A Letter To The Next Owner Of Our Home

As we have embarked on the process of ending the chapter in our current home and moving on to a new adventure building our new home, I have found in short order that there are feelings involved in this process that I haven't really addressed. In order to keep it together and not turn into a pile of feelings at the goodbye to our townhome, I felt it would be quite natural for me to write a letter to the new owner to the place we have been fortunate to call home for the past seven years. This is my letter:

Dear new owner of our home,

If you are reading this, you are the new owner of the space we have been blessed to call our home for the past seven years. Blessed is what summarizes seven years of memories and the start of our family's life together here, and we hope that feeling lends itself to you in your time here.

There were many firsts for us here.

It was our first home together, the biggest purchase I had ever made. I remember first walking into the place after the papers were signed. The first ice cream cake we got to celebrate. The first thing I loved about this place - the fireplace mantle. The first thing I brought into the house, an engagement photo of my husband and I - to place on that mantle.

There was our first housewarming party. It was the first place our first puppy ever knew to be home. It was the place my husband received the news that he had secured his first after-college job. It was the place I came home to when, for the first time, I had lost mine.

It was the first place we had painted a room together; the small main floor bathroom, the same shade you see now.

Painting snowballed into the first time we went furniture shopping for the first new furniture to bring into our first home. It was the first time we fell into debt.

It was the first place we decided to go "all-in" on the fish keeping hobby, which led to over 500 gallons of water in the home at any given time (don't worry, there were no blow-outs or floods!). It was the first time we decided to try salt water fish keeping for a short period of time.

It was where we celebrated our first Christmas together as a married couple, with our first real (and later, fake) Christmas trees.

It was where I found out I was pregnant for the first time, and the first time I lost a baby.

There were game nights, movie nights, gaming nights, holidays, anniversaries, birthdays, Superbowls, TV series viewing nights, girl's nights, guy's nights and so many in-between nights. There were 5-8 dinners out as the delicious smell of onion rings and burgers wafted in from across the street. There was the HONK of the gas station car wash, warning cars to stop and park. There were games of fetch and frisbee with our dog in the playfields behind us, and the patch of yard in front. The quiet street, the nice neighbors, nearby restaurants, gas and schools were nice.

It was the first time I had a patio garden of my own, and realized for the first time, just how much I loved gardening. It was where our puppy felt grass and ate leaves for the first time. The front yard is where I facilitated my first National Night Out block party for our townhouse association.

It was the place I inserted my first insulin pump site.

There were many friends and much family. Many tears, laughs and smiles. Long conversations, minor break-downs, repairs and improvements.

It was the first place we called home, and we hope you feel the love that was had here, as we have truly loved living here for these years.

I love the quirk that our doorbell has never worked, and then we installed a second. That one works when it wants to, but makes me laugh because now there are two doorbell buttons outside. We never really did find out what those two mystery switches were for. We both suspected they were for a potential ceiling fan install, but we never made that change. I loved how my Morning Glories grew by the door with almost no effort.

I know where the upstairs floor creaks and know that the bedroom door rattles in its frame when windows in the loft and the bedroom are open at the same time during a breeze while the door is closed at night. We had a sock hanging over the top of the door to stop that from happening, which our realtor laughed at before mentioning it needed to come down.

The Sunroom (and fish room) was my favorite in the house. The way the afternoon light came in through the slatted wood blinds; the warmth of the fireplace on cold fall nights.

I've never been good at goodbyes, even over silly small things, but something like this doesn't have to be sad because it has been such a blessing to us. I will always call it our first home, and to me, it always will be. I am sure in the future, I will drive by and "check on the place." I may not wave, get out or stop by, but will remember with fondness all that started here.

I know that you will change it -paint it, update it, maintain it as you please, filling in the nooks and crannies with your new memories.

Please love it, take care of it and cherish all of the little moments and precious memories you make here. Maybe even a few firsts, like so many of ours we made here.

-The Dobersteins

Doberstein Developments

I had a mini-revelation that I missed writing. I used to journal through my adolescence, into my teens and even during my freshman year of college. Pondering this, I decided to check in on my blog and realized that I had not posted anything since December. I guess that is what happens when life happens and there is little left at the end of the day but exhaustion!

