It's really exciting that Laura and I can get so excited about moving because we really don't like to do it. We moved in 2015 and again in 2024, so there was quite the reprieve. However, before that, we moved so often, usually for very silly reasons. We just hate packing, moving, shifting, streamlining, and deciding what to keep and what to donate. We don't do the whole garage sale thing; we'd rather just get rid of the excess by donating it to Goodwill. Not this time! We are taking our own sweet time - 9 days in fact. We'll do it right.
This time, it's a little different. We will own the house; no more renting for us. We'll step over the threshold as owners, and where that can be both good and bad from a financial point of view, it's unbelievably wonderful from a soul-feeling point of view. It's our turn! We have waited so long for this. Now, to be honest, I have owned a house in the past - but it was long, long ago, and every attempt at doing so since 1997 has been a floundering mess. I have really ugly stories I can tell, but I'm choosing not to. I'm choosing to be both positive and forward-thinking.
Because it's the World Wide Web, I won't give out the address. Those who need to know will find out where we live, and we might generalize when we talk about it, but it's just safer not to say exactly where we live. We will say that it's in Oklahoma, in the city of El Reno, which is a lovely place, and most of its 18,000 residents will agree with me. There are more dogs, cows, and guns in El Reno than there are people. We have two of us living in the house, but we also have four dogs, two cats, and two guns. I'll buy a rifle soon -- just to keep the numbers up where they should be. We may get another cat because we're not helping out on the cattle front. We will get a few horses! 🐎
Laura is going to start her horse rescue and training facility, and I'm just going to ride my horse around the land. There's enough land to say we are a good distance from our neighbors, and one of those neighbors is an oil refinery (we own that land, but they lease it), so they're pretty quiet. Not as quiet as the cemetery up the road a bit, but relatively quiet. Our dogs can bark without being turned into the police for disturbing people, so Kiah won't need her bark collar (it doesn't work anyway). Laura can sing (she does that now) and not worry about the neighbors - we'll not have to worry about folks coming up to our door in the middle of the night -- we have a ring bell sensor at the gate (Yes, there's a gate) and that gate will be closed after dark.
Some of the great positives and truly wonderful features of the place, of course, include the spacious land, new appliances, water heater, HVAC, paint, roof, and the brilliant brick and stone fireplace in an oversized lounge or living room. I can't wait to decorate for Christmas! We're moving in at Thanksgiving, and there will be a few things set up for that, but Christmas will be the first holiday we'll celebrate in the new place, and I can start planning that now. We do actually move in the day before my birthday, so yes, that will be celebrated there -- woo hoo!! (going to the El Reno bakery on Main Street, you bet!) One of the big plans is to tear down and remove the old barn so we can build a new one, with the rescue horses on one side and our horses on the other.
Some other plans for the place? A dog fence is being set up immediately on the day we move. We've got that ordered and deposits paid for. I'll get a new fridge, it wasn't in the agreement - need that. I'll have a front fence added for extra security, a horse fence (already mostly fenced around the land, but the front part will need paddocks and a round pen as well as an arena area fenced off. I'll have to weed-eat the front area and install a few potted plants, big boulders, and other landscaping things, too. I'll save to have three trees trimmed and one cut down. I'll have the top of the stump leveled at table height, and add a nice iron table top on it so Jeannie and I can sit outside and pretend to watch my non-existent neighbors! (always fun) 😆
Laura and I have always called our future homestead the "Double S Ranch," and she's designed a logo so we can get someone to make the metal plate (about 20" x 30"), and we'll set it up on a post outside the front gate when we get the front part completely fenced. She'll open a 501(c)3, and of course, at that time, people will know where we live, but it's OK. We're not scared of people -- they may need to be scared of Laura, just saying. Someone threatens her ponies, and she turns into a wild varmint for sure. If you thought I was protective -- geez! People write songs and tell stories about red-headed monsters carrying shotguns. (Speaking of that, she'll do her mounted shooting in the back part of the land too...pistols, not shotguns, and the loads aren't deadly) 🤠
Kroger delivers and so does Amazon, so we'll be good - the vet is close by, Tractor Supply, Atwoods, the hospital, shopping, tons of family-owned shops and restaurants, and of course, Ft. Reno!! This is a great place - Jesus really helped us on this one, and we thank Him!! There's simply no way I could have done this alone. If people wanna say that the power of prayer is nonsense, they would be wrong. They're allowed to be wrong, but they would be -- just a fact.
Photo Credit: elrenook.gov
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