Home Sweet Home

So after 7 years of marriage (next week is the big anniversary), James and I bought our first home and are finally out of the renting game!

We recently found out that our rent....which seemed too high to begin with....was going up. A lot. $400.00 per month a lot. So- we started to look for something more permanent. We hated leaving/looking outside our ward boundaries, but we knew we had to be willing to do what the Lord wanted us to do. We weren't looking for anything fancy since we don't plan on staying in it more than 5 years. 4 bedrooms, and grass was all I was mainly concerned about! This, however, is very hard to find in this city, without paying an arm and a leg for it. Most homes don't have more than 3 bedrooms, and most EVERYTHING is rock landscaped, or not landscaped at all...aka dirt. So, as you can see, our expectations had to change immensely from when we lived in Heber! Anyway, when we came across this older home (closer to James work), in an older, but "kept up" neighborhood, we decided to take a look.

(This picture was stolen from our inspection report...but it's all I've got
right now, so it'll have to do. Don't you love the cemented in porch swing out front? Is it silly that this is one of the things I'm most excited for??!)

Our neighbor's, Emily and Caleb, actually told us about the home. Caleb's cousin owned this house and was looking to sell it (by owner ...to avoid extra costs). We found out it had grass and 4 bedrooms and decided to give it a try. The nice thing about the house is that the owners have a done a fabulous job with the up-keep. New carpet, new paint, remodeled bathrooms, hardwood floors, landscaped front and back, fenced in backyard (nice cement, block walls), lilac bushes, etc. We know there are some obvious downsides to buying an older house, (we may definitely look into replacing the cabinets at some point...) but for the price we paid and when comparing the pro's and con's list, we can't deny we feel like we got a great deal. The other houses in the neighborhood also have grass and mature trees, which makes it feel not so desert-y to us. (This is something most of you people take for granted, but getting a house with grass and trees---let alone a neighborhood with them----is not very common here in NM!)

The owners are so sweet and are leaving us their trampoline (with the net), a lawn-mower, 2 flat-screen tv's (already mounted), a picnic table and chairs, the fridge, etc. Aren't we lucky?!!

We are so excited to finally be home owners! We should probably be closing in 2-3 weeks and hope to be in before September! I'll post more pictures when we get settled!!!