As previously stated, I can't keep a secret. We found a place to live, it's an absolute miracle! I'm more excited than I can possibly state, and if you look at pictures of our old apartment, as seen on my other blog, you'll see why, when you compare it with this.
So in looking for places around Nanaimo, rent is fairly reasonable, about the same as here actually, which is amazing, since BC is just such a nicer place to live. For example, Robyn's apartment is about the same in rent as ours was, and hers is WAY nicer, so in the end, renting in Nanaimo is a really good deal, except that utilities are much more expensive in Canada than the US, for some reason. We weren't loving the idea of an apartment again, but what can you do, if you get a basement suite, everything is so so loud, and it's kind of personal you know? Shared entrance, shared laundry...etc.
Somehow, we found the perfect place. Not somehow, God. I can't explain it. Literally everything we wanted we found for a VERY reasonable price. There's a beautiful neighborhood in North Nanaimo (right where we wanted to live) that we used to drive around and look at all the pretty ocean view houses. Well, one of those exact houses has a basement suite that they just finished. The people built the house from the ground up, and they made a (get this) soundproof walk-out basement suite. Here - take a look!! I can't believe how happy and excited I am. I feel like a little girl at Christmas, getting the Barbie Dream House! I feel like Barbie in her dream house!!
So you walk from the driveway down some steps, and this is the front outside of our place. The patio is all ours, and there's a gas hookup for a bbq that comes included, so we don't have to buy that, or pay for it. They've even offered to give us nice wooden patio furniture. The windows on the left are to our living room/kitchen area, and on the right, is our bedroom. On the right of the patio door, though you can't see it, is another big door, with a glass window. Why all the glass?
This is the view from our little patio. Their deck is above ours, so this one is all ours, and covered from the rain which I like a lot. I can't get over the view. After living for a year in a place with no mountains, water, or even trees, this is incredible!!! They're still landscaping the yard, but who cares? We're moments away from a very nice private beach.
This is the view from where I would stand to do dishes, except that I have a new dishwasher! I've been doing all our dishes by hand for a year, and this is a huge plus for me. Something about appliances make me happy. They're so clean, and they keep things organized and clean things that are dirty, and they just appeal to that hyper-organized side of me. We also have a little fireplace, that I don't have to worry about using (for fear of the bills) because my utilities are all included!
This is looking from the front door into the living room and kitchen. I love the floors, and the matching cabinets. The ceilings are 9 feet, so you don't feel at all, like you're in a basement. The first door on the left of the fridge is my pantry, the other door, leads to the other half of the basement which we don't use.
This is the (left to right) guest room, bathroom, and the master bedroom. I could gaze at the beauty of that washer and dryer for days. They're so pretty. Why am I so weird? Is there a program for people who are this addicted to cleanliness? I'm going to have to stop myself from doing laundry all the time, or wiping water spots from the stainless steel inside the washer and dryer.
This is the inside of the guest bedroom. They're going to leave the furniture in there for us, cause we don't have an extra bed and stuff. The mattress is of course, top of the line (these people are very well off). All the appliances too (I can't stop talking about them!!) are also the best they could get. Gas stove. I can't wait to cook!! So if you come to stay, this is where you can sleep! All visitors welcome! Yippee!
This is the bathroom. Weird shot, I know, but I love the cabinets! The vanity lights and fixtures are all nice too, and the tub is nice and deep. My tub in my last apartment held about 8 inches of water.
And this is my bedroom. I can't believe I get to live here, in just one month!!! I'm more excited than I've been in a very long time. I'm so thankful to God that he led us to this place, and these wonderful people. They were going to rent to someone else for the first of this month, and make more money, but then they decided they'd rather have us live there! They both seem like really lovely people, and have been super nice. We asked about hooking up a few extra sports channels so we could watch the NFL games, and pay them the difference in the cable bill (cable comes with the place included in the rent) and they offered to upgrade their cable for us, at their cost. These people are amazing. God is amazing.
This is also our bedroom, you can't see it, but the middle line there is actually a little shelf. I want to put my little recliner in this corner so I can have my quiet times looking over the ocean.