To recap on the happenings since December 2014:

We made the decision to sell our townhouse that we have called home for the past seven years, and build our dream home on acreage where we can grow as a family* and stretch out a bit. Another deciding factor to make the move was our ever-increasing list of outdoor activities mandating the need for land, so northwest bound we went!

*family = another dog and potential child sometime in the future.

We have centralized our desired location in northwestern Minnesota, around Big Lake.  This location made the list for many reasons, but being that it was a place where we:

A) Could afford some land

B) Could afford to build our dream house

C) Wasn’t too far from one of our jobs (Derick’s)

Our townhouse was listed on the public MLS market on Thursday, April 23, 2015. Since listing, we have had five showings, with another showing tonight.

Time spent before listing was spent – almost every night after work and every weekend – packing items to take to our two 10’x10’ storage units in Rogers, MN. The goal was to de-clutter and pare down our items in the house in order to make it show the best and let prospective new owners imagine their belongings in the space. It was a slow, seemingly glacial process. I made the decision, as the main packer, to just pack away the majority of things I had, with the intention to go through everything once I would be getting settled into the new place. My reasoning being – I am not sure exactly what things I will want to bring over and use to decorate the new place with, and what things I will for sure want to part with. I plan on making a large purge donation to Goodwill sometime following the move-in to the new house. Now, I know that the opposite reasoning works as well…why not just keep the things that you LOVE and get rid of the rest. Well, see, I tend to “love” a lot of different things at different times. And rather than spend lots of money I don’t need to, in order to redecorate, I just tend to acquire different things and keep them all around. Together.

The plan for the new house is to decorate more minimalistic, focusing less on the material things around us and more on the experiences and memories made there. I know – good theory, right.  I have no doubt that it might be hard because I have a wide variety of respect for many different kinds of decorating, art and things. I am actually planning on having a couple of my girlfriends come over after we move in, to help me pick out things that I already own to decorate some of the main spaces of the house. I love their design aesthetic, and think theirs will compliment mine well, and potentially show me ways to use some of the things that I already have in new ways.

We had the flooring replaced in the front entry way, through the dining room, kitchen and all the way to the back bathroom and garage on the main level – a somewhat inexpensive lynoleum wood grain floor covering that took the installer a solid three days to install based on the cuts and arrangement of the space. It looks nice! I am almost sad to leave…almost…

         

   

 

  

 

  

  

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Valentine’s Day this year, Derick and I made it to the Minneapolis Convention Center for our first ever RV Show! I know – talk about your romantic adventures…

We walked in, out and around the many different makes and models of RVs, campers, toy-haulers and pull-behind units, from the small tear-drop shaped models with only room to sleep inside, to the big rigs on the other end of the spectrum that felt like they needed their own velvet rope and bouncer to be let into them!  Derick had begun looking at campers a couple of times when we had talked about potentially getting one to take some awesome road-trip adventures down the (ahem) road. We kept coming back to one of the Greywolf , (by Forest River) models that we both really liked. The floorplan, layout, storage and use of space was awesome.

The one we liked best was the 24’ model, with a dinette slide out and a retractable awning off the front. We ended up sitting in that one to take a break from walking, before we left the show. We really thought about purchasing that one right there on the spot, with the prices being so great at the discounted show pricing, it was hard to walk away without any concrete plan.

We went home that night, talked about it and whether or not it would make sense to pull the trigger on this purchase, weighing the pros and cons, and seeing if it would factor into our budget all while we were considering building our new house.

Then we had a crazy idea…what if we bought this camper and used it to LIVE in until our new home was ready for us to move into?! Could we do it? Were we up for the challenge? How would Tucker do?

In the end, we decided that this seemingly crazy plan was right up our alley and we DID end up purchasing this camper! Derick went to the dealer in Anoka, MN the day after the show and asked if we would be able to order one at the same discounted pricing but not pick it up until later in the spring. The salesman agreed and that sealed the deal and we are the proud owners of this 24’ Greywolf camper!

I fell in love with the large pantry (the largest pantry/storage option on a camper that I had ever SEEN before) and the open kitchen (go figure) and the flow of the space just made sense to both of us:

               

 Similar to our exterior, to give you an idea.

