One

This time last year we were on a mad dash house hunting trip over here. Ten days, five counties...and a a near triple-digit number of houses visited - with two very patient real estate agents.

On our first Sunday out, a year ago today, we saw our house for the first time - at least from the outside. It wasn't on our list. The place we were on our way to see (that provoked the drive-by) wasn't on our radar either, so it was lucky we were even there in the first place, chasing open house signs with our realtor (as if we didn't already have enough houses to see that day), when H spotted our house, sitting perfect, with shutters and window boxes and a big for sale sign off to the side of the gravel driveway.

He asked me to visit it while he was at work that week. One week later, (after seeing the house together a time or two) we put in an offer...and by the time we got on the plane just a little more than a week later, it was accepted. Of course, it was all more complicated than that by the time we closed last March, but here we are. It's been more work and more fun than either of us imagined. Strange to think that it's already (and only been!) a year.