art roundup

These are some of the prints I'm picturing on our walls. Mmm.... I'd love to have a home filled with beautiful, whimsical things.

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20%

It's only a week away now! It all seems so close! The seller has updated the panel and we're one step closer to closing on our first home. For over two years we saved money for a down payment. At first, not as successfully, willing to spend money on pleasure, instead of delaying gratification. Back in May 2012 I asked for your advice in a post. I was told that it was best to save 20% (avoids some sort of monthly fee etc.), so we were working toward that. We tightened everything: dropping my smart phone, switching internet providers, limiting our grocery store spending (I posted about saving money back when we were newlyweds). Much of what we do to save money evolved over time. One of the biggest things for me is the order in which we do things. I've seen this advice on Dave Ramsey's website, and it's worked well for us. Give, save, spend. We give first (Mostly to the church and missionaries). Next we save. Of course, first I add up the bills we have and factor in gas and food, but everything above that goes right into a savings account. Spending comes next: bills, food, and gas. That's the order that helped us put 20% of our first house in the bank in the first two years of our marriage. What helps you save money? Where do you cut back when others spend? Any tips or tricks are welcome!

appraisal

Last time around, the appraisal was where everything came crashing down. This morning, we got an email that this house appraised for more than we're spending on it, which is good! Also, it wasn't much more, which (because we'll pay taxes on the appraised amount) is very good! How cute it that house?? Really, I'm in love.

electricity

Our "new home" was built in the 1940s. It's basically a Grandmother (almost great-grandmother) at this point. The panel is old. Like, I've never seen a panel with twisty knobs. The outlets in the house were mostly ungrounded. I think there were two in the whole house. I'm told that's pretty normal. I'm also told that people live normal lives in houses with ungrounded wires. Their houses don't often spontaneously combust, which is good.  My list of known info about electricity is pretty limited, but pretty high on the list is "Don't have ungrounded outlets, because your house might catch on fire for no reason."
Grounding 25ish outlets is pretty expensive. Just the copper wires are expensive, forget the labor to have them installed. On the off chance that they were feeling super generous, we asked the seller to ground the whole house and replace the (uber old) panel/breaker box outside. Honestly, I expected them to do the one, but not the other. Sometimes, my faith is so non-existant. Guess what? The seller agreed to replace the panel and ground the whole house. What?! We were still going to buy the house, regardless, but God granted us an extra financial blessing by removing the worry/money involved in rewiring a house full of outlets. There are other things we have to do still, but the seller knocked the biggest thing off the list when they agreed to ground all the outlets. We're so thankful! Every time I go by there it's feeling more and more like home. I'm so excited to start this new stage. Only 16 more days til closing!

facebook

So many blogs I read have their own Facebook page, and I find that's the easiest way to keep up with them. You just like the page and then their posts show up in your feed. That way, you see them whenever you're on and it's a sweet little reminder that they have blogged. I know that some of my Facebook friends like to keep up with the blog, so I made my own Facebook page to make it easier to follow. That way, I can stop posting about the blog on my personal page, and just post the once on my Facebook blog page. Not that they'll be entirely separate, but just so I have a specific place for all the blog posts to go. I'll keep it up on my personal page for the next couple of posts until it seems like the stats of who reads the post and who likes the page level out, and then I'll just post them exclusively on the blog page.

So head over and like my Facebook page! :) See ya there.

september: pretty things

I found this black and white striped rug today and it is on sale. It's something I find myself repeatedly attracted to in pictures I pin/see in around the web or in books. Definitely going to want at least one of these for our new home(size yet to be determined).

This elephant watering can is less than five dollars. This would be a good Christmas present if you don't want to spend a lot and the person you're buying for is quirky. Or me. Or needs something shaped like an elephant to water their plants with. I happen to be all of the above.

These gold rimmed plates from Macy's are on sale and so so classy. I had a gift card to Macy's which I definitely spent on 6 of the dinner plates. So pretty.

