Apartment Living at its' Best!

We have a new home and it's at Park City West Apartments in Eden Prairie!! After signing away our house to the new owners last week, we are finally finding our way back into apartment living. For so many the prospect of going to an apartment can seem like wasted money and a step backwards. But for the Brogle's, moving to an apartment means less yard work, less money, and a step forward in investing. After much thought and the dismal options in our price range for a house, we decided on an apartment and settled on a 2b/2b apartment with 150 MORE square feet than our house, not to mention an increase in the number of closets...hurrah!! We also now have a fireplace, an exercise room, pool, tennis courts, and raquetball...anyone want to play? By no means will this be a permanent solution but for now and the next year or so, it's going to be home...and we love it! So if you didn't get an email with our forwarding address, pop me a email or text and we'll get it right over to you...

It's Bittersweet!

We are moving...and it's bittersweet.

Join us as we reminisce through our first place.

Six? years ago:

Alex purchases the decrepit house on the lake and after hours, weeks, and months of sweaty, manual labor with friends and family the first major renovation of his career is finished.

Almost four years ago:

Alex and I start dating...most of our dates are spent either at the golf course or at this house, down on the lake, cruising in the boat, pulling each other water skiing, and sharing our first kiss.

Three years ago (as of April 17th):

After a not so great night of poor communication, we sit on the landing enjoying the view with a glass of wine and move inside the house later where Alex confesses his deepest affections for me and proposes...it was simple and yet so utterly meaningful.

Three years ago (on September 2):

Alex and I get married, spend our first night together in the house, and move in together and start the best years of our lives so far...in this house.

Two years ago:

We finish the patio outside and the landing, clear out the crawlspace for more storage and dream of our future...flipping houses, kids underfoot, putting a second story on. We dreamed together.

One year ago:

We put the house on the market the first time, fulfilled one dream of house flipping and set our minds on fulfilling so many more of them. Alex wins an award for best design of a whole house under $200,000 for his house, now so much OUR house.

Today:

We say good-bye to OUR house. The house where we've learned to adapt to each other, love one another, fight with each other, dream together and live life loving Jesus together. It's our first house, a good house, OUR house. We'll miss you!

We have a taker?

After a year of having our house on the market, we are reluctantly sharing that once again a purchase agreement has been signed:) After the last person bailed with flimsy excuses during the inspection (and it's okay to get cold feet!) we were a little discouraged and very ready to settle back in and were thinking of pulling it off the market. I mean, everyone needs a little bit of mess in their house right? Not that I am complaining, but not having to make sure everything is pristine, will be, well, refreshing! So if everything goes as planned, we will close on the house July 15th and will be moving to an apartment for the forseeable future in Eden Prairie. It's off 62 and 212 and we are really looking forward to it...I think all this cleaning, fixing, improving, inside and out has worn us out! So pray with us that there will be no hiccups!

Our outdoor transformation

(note the barrel planter and window boxes)

Our house was in dire need of some curb appeal.  We have the cute window boxes and carraige garage doors already in place, but we needed a little sprucing up to make things pop.

On Saturday, Alex and I made a game plan and headed over to Menards.  So after shopping around a little, we found this was the best deal for plants and such.  Imagine our surprise, when after setting foot in the Burnsville Garden Center, their plants were not only cheaper but the best looking ones we've seen, and believe me we window shopped quite a few places...Yea!

I really wanted to spruce up our front door with a couple of urn planters, some plants, and hopefully a chance to use some spray paint.  I have been so enamored with this couple on their blog and after seeing all of their transformations, I was itching to spray.  Well we found some inexpensive planters and transformed them with a can of hammered black, glossy spray paint.  They look pretty good, I think!

transformed planter

(new planters by front door)

We also spruced up our entry stairs with some hosta plants and new mulch, while the window boxes were planted with some great green plants that will hopefully get a little bigger and fuller.  We were going to add some more plants to the boxes but instead opted to plant all the begonias in our old whiskey barrel planter from our wedding.

Next weekend we are hoping to finish the project off with a privacy fence on the southwest side of our property and a cover for our gas meter that is a major eye sore.  Stay tuned!

Suburb or city...where should we live?

So Alex and I have quite the conundrum before us if our house were to sell.  Where on earth will we go?  City or suburb?  

I grew up in the city.  I could walk to school, the park, the drug store, and all of my friends houses.  In fact, we could get to many other places if we took our bikes.  I loved the feel of the neighborhood.  There were block parties, our entire block went to Brewer's games together, we had our own kick ball/baseball bases painted on our concrete street, and kids were always looming about.  I now nanny in the city and love that we can walk to the lake, the park, the library, a grocery store, etc.  The fewer times I have to pull out my car keys the better!