 We picked up the camper, had our walk through of its features and applications on Saturday, April 18, 2015. We took it right from there to the RV lot in Otsego – Mississippi Riverwood RV Park, where we spent the next day and a half unpacking items into it for Derick to move in! The camper will be Derick and Tucker’s home until we have our new house built (late summer 2015). I will be joining them in the camper once the townhouse sells. Meanwhile, I have been staying at the townhouse keeping it “show-ready,” cleaning, and keeping the plants alive.  

We were able to snag one of the last lots open for rent for the season in the RV park (April – October 2015). Once we were unpacking things into the camper, I was surprised with how much storage space there was! Not really closet space – see the bedroom photo – that is all the hanging storage space you have! 15” on each side. Looks like I will be needing to pare down my closet when I move in once the townhouse sells.

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Upon Derick and Tucker’s first week living at the RV park out of the camper, the temperatures dipped to the very chilly side, and that is when Derick and I discovered that the furnace was not fully-functional. Uhoh, first hiccup of our adventure. Derick ended up having a tech from the RV place call to troubleshoot, and actually pay a visit to our camper at the campground. When the issue could not be resolved on-site, Derick had to pack up everything in the camper that was loose and bring it back into the shop at the RV lot. Talk about disappointing! But after talking with a couple of our RV enthusiast friends, they reassured us that really, the first year owning a new RV or camper is really about working out the kinks and finding any issues and addressing them right away. In the end it was fixed, and the boys had heat again.

Next was the water heater – which is still being considered by Derick and the RV place. Derick realized after moving into the camper that the need for shorter showers would be necessary. He just didn’t realize that they would become two-minute showers before seemingly ice-cubes shot at him from the shower nozzle!

But, other than those two things, both boys seem to be getting used to camper living. I have gone there the past couple of weekends and spent the weekend there with them. It kills a couple birds with one stone – I get to see them both and spend time with them, and it keeps me out and away from the townhouse while there are showings on the weekends! Win-win! I am looking forward to being able to plant some of my flower seeds there this weekend when it is nice out on Saturday!

Consider this a housing update for now, more on other happenings later!

-LD

Home for Christmas

This year around the holidays, it really hit me how grateful I am for the things in my life - for both material and immaterial things.

Derick and I have been blessed this year not only being able to put away money for our potential new house this coming fall, but also having been able to treat ourselves throughout the year as well - including sporadic dinners out, or buying things we want here and there just because we could if we wanted. That did become more challenging apparent once Black Friday and Christmas came closer and we were wondering what we would get for each other. In the end, we decided that since both of us had more recently bought ourselves shiny new things, that we would forgo the Christmas gift exchange between the two of us. We did end up getting one gift for each other, however. 

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Christmas was nice this year in Medford, WI. I had been looking forward to it, baking for almost two days straight through beforehand! We stayed with Derick's aunt Dawn, uncle Brian and cousin Josh at their house this year. It was nice to be able to "force" myself to sit and relax for the first couple of days when both of them had to work and Josh went to school! Between Christmas movies on TV, episodes of Gilmore Girls on Netflix, Deer hunting observation, outdoor photography day, board games and prepping Christmas Eve food, it was easy to stay just busy enough to not go too crazy.

I experienced my first ever deer hunting experience from beginning to end - sitting watching the woods for a few hours, seeing nothing but a small yearling the first night. 

The second night - watching a red squirrel run up to the corn pile, grabbing a kernel, running to one spot then to another and stashing his prize there, seeing a doe, her fawn and another deer come into range. It was crazy to watch them up close - mere feet away. One of the deer seemed so smart - almost looking right up at us in the deer stand when it heard a noise coming from where we sat. The swiftness that Derick's cousin, Joe had, while pulling back his bow, aiming out the little window and shooting the deer - it happened so fast! So fast that I almost missed it! Joe and I tracked the deer to where it had died - lying in the woods. Joe started gutting the deer. I couldn't watch right away, but watched after the initial incision, even holding the front leg to assist the gutting process. I watched Joe haul it through the woods to the 4-wheeler and bring it back to his grandma's house - where he met up with his uncle and his pick-up truck. They loaded the deer into the back of the truck and he went into town to get the deer registered, tagged and back to his uncle's house to skin and cut apart the meat. I witnessed most of that process as well - and helped wrap and package the cuts of meat from the deer. The event was capped off by grilling some of the deer that had been standing, alive, in front of me mere hours before. That was crazy to think about - and I found that I could not fixate on that too much as I ate the venison...but overall, it was quite the experience. If you would have asked me a few years ago if I would have observed/participated in a deer hunt - I probably would have said no, if it were not for working where I work now and how many more "worlds" have opened up to me!

