Well, in 32.5 hours we will be closing on our first house.
We are very excited.
It is a cute little 3 bed, 2 bath ranch with a full unfinished basement, 3/4 fenced in yard and a 1 car garage. BUT IT WILL BE ALL OURS!! At least it will be in 30 years after we pay off our mortgage.
The first two places we lived after we were married were houses. Our first was a cute 2 bed 1 bath house with hardwood floors, stain glass accents and french doors. Don't be fooled - it was a dump. We lived there for the first 6 months until we realized we didn't want the washer and dryer in the kitchen (literally, IN the kitchen, next to the cabinets) and we didn't want to live with the front yard perfectly vertical, nor did we want to live next to druggies with HUGE angry dogs.
The second house was better - a 1.5 story, 3 bedroom, 2 bath house. It was a hallway house, that had a special little bonus - RODENTS IN THE BATHROOM (and bedroom). We are talking LARGE ANIMALS. Feel free to click the link for further details.
Then, we moved out of Atchison (thanks be to the high heavens) into a pleasant 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom, 1,000 + sq. feet apartment. It was a lovely time, living between my sister on one side, and my sister-in-law, her husband, and our niece/goddaughter. That is, until my sister got robbed at gunpoint, and SWAT teams raided our gay/druggie neighbors at 6 AM (sophia slept through it all).
And now, what do we have to look forward to? Our own, little, beautiful, quiet ranch. 10 minute walk to Holy Cross, with a garage (that we never have had before), that we can plant a large garden in (Shaw is struggling to hide his excitement), play with Sophs in the backyard, FINALLY be able to host fun parties/bbq's (esp. Shaw's kegger/graduation party coming up in May) and raise our family.
It has been an adventure getting to this point in our lives. Could a person be happier or more blessed? I have a husband that I am head-over-heels in love with, the smiliest, charming little daughter, I am surrounded by fabulous friends and supportive family, and now we will be moving into our little home where Sophia can play in the sprinkler.
I would be hard pressed to imagine life better than this.
