We found our house!!!

          Today was a glorious day as it was today that we found the house we had been searching for! It is such a huge stress relief to know that we no longer have to constantly be researching, calling, scheduling appointments, traveling around, and battling for a place to live. As I mentioned before, they gave us 14 days max to find a house, my husband's friend from work snagged his quickly, and we were feeling the pressure and competition. 

Troy (my DH) and I have spent many hours browsing sites and calling people. Today we spent all day looking, and had appointments with realtors and landlords spaced every hour or hour and a half or so. The first place was a definite no go. It was on a noisy corner street and was set up oddly inside. The garage was also a distance away from the house and underground. That and other factors made it unappealing to us. And we found that the man we were in communication with was a realtor that had been hired and we weren't actually speaking with the landlord. This is something you must be careful of in Italy, for sometimes the realtor is paid for by the landlord, other times it is expected that the potential customer who asked to see the house pay for his services of showing it. We're supposed to confirm this over the phone before meeting with them, however we forgot. Luckily when we met he said that the landlord had hired him to meet with us and we would not have to pay. Whew. After that first failed location he said he had another place for rent and asked if we'd like to see. We had time and figured, why not? So we followed him... up some ridiculously small streets! They would be considered small if they were one way, but they were two way. Then he got mixed up and needed to turn around. Our friend had to get out and help us through what felt like a 17 pt turn in order to turn around on this street. I have a strong feeling our poor car won't make it long here without getting severely scraped up. In the states our car felt small. We got the "compact parking" spots and I always felt vulnerable driving next to large trucks and vans. Here, our car is HUGE. Parking spots look miniature and it's difficult to squeeze by on the roads. Tip: if moving to Italy, buy the car here, or make sure your American car is as small as possible. Even better if it has fold in side view mirrors so they will hopefully fold in and not break when you squeeze through places. 

Anyway, after weaving through tiny streets the guy got out and told us he discovered the house was already being rented (uninformed realtor... another reason to deal straight with the landlord). We said thank you and got out of there as quickly as we could.

The next house was one I had found while browsing online, and the pictures looked amazing! I was truly hoping it would be the one, but I knew pictures could be deceiving and tried not to get my hopes up. 

Troy and I had come up with a list of things we were looking for in a place; we wanted at least 2 bedrooms, and either a garage or basement for him to have his weights and do his workouts in. We wanted a yard for the kid, and possibly some place that would accept pets in the future and maybe even let us garden. Location was important as well, and other random factors that are differences between Italian and American homes. We also preferred certain towns to others and were hoping all of the things on our "wants" list would fit into one of these towns. We are so thankful, because we found all of this and more at this home!  

The name of the town is Budoia, pronounced like "Boo-doy-ya". (And here's an info blurb on it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budoia) It's only about a 10 minute drive from base so Troy will be able to bike to work on days when I need the car, but it's far enough away that we can feel separated from base/work and to not be able to hear the events going on there (another desire we had had on our "wants" list).  

Here is a view of the house from the front yard. So green! At the foot of the mountains too!

Here's a view of the house entrance (taken in winter, as you can see from the bare trees) I find it adorable!

          I didn't get any pics of the rooms, but I will soon enough :) You may have noticed there's two doors, one above and one below. It's actually a duplex, with our landlords living on the floor directly above us. They are a super sweet retired couple and I couldn't think of better neighbors! We were hoping to be close to Italians and have the opportunity to learn about their culture and language, and they'll be right above us! And if Troy is given a temporary duty assignment, I need only to walk upstairs if I need help or just some company. And if we ever take off for the weekend on a trip, no need to worry about our house! It's already being watched. Seemed like a good deal to me.  
         There were certain qualities about this house that made it stand out and above the other homes we'd visited. This house had a nice entryway, while other homes seemed to enter into a random room instead. And the kitchen was great! Italian kitchens are SUPER tiny by American standards, but this one was a decent size. Many Italian homes have also seemed very dark, and this one had plenty of natural lighting. Italians also have odd style, and we've been in homes with some dreadfully ugly floors  and random pink painted accent walls etc. This house looked normal. Clean white walls (but an off-white/weathered white, not hospital bright white) The floors looked normal/not bizarre. The living room has glass doors out to the yard as well. 

