Yes, I still have a blog!

You wouldn't know it by my lack of posts, though, would you?  Well that's actually an interesting story.....

The last blog post I did was on November 2nd.  Two days later Presley and I were taking a walk through the neighborhood and saw something that would change our lives for the better and require a lot of work for at least the next 2 months.

It had been for sale for awhile I had noticed during my morning jogs, but it was For Sale By Owner and therefore had no information on the internet so I didn't think much about it.  Until this walk with Presley and the beautiful and alluring words: Open House

I'll just peek in.  After all, Teague and I weren't going to look for a new house until probably summer and even then the taxes in Camas were too exorbitant to fathom so we were probably going to stay put for awhile.  Teague needed me to be back from my walk within the next 35 minutes so he could meet with his boss (on a Sunday???) that afternoon.

I fell in love.  So much so that I called Teague as soon as I left the house.  "Oh, it's too bad Harlan (our CRAZY neighbor) is next door.  It's sounds pretty cool."  "But!  But!  You should AT LEAST look at it!!!" I started, but his mind was made up.  Living next door to our horribly disturbing neighbor was a deal breaker.  I couldn't help but think about the house as Teague left for the meeting.  It's just as well.  We are a long way from even thinking of packing up and trying to sell our own house.  And this timing couldn't be worse as Teague's busy season is just getting started and the holidays/Maddox's birthday were just around the corner.

He gets home a little before 5pm and had enough curiousity to stop by and check if the open house was still going on his way home.  It wasn't, but I quickly called the owner before Teague could change his mind.  Grandma and Grandpa came over to watch the kids and we walked up the street as varying thoughts ran through my mind.  Did I oversell this home?  Do I think this place is beautiful just because it's not mine?  Is the Harlan factor still a dealbreaker?  Will Teague be impressed by all the upgrades the owners did to this house?  I mean, I loved it, but it's just as old as our current house and had some issues of its own.  After all, the hot tub isn't even working (oh yes, it has a hot tub!!!!).

As Teague asked some questions and we looked around, I felt a surge of excitement.  I know my husband well enough to discern that his questions went beyond mere interest.  He seemed to like it.  I was already in love myself.  This house was perfect for our family.  And so it began.....

Sunday: Open House, we walk through and love what we saw
Monday: Got pre-approved for a home loan
Tuesday: Made an offer on the house
Wednesday: Our offer was accepted
Thursday: Signed a Purchase & Sale Agreement with the owners
Friday: Signed loan paperwork

There are more crazy details to this story, but the bottom line is we are settled in and loving this new place.  Each day I find more things to love about it.  Early in this process I had dug out a list made 2 years prior of everything we'd want in a house.  This list had 14 items on it.  As I read through the list, I discovered our new place had 13 out of the 14 things that we'd wished for.....the only item it didn't have was "less carpet, more hardwood flooring."  We do have a big amount of carpeting, but I'm okay with it.  We no longer have Licorice (barfing everywhere) and it's fairly new, plush, and favorable in color.

Please feel free to visit us anytime....we now have the space to accommodate :)