Rewind 2 years...

  What's not to love about an old house?  Few things cause you to reflect on the past like a building that has withstood the test of time.
  Back when my husband and I were newly married we attended an estate auction held in a field near his parents' home.  We love going to auctions, even though we are usually too poor to buy anything.  Listening to a talented auctioneer do his job is like music to us.
  On the way home we walked by an old rock house that sat back on its lot, dwarfed by the massive trees surrounding it.  I was enthralled!  I grew up in a cookie-cutter neighborhood that was born in the 1980's.  I'd never seen such an old home that people actually lived in.  It had a classic white picket fence lining the front sidewalk and a creek-style irrigation canal in the front. 
  I remember thinking how much I would love to live in an old house like that.
  A few years later we got a call from the guy who lived there.  He had moved to Oregon and needed someone to mow the lawn while he was trying to sell it.  We were currently running a lawn care business that has since been sold.  Since I happened to be in the car with him when he got the call so we went over to check it out together.  The man's wife gave me a tour of the house.  Three months and several signatures later, it was ours!
  When the owners before us moved in originally, they did a TON of work to make it nicer.  We were able to move in and pick right up where they left off in improving it.
  

The garden in the front yard

Garden

The north side of the house

The north side outside the property line

Northwest side

The backyard (west side)

Backyard (south side)

Backyard

The shed

Shed interior

Backyard facing north

Blackberries

Front yard facing east

North side of the house

Flower bed in front of the porch

Front view

Front yard facing east

We knew from the beginning that we wouldn't fit in this house forever.  Buying a house with that understanding can be risky.  After moving in we already felt cramped; old houses are not known for their abundance of storage space.  We only had one daughter at this time, and hadn't accrued very many toys.  We were also paying off a truckload of student loans so we really didn't have much of anything.