New House, New Beginnings

I still cannot believe that we purchased a house. It’s been about 6 months since we first moved into our new home and I’m still baffled by everything that has happened. When we first heard about this house, I had recently quit my job and wasn’t sure if I wanted to go back to work. Financially speaking, we wanted to get out of debt before we purchased a home. As many of you already know, car and school loans (especially school loans) can be brutal if you are not able to make a payment. Honestly, we didn’t want to get into a situation where we’d have a mortgage and 3 other loans to worry about. Plus, that is a lot of pressure on Micah and I wasn’t comfortable even looking at the house for fear of falling in love with it. I guess I didn’t want to get my hopes up again for a wonderful dream home only to have reality hit us in the face with a big fat NO. But after the past year and a half of living in apartments, we were ready to become homeowners.

So we looked at the house anyway.

At first, I wasn’t too impressed with the landscaping or overall appearance with the house but I wasn’t repulsed by it either. This wasn’t what I had envisioned our dream home to be but I remember thinking that it was cute and could be a great starter home.

You see what I mean about the landscaping? It’s okay because Micah used to work for a landscaping company and is wonderful at it -thank God because I’m not sure I’d have the patience doing it by myself. Aside from the outside appearance, I was blown away at how awesome this house looked on the inside. I mean, wow. Everything was freshly painted and move-in ready. It came with stainless steel appliances minus the fridge, 3 bedrooms, 1 ½ bath, not to mention a large kitchen with a fireplace. The backyard needed a little work but it was clearly a wonderful little gem.

Luckily we didn’t have to bother with a seller because it was a foreclosure. All we had to do is apply to the mortgage company for pre-approval. Before we knew it we had been approved by the mortgage company, which in itself was clearly an act of God. I mean, would you approve a young newlywed couple with only one income coming in? Solely looking at our income and bills, I would not have approved us, but for some reason the owner of the mortgage company decided to take a chance on us. I’m so glad he did because it has been an exciting and wonderful experience! We absolutely love it here! We’ve had a couple of moments where we experienced plumbing issues as well as other things but those issues pale in comparison with apartment living. I hope we never have to live in another apartment-period. Also, we live closer to my mom and sister which is awesome because I enjoy spending more time with them. Not to mention, Baxter and Kitty really love the new house! Although they are strictly indoor kitties, they love staring out the windows and watching the wildlife taunt them throughout the day.

With all of the happiness that surrounded getting this house, there was a little sadness that came with it too. It was hard to accept that Micah’s mom wouldn’t be able to be here for this. It would have been nice for her to have been here to give me decorating tips and share in the joy and experiences with us. Again, I believe she is in heaven having a great time but it doesn’t make it any easier on us that are left behind. So I guess you could say it was bittersweet at the time.

On a happier note, I really feel that we would not have been able to purchase this home without the grace of God. There were too many factors that should have prohibited us from being approved as well as terminating our lease with minimal issues. I’m so thankful to God that we were able to get this house and have been able to enjoy everything that comes with being home owners.

Here are some more pics for those of you who want to see the rest of the house. Keep in mind these are the original pictures from the listing and the rooms are actually bigger than they appear…