our new home.

Remember how I mentioned that although we had found our dream house, we were still looking for something better to present itself? Well, as it so happens... something did. 

After pouring through the books of house and apartment listings for the hundredth time, I marked off a couple of homes in a town very nearby to where we are stationed - a town we had never been to before. We looked at the two homes, unimpressed by the 70's style decor in one and the very heavy smokers on the first floor of the other. As we took a short tour through the town on foot, I spotted the peak of a handsome looking little house on top of a hill we were passing. Cute white lace curtains peeked from the two windows I could see, and there was a "home for rent" sign at the base of the driveway. "We should call! We're right here anyway," I mentioned to Marius. He agreed and we met the landlord shortly thereafter. 

You may think this odd, as the house is just about the complete opposite of the last one I posted photos of. It's very small, recently built and located on the outskirts of a more populated town. It's really lovely both inside and out, not a potential fixer-upper like the other one. It has a real yard, a patio and garage. It is a two minute walk from a Kindergarten and a grocery store, where while Marius is gone I can buy fresh food for myself and Iris (in case I haven't mentioned it before, I don't drive). The town has a train station, numerous bus stops, and a couple of restaurants and shops. 

The bedrooms are absolutely tiny, but the living room is a good size for the three of us and that's where we spend the majority of our time anyway! Living in a smaller house will keep our acquisition of "stuff" to a minimum, unlike at the other house which was massive and we felt we'd have to buy more furniture and such to fill the hugely open space. Our new house is cozy - the other made me feel almost uncomfortable considering its size. 

Our shipments of belongings haven't arrived yet by plane or by boat, but we will be loaned some basics from the base until they do. We did feel a bit of uncertainty and even sadness at the decided loss of our other potential home; its charm and all the many things it had to offer us. However, we feel we made the best choice possible and this house also has much to offer us, and especially Iris. I'm really looking forward to our move in date this week!

The view of our house from the driveway.
I plan to add potted flowers and the land lady is putting in a garden for us too!

The view from our patio and yard!

The front hall with marble staircase and tiled floors throughout.