be finally onto the next stage in our lives - finding our next home.

Challenging, daunting, but very exciting!

I love having flowers from mums garden in my home.

This image really captured our imagination.