And the view from our bedroom. They e mailed us to ask us about what kind of blinds or drapes we'd like for them to get before we get there. Crazy. I can't believe how nice these people are.
This is Peter's favorite part, so far. The guy's hooked up sound in the master bedroom, the living room, and out on the patio. All you need to do is hook it up when you get there, and you have music in any room of your house. Before I saw pictures of a bedroom, or the bathroom, I got this one:
Praise God for being so good to us, for finding us the perfect place to live, exactly what we wanted, and so much more. Even funny little things I've said or thought lately, like "I'd love to cook on a gas stove, instead of electric, they're so nice" are in this house. I've dreamed of the day when I don't have to save my quarters and run down two flights of stairs for my laundry, and then worry about other people touching it, or finding someone's pet's hair on my clothing when I take it out of the dryer. (EWW!) I've wanted my own washer and dryer for a long time. I can't believe how blessed I am, and how cool it is that God is actually concerned with little things like that. I even said I would love to have white appliances (my last were almond colored, which is better than avacado but they look so much cleaner white). And it all fits our budget too, so we don't have to worry about that. Thanks Daddy, for answering my prayers, and blessing me so much!!
So in looking for places around Nanaimo, rent is fairly reasonable, about the same as here actually, which is amazing, since BC is just such a nicer place to live. For example, Robyn's apartment is about the same in rent as ours was, and hers is WAY nicer, so in the end, renting in Nanaimo is a really good deal, except that utilities are much more expensive in Canada than the US, for some reason. We weren't loving the idea of an apartment again, but what can you do, if you get a basement suite, everything is so so loud, and it's kind of personal you know? Shared entrance, shared laundry...etc.
Somehow, we found the perfect place. Not somehow, God. I can't explain it. Literally everything we wanted we found for a VERY reasonable price. There's a beautiful neighborhood in North Nanaimo (right where we wanted to live) that we used to drive around and look at all the pretty ocean view houses. Well, one of those exact houses has a basement suite that they just finished. The people built the house from the ground up, and they made a (get this) soundproof walk-out basement suite. Here - take a look!! I can't believe how happy and excited I am. I feel like a little girl at Christmas, getting the Barbie Dream House! I feel like Barbie in her dream house!!
So you walk from the driveway down some steps, and this is the front outside of our place. The patio is all ours, and there's a gas hookup for a bbq that comes included, so we don't have to buy that, or pay for it. They've even offered to give us nice wooden patio furniture. The windows on the left are to our living room/kitchen area, and on the right, is our bedroom. On the right of the patio door, though you can't see it, is another big door, with a glass window. Why all the glass?
This is the view from our little patio. Their deck is above ours, so this one is all ours, and covered from the rain which I like a lot. I can't get over the view. After living for a year in a place with no mountains, water, or even trees, this is incredible!!! They're still landscaping the yard, but who cares? We're moments away from a very nice private beach.
This is the view from where I would stand to do dishes, except that I have a new dishwasher! I've been doing all our dishes by hand for a year, and this is a huge plus for me. Something about appliances make me happy. They're so clean, and they keep things organized and clean things that are dirty, and they just appeal to that hyper-organized side of me. We also have a little fireplace, that I don't have to worry about using (for fear of the bills) because my utilities are all included!
This is looking from the front door into the living room and kitchen. I love the floors, and the matching cabinets. The ceilings are 9 feet, so you don't feel at all, like you're in a basement. The first door on the left of the fridge is my pantry, the other door, leads to the other half of the basement which we don't use.
This is the (left to right) guest room, bathroom, and the master bedroom. I could gaze at the beauty of that washer and dryer for days. They're so pretty. Why am I so weird? Is there a program for people who are this addicted to cleanliness? I'm going to have to stop myself from doing laundry all the time, or wiping water spots from the stainless steel inside the washer and dryer.
This is the inside of the guest bedroom. They're going to leave the furniture in there for us, cause we don't have an extra bed and stuff. The mattress is of course, top of the line (these people are very well off). All the appliances too (I can't stop talking about them!!) are also the best they could get. Gas stove. I can't wait to cook!! So if you come to stay, this is where you can sleep! All visitors welcome! Yippee!