          Nearly all Italian homes do NOT have window screens! That's an American thing apparently. However, this landlord put them in! I don't see why the Italians haven't caught on to screens, I've been told by many that mold is a problem and the majority of homes don't have air conditioning, as such, they keep the windows open as often as possible to air out the house and the bugs come wandering in during summer. That would drive me nuts. Not fond of flys... 

        The master bedroom was cozy and had a built in closet! An odd one mind you, it's more like a large cupboard in the wall, but it has a place to hang clothes! Most Italian homes have no closets and would require us to purchase a wardrobe or two. Now we don't! There was also a good size room for the nursery! (Which I can't wait to set up!) Most of the Italian homes visited had odd shapes for rooms, and it just seemed weird the way I would have had to set things up. This place also had a small room that Troy and I hope to use as an office or mini library. It also had a cellar/storage room downstairs. Perfect amount of space for a starter family.
       It seemed the only downfall was that the cellar was too short for Troy to do workouts in. He's already a tall guy, and he needs to be able to fully extend his arms to lift weights. I discussed this with the landlords (which was difficult with the communication barrier) but they understood and seemed determined to remedy this "shortcoming". He took us outside and showed us the garages. More room, and taller, but not tall enough. We went around to the side of the house and there was a very tall covered patio. It had a garden swing the landlord was working on, but he said he would clear the area by the time we moved in and Troy could put his weights there. Troy was stoked! It was a much better area than the ones we'd seen in other houses. It's nice and cool outdoors, he has space and can fully extend, it's sheltered from the weather, and his dirty/heavy weights don't have to be in the house! I was also stoked... lol. We were sold on the house at that point, but it got better! The yard is huge and all fenced off! It also wraps all the way around the house, and I can foresee dogs and kids running circles around the house. It's big enough for frisbee throwing, football playing, and all that jazz.
       As we walked around talking with them we noticed the remnants of a garden. Naturally it's winter and not much is in season, but they garden and we can garden there too! They also had loads of fruit trees! Lemons, many apples, nuts, and other kinds. The woman mentioned she needed to go collect the eggs, and I was like, "You have chickens!?". Yes, they have a chicken coop with many eggs! They also have a rooster (I love rooster crows in the morning, so country!) They also kill the chickens for meat. Troy and I have always discussed doing that someday, and we are stoked the landlords do. They had a large open shed area stacked with fire wood for the fire place and the landlord mentioned he makes his own wine. Troy and our friend got quite excited and the man showed him the cellar where he makes everything and let them try the wines he's made. Troy is hoping that after 3 years of living here that he'll also be pro at making his own wine! As they were exploring the wines, the woman showed me all the canning she's done and the jams she's made! I have always wanted to get into that and I'm hoping I can learn those skills from her as Troy learns the art of making wine from her husband. 

       So yea, basically the more we looked around, the more excited we got. We didn't need any more signs, we got the point, this was our house. They really had everything we had wanted in a place, and we didn't think we'd be able to get everything on our wants list, but we did! Such a blessing! We are soo stoked about it. We go back on saturday to sign the contract, however we won't get to move in for another week or two.
          Now is the long, confusing, and delicate process of moving in. There is an extensive and intricate process of forms that need to be filled out in a certain order before we can move in. We are waiting on our "Codice Fiscale" (italian social security number). Without it we can't apply for utilities OR an italian bank account which is required for money transfers. It's really needed for all official forms so nearly everything is on hold until that goes through. There's also the matter of baggage. One shipment has already arrived in Italy, but if we send it to the house too soon we can be charged for it, without getting the military reimbursement. (That reimbursement process won't be finalized for awhile either, another reason we can't move in too soon) That and lots of other things must happen, and we'll be very busy sorting them out, BUT we found our house! 2 days into it and the housing search is over. Thank heavens! We are out of the race and stress that many others will be under for another two weeks as they compete for houses. 

        I will do my best to keep everyone posted as we make progress and eventually get to move in!