Home Sweet Home: Outside Edition

When I had to move out of the Shenandoah Valley in 2011 - to NOVA, of all horrible places - it broke my heart. I love my mountains, I love my open fields, and I love my cows. I love small towns and calm drivers and hilariously short stop lights. I love the Shenandoah Valley. There's a spot on 66 West where you come up over a hill and can see mountains for the first time, and when I would hit that spot on my way to my parents' house for weekend visits my entire spirit would be lifted. When JT and I were given the opportunity to move to the Valley after about nine months of living in our home in Woodbridge, we jumped at the chance. We have fond memories of our time together - both as singles, as a dating and engaged couple, and then as a married couple - in Woodbridge, and it will always be a geographical and emotional part of our story/stories, but we couldn't be more excited to be in Berryville now.

I'd never liked brick houses, and I'd never liked ranches. But God gave me my dream home in a brick ranch. He's funny that way. It was the character of the inside of the house that won my heart instantly, though, and now I think the outside is cute. (And it will be so much cuter once we fix those front beds and paint the front door...)

These are the fields that are across the street from our house. They're huge and beautiful and remind me of where I grew up...and they're full of cows, which is the best part. (The cows were hiding for these particular pictures.)

This is our deck, and those are the mountains! I will say that the deck is in our five-year plan to fix because it's not the shape we want or the quality we want, but it's a deck and it does its job for now just fine. And guys, we can see the mountains from it. That's really the point I'm trying to make here.

This is the other side of the deck, and those doors lead to the family room. Something that I love about this house is the old character and unique details that you just don't see in houses made now (unless they cost a stinking fortune). The built in wood storage at the back door, as well as the built in flower beds under the kitchen window and flanking the chimney are just so cool and unique.

Okay, so please ignore the fact that we need to mow the lawn (it's rained for the last several days) and take a look at our back yard. It's a little over an acre, and all of it but the front yard is fenced. In other words, both dogs and momma are happier than we were on our unfenced postage stamp yard in Woodbridge. It's a lot more work (yard work post coming at some point in the near future) but it's so worth it. We love it. We love the views, the train that runs multiple times a day across the field, the privacy, the teeny-tiny town, and our friendly neighbors. We love that the people who own the lot directly behind us have a horse boarding and training facility. We love that Clarke County won't allow any of our neighbors to subdivide their lots, guaranteeing our view forever. And we have loved making it our home. A post with pictures of the inside is coming soon!

One last time...