It has been a year since we moved into this house. Last year I wrote about how all of us were head over heels in love with the new house here, if at all anything the fondness has only grown stronger this past year. I must confess that it is a resource consuming exercise just to keep up with the day to day maintenance of the house let alone undertaking any home improvement projects. This past year, we have seen perennials wilt in the winter and spring to life as the seasons changed. We have muttered under our breath clearing mountains and mountains of snow from our driveway. The blue jays and cardinals have delighted us with their singing and dancing in our backyard. We have learnt that as pretty as the dandelions are, they can wreak havoc on our lawn. The school bus stop at the corner of the street has Atul aspiring for elementary and high school. The friendly neighbors and the local community have only made the experience complete by extending a support system.

Did I mention that we have added a lot of personal touch to the house - the kitchen flooring has gotten duller with food stains, the walls bear our finger prints, a scratch here and a crack there; I realize that it these marks that make this house a home, our sweet home!

A phrase I often use to describe Atul's day care seems suitable to express the way I feel about my life in the U.S. as well.

After some excitement over my visa, I landed in Boston seven years back. Limping due to a wrong size metti (toe ring), I dragged myself with my hand resting on Arvind's shoulder eagerly listening to all the tidbits about the ways of life in the U.S. A myriad of thoughts were running through my mind, some profound, and others mundane. The enormity of what I had left behind and the blind faith with which I was tagging along with this person for life was sinking in. Part of me was looking forward to all the milestones – first home cooked meal, first trip to the grocery store, first time meeting Arvind's friends , so on and so forth. Then in a true feminist style, there was a part of me that felt, why is it that I should give up family, friends, and career by default? why not him? That I was here on a dependent visa only rubbed salt to the injury. With this bag of conflicting emotions, I began a new chapter in my life.

The first year was a year of coping up with changes, fitting in the new environment, building a support system and exploring all the things that this country offered. In the process we discovered each other, developed greater appreciation for each other's likes and dislikes, and learnt that it was no fun pushing each other's hot buttons. The next two years we did more of what we did in the first year and with that we formed our own little traditions and laid down rules that govern the world we have built for ourselves. With Atul's arrival the concept of family and sense of belonging we have for each other and the fondness for this place has only grown over the past three years. 

To put it in a nutshell, in the beginning, it was like someone had given a clean slate and the only barrier to creating something beautiful was our own imagination. Today, seven years later, I feel a sense of contentment and gratitude with what Arvind and I have created on that slate. And somewhere between the first year and today, my feminist streak has unintentionally but selectively vanished.

Our very own first spring bulbs have started sprouting over the weekend. Yippee, yippee, yipee!!!!! My heart is dancing thinking about all the  flowers and vegetables we could possibly raise in our backyard in the seasons to come.

Also, in today's gardening news, I am thrilled to announce that our  jalapeño plant that successfully adapted  itself to the indoor environment over the winter, has yielded two  jalapeños.  Bravo!

Due thanks to a friend (if you are reading this, you know who you are) who generously gave away her promising plants for our backyard. Many of them did not survive the harsh winter conditions/indoor environment, but the few that did bring me a lot of cheer!

We closed the agreement on the new house in the Boston Registry of Deeds on June 28th. Arvind and I arrived at the place half an hour early and so decided to take a detour to the nearby Galleria Mall for a dose of caffeine. We sat there, Arvind sipping his coffee and I, relishing my hot chocolate, recounting our house hunting experience. For most part, we were thankful that the process was relatively smooth thus far and concluded that if there was one thing we could have done differently, it would be hiring a buyer's agent. There were days when we wished we had someone to represent our interests in the transaction. Arvind did an amazing job of guarding our stake but little bit of help from an experienced mind could have given us a sense of direction. After this thoughtful discussion, we headed to the Registry of Deeds. It was supposed to be the busiest weekend for the season and there were many buyers and sellers in the process of closing their agreements. We managed to find a circular table and sat there twiddling our thumbs, waiting for someone to arrive. Before we could burst out of impatience, the seller's agent arrived. The lawyers came unfashionably late, adding to our anxiety. Arvind and I had to sign reams and reams of paper. We kept exchanging glances at each other as though reassuring that this is the right thing to do. Then came the most depressing part of the transaction: handing over that big fat down payment. I could feel butterflies in my stomach, the thought of having to make monthly payments, month after month, for the next 30 years was not very comforting. The deed was recorded and the transaction complete. Then came the loudest sigh of relief and the biggest smile, yet another milestone for both of us!

We hurried home to hire our rental van. A couple of friends pitched in with the move and the bulk of the stuff were transferred on the 28th evening. While we were scheduled to move to the new house on the 30th, a power shutdown at the old house forced us to move into our new home on the 29th. Neither Arvind nor I felt strongly about having a "grihapravesh", the housewarming pooja, and so by God's grace and with the blessings of the elders, we moved in with a  low profile simple "paal kaachi". I took the week off for unpacking and arranging things.

All of us are head over heels in love with our new home. The first few days, Atul kept yelling, "I like the new house".  My mom-in-law enthusiastically describes the house to folks back home. From time to time, Arvind and I would comment to each other, "I am glad we bought this house!".

Ok gotta go.. to savor the joys of home ownership: mowing the lawn, watering the plants, clearing the deck and not to mention the thrill of making our monthly mortgage payments.

The move to the new house is just a couple of weeks away. As always, I am having mixed emotions about it. Since my dad was in a transferable job, my roots are not grounded in one place. So after living in the same neighborhood for close to six years, I am looking forward to the change and all the fun things that we could do at the new place. I am excited about inviting family and friends to our new home. I am tad nervous about fitting the additional mundane activities into our already cramped routine. How will we make time to clean that extra bathroom or maintain our lawn? Last but not the least, I am intimidated about the financial commitments that the new house will bring. Forgoing liquidity to build some equity is something that we will have to get used to and it will take some practice to strike a balance.