Alex on the other hand, grew up in the suburbs.  He was driven to school, to friend's houses, to the park, and played primarily at his own house, with the expansive back yard.  He likes a bigger lot, being farther away from your neighbors, and the privacy of the suburbs.  

We knew this would be a big issue from the moment of our first date.  Yup, it came up in conversation even then.  So this little problem has not been a big deal, given that we moved into Alex's house in what I call "GUAM".  I mean, it's a little far...even friends are hesitant to make the drive.  But now with our house on the market, we may have to make a decision soon.

Tell us, where are your favorite neighborhoods...are you city or suburb?

We moved...again!

Just wanted to let everyone know, we are now back at our house in Prior Lake. We closed on the St. Louis Park house on Tuesday! Praise God! If you need the address, email me: andreabrogle@gmail.com

Update...

Wow, it's been awhile. Things with us are as good as can be. We are finally finished with the home in St. Louis Park. We started the remodel in May and finished in October just in time for the Parade of Homes Remodeler's Showcase. The house is now finished and on the market.

We have officially moved into the new house, leaving our house on the lake up for sale as well. Reasoning behind the move, location and a break from commuting almost an hour each way to work. I'd say it has been well worth it...though the change from 950 square feet to 3500 has been a little difficult. Raising our voice is now necessary to catch each other's attention in another room, no more whispers:)

Here's the house...

the master bath

the 4th bedroom

the 3rd bedroom

2nd full bath

living and family room

master bedroom

kitchen with dinette area off to left/mudroom through doorway on left

dining room

living room

family room

New Photos of the New House!

After the past few weeks, so many changes have happened over at the Kipling house (the one we will move into in August)! The garage has been built, everything has been framed, the master bedroom is finished, the soffits and fascia are being done, the roof is on, windows and skylight are in, and the new front porch is being finished.

Alex will be taking the next three weeks off to finish up the railing on the stairs to the lake and some landscaping at our house in prior lake. After that the drywall and such will be happening at the Kipling house, we will leave for our trip to Europe (yea!) and when we return all the fun things will be happening, paint, cabinets, etc.

Things have been moving along really smoothly with the houses. If only that were true for our cars. Two weeks ago I was rear ended and a couple of days later the alternator on the jeep went out. Thank the Lord that we have a work van so we could get around and that we did not have to try and figure out how to get a new car. The alternator is replaces, jeep is running well, and the honda will be finished in about a week. The rental car we have though is great...the little hyundai gets great gas mileage!

Enjoy the pics!

Skylight installed in the new mud room

New garage/access from the alley

New soffits/fascia

View of house from the alley

Windows

Photos of the new house!

Well what can I say,  this house used to be completely furnished.  This is after one week!

This is the view from the old living room to the den; window points to the alley.  The old living room will remain a living room but the den will become a family room that flows into the new kitchen.

This is the upstairs bath.  A new master suite will also be added on, including master bath.

Here is the view again of the old kitchen, will become the new dining room.

This is a view of the front

Another view of the front

The back of the house; footings dug for a bump out addition that will become the new breakfast area and garage.  There will be two garage entrances one from the front the other from the alley.

View of the old living room and front door.

View of the space that will become the new family room/kitchen.  The first doorway is stairs leading to the basement.

We bought a house!

Well, we went and did it!  We bought a new house...  The new house is located in Saint Louis Park, in a great area.  Though we bought the house, it won't be ours forever.

We are embarking on an adventure...house flipping.  This house is in a great area, where houses are still moving and it was in need of a new floor plan.  This is right up Alex's alley.  I do not think that I have seen him so excited in some time.  The best part is that we are able to pick things out that we can get excited about instead of always having to be at the client's bidding.

It is so much fun.  We purchased it one week ago Thursday and already the new footings are poured and the first floor and bath upstairs are completely gutted.  No water, no bathrooms, no kitchen.  It's ready for some work and we are anxious to get it finished.  It will be ready in August and by then we will be moving in!  Our house on the lake is almost finished and we hope it is on the market in June!

We've got a lot of investments, so pray they sell!  This is so much fun...photos to come!

Our house and the construction project!

House Before

Bluff Area Before

    Front Door Before

Removing the old stairs to the front door/replacing with planters

Dirt we have removed so far

Well if you read our Christmas letter you might remember that we are getting ready to put our house on the market in June.  We are really looking forward to a new house, but we will definitely miss our first home on the lake, especially since Alex remodeled it from the studs up with his own bare hands:)

Here are some pictures of the house before and during our ongoing project.  The issue is that we live on a bluff, approximately 30 feet from the lake.  From our front door towards the lake the bluff crest adn we are trying to work with the city to be able to dig out the hill within the bluff impact zone.  We have already removed as much of the hill as we can without a variance, but we are now waiting to hear the final word!