Well, things are really getting going on our move to Ottawa. We have a contract signed to sell our house in TX, and a contract on a house to buy in Ottawa!

Our house was on the market for 4 days when we got a good offer on it. We counter-offered and they accepted, so that was easy! We're very happy it sold so fast, and it's nice that we're already done with the house showings and all that.

Then we went to Ottawa last weekend for a house-hunting trip. We had a list of houses we were interested in, and they all turned out to be disappointing. We looked at tons of other houses too and just found nothing we liked. Houses are quite a bit more expensive in Ottawa than in Dallas, for one thing. For another, we were trying to avoid buying a house in the suburbs like our last two houses. We have always wished, since leaving Kits in Vancouver, that we could live somewhere like that again, with shops and restaurants within easy walking distance. So, that's what we were looking for in Ottawa. It was very hard not to be convinced by the suburban houses though... you can just get so much more for your money out there, and it's hard to look at the older homes downtown when you're used to big bright windows, master ensuites, etc. So anyway, we were getting very discouraged by what was available in our price range in the more "Kits-like" neighborhoods.

Anyway, finally on the last day of our trip we found a house we liked! It was older but updated and in good condition. A lot smaller than we're used to, but it had a lot of character and charm, and a beautiful backyard. It was literally STEPS to pubs, restaurants, grocery stores, and some of our favorite shops. So, we were very excited and put an offer on it right away. But it did NOT go smoothly. Wouldn't you know that the sellers got another offer on it the very same morning! We did everything we could to make sure our offer was as attractive as possible but it was still stressful as we had no idea what the other offer was. It was quite nerve-wracking since we liked the house so much and it was the ONLY one we had seen that seemed reasonable for us. And being the last day of our house-hunting trip, we knew if it didn't work out we'd be coming home empty-handed. Then we would have to leave our house here and move to Ottawa without anywhere to move into yet. It wouldn't be the end of the world, but it's just much nicer to have everything settled.

Finally at the last minute (midnight Saturday) we got the word that our offer had been accepted! It still didn't go quite smoothly after that, as there were some glitches in getting all the paperwork signed and some more stressful moments. But now it's all done and we have a contract on a house in Ottawa!

Our closing date for the new house is June 29, and the date for this house in Dallas is June 30. So we're going to plan to be in Ottawa by June 28 and do our closing here long-distance.

It's going to be really different for us living in a very old (~100 years old!) house in a more urban neighborhood, but we're looking forward to it! It seems that there is some kid-friendly and dog-friendly stuff around though so that's good. I guess if we don't like it we can always move again later!

Click here for some pictures of our soon-to-be new (to us) house!