Finding a place to call HOME

The hunt continues...

we are trying to find a house to rent and wow is it not easy. The expense of moving, the unknown of the area and the ever changing rental market is making for an anxious and stressful move... hahah maybe this is just the new feelings and emotions of adulthood.

We officially know that Steve's job is in Exeter so we are wanting to live either in the city or with in 10 miles. From all our contacts that know the area because are saying driving into the city is a bit of nightmare so if we aren't going to live in the city then living near a train station would be good incase we get fed up with the commute.

I'm also really being picky about wanting to have a back garden for the girls to play in and off road parking. We have a budget of not spending more that £850 on rent and that would be a big push for us. We are struggling to find the right place. And to throw a spanner in the works, steve's sister and brother in law are still wanting to move as well and are currently waiting to hear back from a job they interviewed for. If they get this job (which also is in Exeter!) then we could all rent a big house together... if not we will start this adventure on our own. We are still really hopeful we could do this altogether... but we are in limbo at the moment.

We are currently looking at houses to in the north of Exeter, Dawlish and Exmouth and all the places in-between. I'm semi starting to lean more near the beach (Dawlish or Exmouth) just because I've never lived somewhere like that and THAT is what this adventure is all about. I've been looking at children centres', preschools', cafes, hotels and things to do in these places and just keep trying to picture what I would like to spend my time doing with the girls... I just want to keep things simple, local and fun. The Hunt continues...

I have looked into ideas for moving:

1. a local moving company moves us
2. Steve or I renting a van but the biggest one he can get is a luton (which wouldn't fit all our stuff)
3. rent a 7 tonne truck and get an older friend or Steve's dad to drive it down for us as their license will allow this, where our new license only lets us rent the luton van

So I checked out the options:

Option 1: we looked into three companies in colchester and all quotes us over £1000... the lowest being £1,200 and the highest being £1,700... this is totally out of our budget, even though they provided packing boxes and men to help move, which would have been awesome.

Option 2: The cost on this is averaging about £100 a day or £400 for the week. If we rented it of the week we could just do multiple trips, but then we also have to consider we would spend about £100 in petrol each way. We probably would have to make 3 trips so that almost £600 in petrol (maybe £400 if we do it in 2 trips) then plus the truck rental.... we are looking at between £800-£1,000... if we do it on the lower end of this budget we at least are saving £400 from option number one. downsides is that it would TAKE FOREVER to move us and be lot of trips back and forth. hmmm

Option 3: This is about £150 a day or £600 for the week. We have had offers from a couple friends that could drive this beast down for us and also would drive it back. Steve said he could follow in our car with a car load of things and then even stay down at our new place (where ever that be) the first night to set up the girls beds and our bed, then come back for us (maybe we could stay at steve's parents or at my best friend maz here in colchester). We definitely could fit everything into this truck, so the move would all happen on one day and keep the cost minimal. This way we could rent a truck maybe even for a day £150 and pay about £150-£200 in petrol... so we are looking about maybe £350 to£450.

OPTION 3 WINS! it will be a bit more complicated having to work our moving day around when people are free and will be relying on lots of favours from friends and family... but that is the only way we are going to be able to afford this move!

At least now we know HOW we will move... WHEN we move is still undecided. We have 6 weeks until we need to be there. We are just keeping our prayer simple "Thy will be done" and trusting that God has ALWAYS provided what is best for us in the time we need... but steve and I will also confess that our anxiety levels are mounting.

Squash and Spinach Rissotto: Budget Food

One big step to help us move Southwest is to start saving money.... uuuuggg the never ending battle of money and not having enough of it :)

That being said one area we are trying to trim back on is our food shopping. It's so hard, especially now that I am home all the time on maternity leave to not just buy anything and everything. I almost give myself the excuse because we can't go out, due to having babies, that having more fancy food and sweets and treats is our RIGHT!

However, I think we can do better. I also am reading this FABULOUS book by Alicia Silverstone called the Kind Diet. All about eating Vegan and the great benefits of a plant based diet. WAIT! for all you anti-vegan or dinner MUST have meat peeps... I'm not going to go on a rant or try and convert you ... I just saying I was inspired by trying more meat free dishes... done!

All in all, one day I was trolling the internet and came across this recipe for Squash and Spinach Risotto... I had a spare squash and spinach that was day or two from going bad so I thought why not...

Click here for Squash and Spinach Recipe by Rachel Cotterill

WOW WAS I IMPRESSED.... with under 10 ingredients ... and nothing fancy (I actually just naturally had everything in the kitchen... which like never happens!!)... I even left out the parsley leaves and it still turned out fab...

even more so.... MY 2 YEAR OLD TODDLER LOVED IT! She told me "this is a yummy delicious dinner.. thank you mommy!" wait... WHAT!?!? We aren't arguing over dinner and bribing her with every sweet under the sun to get her to eat just 3 damn bits of dinner. HALLELUJAH JESUS!

this bad boy recipe is now on my regular list of eats....

BONUS: toddler loves, meat eating husband didn't complain, it used NORMAL, CHEAP ingredients, it took less than an hour to make, it's healthy and its VEGAN!!!