Christmas Eve with Derick's family was great this year as well - we got to see almost all of his relatives on the day or night. I played with his youngest cousin, Alex, who in years past, had been too shy to even talk or sit next to anyone, but this year, he was almost in my LAP playing games with me on his tablet! What a difference a year can make! 

The food was great as well - plenty, of course, and good all-around. Dawn and I had come to the realization that she needed to prepare some candied sweet-potatoes for her husband since he liked them so much at Christmas, but neither of us had ever done them before. I found a recipe online and took a crack at it. They turned out pretty decent - very very sweet though! 

The White Elephant gift exchange was a hit again this year - I think with the most presents we have ever had! I got one of the middle turns in the swap and ended up stealing a tin man cookie jar from his uncle Brian and keeping it for the duration for the game! Derick got the last pick, so he was able to select from any of our choices. He ended up with a box of chocolates!

Tucker did really well this year - even getting to meet Dante (his cousin Sami's dog) who came for a visit Christmas Eve-day. Tucker even ate all the food we brought with us for him, being that things at Brian and Dawn's house are a little slower paced than other places we have stayed in the past. That, and he was the only dog in the house other than the visit from Dante! Full attention on him! And boy, did it tucker him out! He went into coma mode on the ride home and once we got home, he demanded that we cuddle on the couch, where he proceeded to snore and puppy-dream the rest of the evening.

But, as is the case with all good things - they must come to an end - it was time to leave (Christmas Day). It was nice to go visit, but as I got back home, I realized, as well, that there really is no place like home - and sometimes just coming back home feels really nice in and of itself.

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Once we returned home, there was more relaxing, followed by an urgent need to start purging the house of things that I didn't need anymore!

I started with my closet and had four bags of clothes, belts, etc that I didn't want in there anymore! Then i went through a bookshelf in the bedroom and got a few books from there. Next I tackled my big bookshelf in the office...I cleared off two complete shelves worth of books, old school and internship projects and other things I didn't need or want anymore. Man, that really felt good to get rid of all of that stuff!

It will be nice when we are hopefully able to get a bigger house - so we can spread out what we do have into a bigger space! Right now, everything feels so close together and on-top of each other, sometimes it gets a little crazy. The good news is that we will have to go through everything before we pack it to move, so I am sure that this process will repeat itself again soon enough! And storage totes were just on sale at Target, so Derick went and picked up a bunch of them to use for packing! A little early, but getting those on sale is a big win for sure!

I hope you had a very Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year later this week!

LD

Everything is AWESOMMMMMMMME!

Today - November 10th - the Twin Cities had our first snowfall of the season, and to say that we were not ready for it, is an extreme understatement.

The snowfall began overnight and we woke up to about two inches of snow covering everything outside in white.

Derick bursts into the bedroom singing the song from the Lego Movie, "Everything is Awesome" because he has a snow day from school today. Darn - I knew I should have been a teacher...

After getting in a few bars of "Everything is Awesome," he offered to drive me to the transit station this morning - considering that tonight's commute is supposed to be way worse than this morning's commute, and my car is pretty low to the ground as-is. This morning, by local bus transportation and one transfer in Minneapolis, it took me about 2 1/2 hours to get to work. For perspective: my usual commute time is about half that - about an hour most mornings.

As I was enduring my commute this morning, I was a little surprised by how many people were flat out angry at the weather and circumstances. I almost wanted to hold up a sign that just said -

Relax. You are in Minnesota where potential snowfall happens. Being angry will not help anything or anyone, so breathe, relax, and we will all get to our destinations eventually.

World Diabetes Day - November 14th

All month long I have been posting photos related to diabetes. Above, I searched google images for Type 1 diabetes memes and these were some of my favorite results. Some I have seen before and some are brand new, but wow, are there a lot of them out there, and most of them are 100% real life. 

To all my dia-buddies out there:

Here's to us. The day-to-day fighters.

May you know that you are never alone in your fight with and against managing your diabetes. 

Keep fighting each day - for each day brings us closer to a cure and the day we can say we "used to have diabetes."