This is the bathroom. Weird shot, I know, but I love the cabinets! The vanity lights and fixtures are all nice too, and the tub is nice and deep. My tub in my last apartment held about 8 inches of water.
And this is my bedroom. I can't believe I get to live here, in just one month!!! I'm more excited than I've been in a very long time. I'm so thankful to God that he led us to this place, and these wonderful people. They were going to rent to someone else for the first of this month, and make more money, but then they decided they'd rather have us live there! They both seem like really lovely people, and have been super nice. We asked about hooking up a few extra sports channels so we could watch the NFL games, and pay them the difference in the cable bill (cable comes with the place included in the rent) and they offered to upgrade their cable for us, at their cost. These people are amazing. God is amazing.
This is also our bedroom, you can't see it, but the middle line there is actually a little shelf. I want to put my little recliner in this corner so I can have my quiet times looking over the ocean.
And the view from our bedroom. They e mailed us to ask us about what kind of blinds or drapes we'd like for them to get before we get there. Crazy. I can't believe how nice these people are.This is Peter's favorite part, so far. The guy's hooked up sound in the master bedroom, the living room, and out on the patio. All you need to do is hook it up when you get there, and you have music in any room of your house. Before I saw pictures of a bedroom, or the bathroom, I got this one:
Praise God for being so good to us, for finding us the perfect place to live, exactly what we wanted, and so much more. Even funny little things I've said or thought lately, like "I'd love to cook on a gas stove, instead of electric, they're so nice" are in this house. I've dreamed of the day when I don't have to save my quarters and run down two flights of stairs for my laundry, and then worry about other people touching it, or finding someone's pet's hair on my clothing when I take it out of the dryer. (EWW!) I've wanted my own washer and dryer for a long time. I can't believe how blessed I am, and how cool it is that God is actually concerned with little things like that. I even said I would love to have white appliances (my last were almond colored, which is better than avacado but they look so much cleaner white). And it all fits our budget too, so we don't have to worry about that. Thanks Daddy, for answering my prayers, and blessing me so much!!
3:48 PM
I am glad that you have found the perfect place for you and Peter. God certainly is good.
4:03 PM
My goodness, that is just amazing! Beautiful view, and you'd never tell it was a basement!! Wow. That's just insane. I'm SO happy for you guys!!
7:04 AM
That is a beautiful place. It will also be nice to come visit you in this amazing home you have. I am very happy for you and am glad you will be back in BC soon. Can't wait to see you.
8:43 AM
who is footsack? I can't wait to be back in bc either, and will definitely have you over for coffee Auntie Margaret, and anyone else who wants to come!
9:36 AM
No idea who footsack is and I did the same thing you did and went to the blog. Weird how sometimes you can get a comment from someone you don't even know.
11:29 AM
Footsack? Yeah, sometimes people just randomly read blogs, it's strange.
1:17 PM
Oh for crying out loud. I live in a dump. I hate Dorkton.
5:36 PM
Great place Mel. Sounds like you should love it there. Now imagine how amazed we'll be when we get to heaven!
Uncle Abe
10:45 AM
Holy smokes! Great place Mel. I am so happy for you and Peter. God is good to all of us. I'm keeping your word about visiting and staying with you - lol
Naima is excited hehe
11:14 AM
Great place Mel!! How exciting! I can't believe you and Peter will be here soon! We'll definately have to do coffee sometime if you're ok with my children terrorizing your home?!
9:45 AM
Very nice place Mel :) Really beautiful! The view is freakin amazing!
1:06 PM
Oh my gosh...just had to post this on your blog before i come back and talk to you on MSN..hehe...yea..crazy blond.. I love iT!!!! You guys are so blessed by our dearly Father..and He is always just so faithful to us...I know you guys will be sooooo happy there and can't wait to come and visit and stay in my own bedroom...hhehehe...loves you 2 :-)
10:12 AM
Nice place! Hope you can make it to Sask to see us all out here soon. Miss you lots and would love to have a visit over a pot of Tim's coffee.
Love Auntie Sue