a new home

after searching and patiently waiting for almost a year, brian and i finally found a house we fell in love with instantly.  it's crazy how it all came about, really. 

when we came back from florida last summer, we thought we would jump right into buying a house so we wouldn't have to move after renting for a year.  we spent 4 days with our fabulous real estate agent, looking at about 10 houses per day.  dragging oakley along with us.  it was miserable.  and rushed.  and we felt a ton of pressure because we were running out of time.  after praying about it (and much convincing from brian), we decided it wasn't time to buy.  so we rented a house for a year.  it was fine for the year we were there, but i didn't like where we were. 

we casually started looking online around april/may and decided if buying was meant to be, the perfect house would surface.  we looked at quite a few and didn't really love any of them.  we took a little break from browsing (about a week) and i randomly got online one sunday evening just to see if there was anything new on the market.  i found a house, showed it to brian, and called our agent.  yes, i called our agent on a sunday night at 9pm.  that's how much we loved it, just by seeing pictures!  we looked at the house monday and put in an offer tuesday.  there were 3 other offers on the table by wed, and we were in a sort of a bidding war.  after much negotiation and stressful phone calls, WE GOT THE HOUSE!  what an answered prayer!  and we were so thankful we listened to the Lord and were patient with HIS timing.  God is so good!  we absolutely love our new home and we are trying to get settled before our little bundle arrives in just 4 weeks!  for those who have asked, here are some pictures of the house.  kind of weird, but the pictures are from before we had possession, so it has the last owner's stuff in it. :)  i'm sure we'll have a post of "the new" new house once we are a little more settled.

side entry 3-car garage.  my dream:  side entry garage.  brian's dream:  3rd car garage for his woodworking shop.  perfect!!

oakley's dream:  huge, flat backyard  :)

upstairs living room.  it's a pretty open from the kitchen to the living room.  another "dream" of mine.

kitchen.  tons of cabinet space and a breakfast bar.  lovely!

laundry room.  ROOM.  we've never actually had a room.  and it's on the opposite side of the house from the bedrooms.  right off of the kitchen.  it's fabulous!

from the kitchen into the dining room.  the living room is to the right.

living room from the kitchen.  3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms are down the hall.

master bath.  two sinks...we've never had.  it's great!  there is also a "cosmetic" counter and a HUGE custom built/tiled shower with three shower heads.  it's pretty much heaven.

brian's man cave.  his ridiculously large projector screen that he built is currently on the wall where the bookshelves are in the picture.  i have to say, it's a nice setup for a man who is obsessed with college football!  there is a bathroom and another bedroom down here, too.

well, there it is!  i can't wait to get the house put together and personalized to our family.  it has been fun, but i'm sure i would have more "fun" with it if i wasn't 36 weeks pregnant!