Happy Homecoming: Derby, Kansas
A few months ago, I shared my family's heartbreak at a real estate deal gone wrong that shattered our dreams of homesteading. Since then, with the help of our friends at church, we turned to the Lord and asked him to reveal his will to us. It only took a couple days of intentional prayer before my husband said to me, "I believe the Lord is redirecting us, and telling us that it's time to move closer to our family in Kansas." After my initial shock wore off and I started to pay attention too - it seemed there were signs of wheat and sunflowers everywhere!
We decided on the greater Wichita area and looked at a handful of homes over two visits in October and November, including a 1978 quad level home on 20 acres in Derby, Kansas. "This is a example of a fixer upper with good bones that we could easily renovate" were my husband's exact words when he found the listing online. Again, after some initial shock, I started to really see the possibilities. We are getting to customize our home without actually having to build from the ground up. I think our real estate agent was legitimately shocked, but even with negotiations, it ended up being our smoothest real estate transaction to date!
We've been in our new home just a week and have already begun peeling wallpaper, removing popcorn ceilings, and have hired Heartland Home Improvements for our kitchen remodel. The plan is an open concept kitchen with a large island and I'm so excited to see their design renderings soon! We are letting the professionals handle the kitchen while we work on the bedrooms, bathrooms, and basement.
Check out this post to see the completed renovation: Intentional Kitchen Design.
Bonus: Pods Review
Perhaps one of the coolest services we used to help make our move out of state easier was that of Pods Moving & Storage. Almost everything about our Pods experience was positive: they were communicative, prompt, and deliver directly to your driveway. You load everything up and then it can either be stored in place or they can take it to a Pods facility. The "Podzilla" machine that drops off and picks up the units is pretty awesome to watch! When you're looking at affording both storage + moving costs, Pods are definitely the way to go. My only complaint: for long term storage we couldn't just pop over and retrieve items out of our Pod. We had to make an appointment and drive to the closest facility. Again, their customer service and timeliness made this process easy - but it's just something to keep in mind while packing and coordinating a big move.
What are your moving hacks?
XO - Olivia
Update on Pods - we learned once we arrived in Kansas that they don’t have very many facilities close so it was fairly pricey to move them to us and store them here on site until they were emptied. I think we’d still use them if we were in their market, but if not would perhaps look for a similar local solution. I’ll never forget celebrating the day the last Pod finally left the farm! Check it out here.