Because we're about to actually have a house, I'm looking a lot more for practical, pretty things that I want to have forever, instead of place holder things because we don't know what the end space will look like. Of course, almost everything from the apartment will find a place in the home (and I'll be craigslisting what doesn't make the cut), but it's so fun to look with a space in mind.

white house black shutters

It's the American dream. Or, maybe it was just my American dream. To me a white house with black shutter is just classic American. Can you picture the flag waving in the front yard? Me too. Of course as we looked at houses, we were open to anything. Brick houses last the longest and (because of that) are the best for insurance purposes. Matt grew up with brick, while I grew up with siding. It could have easily gone either way. The last house we had an offer in on didn't even have shutters, so obviously that wasn't a requirement either (even though they are never functional, I still think they make the house look finished). Mostly we wanted a place for Matt to have a workshop and enough room to have a family. This home, may or may not be our forever home. If it's our forever home, we're probably going to have to add on a little.
We had the inspection yesterday and nothing was turned up that waved a red flag. Also, everything that needs to be updated, doesn't need it RIGHT AWAY. So, with that in mind, I can think of no reason why this won't actually be our first home. I'm so stinking excited. :)
Here's the little "before" tour. There are some things we will change almost immediately, but here's how it looks as we're buying it. If you're not ready for wood paneling, brace yourself. There are only four walls that aren't covered in wood paneling and for some reason I only took one picture of the bathroom and it is less than all-encompassing. Yes, that's a lot of wood paneling.
















We're going to replace the railing/supports on the front porch because they're rusted at the bottom and they're load bearing. Also, I don't like them, so it's kinda convenient that the inspector said we should replace them. I may have slipped him a twenty. Joking, but picture tapered posts there and drool a little. Also, I'd say there's a 90% chance that we'll get a more aesthetically pleasing mailbox/light fixture. Also, the porch will probably stop being maroon, but seriously y'all, our house is too cute even with all it's lack of pretty updates. It could stay just as it is and I'd still wanna fill it with blonde babies.




That's my father-in-law modeling our backyard. Well water for a garden is a major plus. Also, as silly as it may sound, consider me excited about having a trash can and recycling bin. Goodbye long hauls to the dump just to take the garbage out!












This is the living room (when you walk in the door). Told ya there was paneling. Picture it all painted white. Also, picture the carpet pulled up to reveal the beautiful hardwood floors hiding underneath. I know it's hard, but squint a little. Even so, it's all in move-in condition.




















Here's the kitchen. Picture the drop ceiling removed, the cabinets raised, everything painted white, and updates as we live in it. Again, move-in ready.






Laundry room off kitchen will utility sink. Again. White. Change of light fixture.







Master bed. Wood floors under carpet.




Nursery. This room is across the hall from the master. There is also a full bath in this hallway, but somehow I missed it when I was taking pictures. It is already mostly white (tile,sink,tub, and toilet), so it is definitely the most finished room.










When you go upstairs (stairs were in the living room) you can go left or right into the other two bedrooms of the house. Both have slanted ceilings (finished attic), but they're perfect for a kid's room or office/playroom.

That's the whole house. It isn't giganormous, but it's perfect for a starter home! We've got big plans, and you can color me excited. Also, there's a one car detached garage with a workshop for Matt and attic storage above! We're so blessed! :)

virginia

Just that word is one of my favorites. It's a mixture of tweety bird sweaters leaping into piles of pine straw and wet sand between the toes. It's the freedom of driving on your own, hair whipping all around you and curling up in warm blankets protected by your parent's presence across the hall. It's home, and it's good to be here.


This past week, we put an offer in on another house, and on Friday it was accepted! So Saturday, we moved down to stay with Matt's family until closing, but the seller let us move our stuff into the garage on Monday. That saves us the money of renting another moving truck and the pain of moving into storage and back out of storage. Today we are going to the house again for the inspection, so I'll take a bunch of pictures and then we're just finishing up the paperwork until we close on the 30th of September! We knew that when the other house fell through there would be something better, and it has all moved so quickly!

In the meantime we both started our new jobs yesterday, and we're enjoying the dynamic of a dog, cat, and mouse sharing the same roof.