Waiting Game

This weekend we're having some estimates done at the Framingham house. We can't do anything, make any decisions or anything else until we have these estimates. Needless to say I am very anxious. We don't want to take on a house that requires more work than we can afford of course. But I do really like the lay out and location of this house. I'm willing the work to be minimal and the seller to be willing to cover it. Either way we'll know by Friday what the story is.

And if it doesn't work out? Hitting the pavement to find one more house and hope its the one. Between the option money and the inspection I think we can only afford to go as far as we have once more. I'm very thankful that we set a goal of finding something pre-wedding as now we do have post wedding time for a cushion.

Ross is at the firehouse today so I may try to do some wedding things. I'm down to the details and ready to knock them out. The next 8 weeks are filling up quick and even though its a decent amount of time, I'm thinking I should buckle down when I can. Next weekend is Labor Day...and if the house doesn't work out, a weekend of house hunting. The weekend after that I'm in San Angelo for work and the weekend after that is my bridal shower hosted by Nancy's friends. September 26 I have a bachelorette party to go to and then we're into October! We have weddings on October 10 and 16 then ours on the 25th. See, it may be 8 weeks but its 8 very busy weeks. Yeah, I should probably knock some of it out today while Ross is gone...

Framingham Circle

We put in an offer on another house and after a couple days of negotiations, we agreed to terms with the seller. Woohoo! We wrote a couple big checks and now that baby on Framingham Circle is off the market and ours for the taking.

Today we had our home inspection. I don't know why I didn't anticipate this just being a bad meeting by definition. You go to meet with this guy whose only job is to tell you everything wrong with your future home. How could that go well? I suppose it could have been worse but the house has some issues we're not wild about. We have a little more investigating to do before we're able to decide what our next step is. We're perfectly fine putting some money and time into basic repairs but we need to make sure these are basic repairs that are in our price range. Cross your fingers.

I'm excited to buy a house but I'm understanding more by the day why this is cited as one of the most stressful decisions ever. Whew.

Mas Casas

More househunting. The sellers of the Merseyside house never could come to an agreement with us. They wanted an earlier closing but we won't have the loan sooner so no dice there.

Today we hit the pavement again. We found one that we're putting an offer on and another that is our back up plan. Househunting is exhausting. After looking at 8 houses today, I'm totally fine staying in my apartment in my bathrobe for the rest of the day/night. I'm worn out!

Cross Your Fingers

We got up this morning and went househunting. We liked the first one, were very disappointed in the second, giggled at the third a little and fell in LOVE with the fourth. We've put in an offer and should know by lunch tomorrow if the seller is going to take it. I expect they will since we are offering asking price - in our minds, a very fair price.

As you can see from the picture, its no mansion. It is, however, a new home (built in 2004) that needs no work prior to move in and is still under the builders warranty. It was fully refloored this year with wood laminate in the living room, carpet in the bedrooms and tile in the kitchen. The kitchen is BIG and allows for plenty of work space. The master suite comes with a garden tub and is big enough that we can actually get a bedroom set. The spare bedrooms and bathroom are all spacious and even painted nice colors. We're excited!

Since we don't need to do any upgrades to move in, we're already dreaming of things like expanding the stone patio in the backyard, adding in pretty light fixtures, purchasing an energy efficient refrigerator. Maybe I'll plant a tree in the front yard. We can own a home, not be broke AND add some swell little extras to it. Woohoo!

Cross your fingers; we should know tomorrow if we got the house or not.

Househunting Day 1

bridesmaids
Originally uploaded by cheryl_lynn425.

This photo has nothing to do with the blog entry. But its a fun photo that I haven't shared yet. So now its shared.

Summary of househunting day 1

House 1: Very awkward because homeowners were there and teenage boys asleep in one of the bedrooms. Not in awful shape but just really not for us either.

House 2: Super funky fun floor plan and beautiful. Great landscaping. Real hardwood floors and a stone fireplace. Unfortunately its the top of our price range AND the living room is small. Not optimal for big comfy couches.

House 3: The pits. They are dreaming if they think they'll get their asking price. I took one look in the bedrooms and told Ross no way in hell. He had the same feeling after poking around the backyard.

House 4: Cookie cutter home but had nice size rooms and a great master bathroom. Unfortunately its a short sale which is complicated and not ideal for people who actually need to move in by a certain date. So we'll pass.

We're going to go again next week and hopefully now that we know a little better what we want, we'll find something good.

Cheers!

I got nothin'

Amanda Renaud!
Originally uploaded by cheryl_lynn425.

I tried and tried to think of a witty blog title, but alas, I got nothin'.

I stole this photo from the Shutterfly album my college friends created for Boo and Joe's wedding. I have a few photos from the bachelorette party and wedding set up but my camera has died and I need to upload from the memory card. A lunch break activity sometime this week. But even if I am a schmuck and don't have many photos from my friend's wedding, I can still share this lovely one with you.

This weekend was Ross' bachelor party/Mom's birthday. Ross and the boys went to Port Aransas and from all accounts had an outstanding time. There are definitely parts he doesn't remember but I take that as a sign of a good, solid, successful bachelor party. I went to Houston to celebrate Mom's birthday and we ate lots of delicious food and drank some yummy wine. I hope she had a good birthday; I think she's a special lady and should only have good birthdays.

Tonight Ross is at the firehouse tonight doing a half shift. Lexi and I are just chillin'. It's nearly our bedtime so soon we'll be cuddled up asleep.

But tomorrow we are scheduled to go househunting. I'm still waiting to confirm an exact time and meeting location with our realtor but if all goes well, we should be househunting tomorrow evening. Wish us luck! Cross all your fingers and toes!

My Friend Has a New Name

iphone_pic
Originally uploaded by cheryl_lynn425.

It's Renaud, pronounced Reno, like the biggest little city.

This picture is from her last night as Booden. One beautiful wedding day later she got a new name, a husband and in-laws. It was a wonderful wedding and party, so much so that three days later I'm still worn out so this is all you are getting. Suffice it to say, Age was a beautiful bride and I don't think I've ever seen such an excited groom as Joe.

And when I got back my soon to be hubby had left me a clean home with flowers and mushy card. I love him and I'm gonna go spend some QT with him right now. Ciao.