Friends for Neighbors and an Almond Fridge

When we moved into our house 6 years ago, we had very kind elderly neighbors named Frank and Nancy.  They built their home in the 1960’s and raised all 3 of their children in that home.  About a year and a half after we moved in, Frank suddenly passed away.  It was very sad to see the home and life they built together in a different dynamic.  Nancy soon decided to move closer to her sons in Richmond, VA and asked Ryan if we knew anyone that might be interested in buying her house.  At the time, one of Ryan’s best friends Brian, who had just had a baby, was looking to up-size.  The house next door ended up being a perfect fit for Brain and his wife Amanda and they moved in about 3 years ago.

We were very hesitant about having such close friends move in about 100 feet from our front door, but let me tell you, it’s the best thing that ever happened to us in this home!  It’s such a great feeling to know your dear friends look over your house 24/7 and run off the neighbor kids, bring in your trashcans, etc…

If I need a cup of sugar, Amanda has it.  If I’m short an egg (or six), Amanda gives it…and if she doesn’t have it, she totally offers to run to the store and to get it for for me.  Insane?  Yes.  That’s why I totally love them so much.  If Ryan needs help moving a piece of furniture, Brian is there.  If Ryan is short a piece of drywall, Brian offers it.  I can’t imagine not living next to them.  They are the good, salt of the earth people who would do anything.  They are the neighbors everyone dreams of, which is why moving away from them (mentioned here) is so bitter sweet.

But back to the point of this post.  So Brian and Amanda are doing some kitchen updating themselves.  They purchased all new stainless appliances (fridge, dishwasher, double oven,  and cooktop…ooh la la, i know!) a few weeks ago.  The other day the guys from Big Sandy (our local furniture/appliance store) were scheduled to deliver their new appliances.  Before the arrival, Brian and Amanda offered us their old fridge.  A fridge from 1990’s???  YES, we’ll take it!  Our garage fridge is probably circa 1980.  It leaks all kinds of water and has several broken shelves.  But hey, it’s a garage fridge that only holds Coca Cola,  Gatorade, and the over flow of frozen goods, so we’ll totally take a hand-me-down 1990’s fridge.  That is a total upgrade in our book!

Our circa 1980’s broken shelved, leaky garage fridge:

Ryan used one of his work trucks to move our old fridge to Brian and Amanda’s house and did a big switch-a-roo.  Big Sandy offers a free haul-a-way so we switched Brian and Amanda’s old 1990’s fridge with our 1980’s fridge.  What an upgrade, let me tell you!

So we went from one almond colored fridge to another, but what a major upgrade for our beverages!  It’s so nice to have so many working shelves which means much better organization for this Type A personality gal.  It’s a fridge of functionality.  As you can see, it really only holds excess frozen goods, bottled water, coke, gatorade, beer, and wine…and maybe a bottle of champagne or two!

Needless to say, it’s super nice to live next door to such good friends who offer up an old fridge at no charge.  And I don’t want you to think this is one sided, we often help with projects around their house as well.  It’s a give-and-take kind of neighborly love.

Let us know what you think by commenting below!