Pictures of the New House

We went out house-hunting this week, and after looking at what felt like a million yucky houses, we actually found a house we love! It was one of the hardest weeks ever, and nothing has ever felt less like a vacation! We were just so exhausted (from looking at houses all day for 4 days straight) and depressed (becuase we couldn't find anything decent for our budget) and sad (because we are moving away from so many people we love), when we finally decided to place a low offer on a house that was WAY too expensive (but the listing said all offers considered, so we took them at their word :). After a few counter-offers, we actually got the house for only 3,000 more than we had budgeted for (which for me is not bad at all!) So it worked out very well. The house is a million times nicer than the other houses we had looked at, and way nicer than anything we ever thought we'd be able to get, but it does back up on a semi-busy road and has no fence, so we got it for a lot lower than other houses in the neighborhood. Although, now we will be broke for a few years, so getting a fence is going to take some major budgeting discipline....not a talent of mine (yet!) Anyway, everyone has been asking for pictures, so BOY ARE YOU GETTING PICTURES! Disclaimer: Most of these pictures are of my favorite parts of the house (i.e. the pantry, laundry room, and master bathroom) and none are of the kids rooms because they are just beige rooms, and they all look the same (sorry!). If you really want to see the beige kids rooms, or the garage and the unfinished basement, let me know and I'll e-mail them to you. But besides that, I basically took enough pictures for a photo-tour...

Front of the house

Entryway and staircase (all four bedrooms open to the railing at the top of the stairs)
Living and dining room (to the right of the foyer)
View of Family room from the kitchen
The office/library (to the left of the foyer)
The kitchen (this is the part that is a zillion times nicer than the other houses....I'm so excited to cook something!)

THE PANTRY (totally sold me on the house...so many houses didn't even have pantrys out here - crazy!)

The Morning Room/Sunroom (where we'll probably eat most of the time, just behind the kitchen)

The laundry room....a whole room! (Right now I have a laundry closet)

The master bedroom...which we will paint as soon as we can afford to buy a can of paint again! (not my favorite color for our room)

The master bathroom (taken from outside)

The master bathroom vanities

The master shower

And the brand-new deck (I might've started with a fence before putting in the deck, but whatever)

So there it is! We are so excited, which is good because I needed something to look forward to instead of just being sad to leave (and boy am I excited to do laundry now that I have a whole ROOM for it!) If you're ever in the neighborhood, come on over for a visit! Also, a HUGE thanks to my parents for watching the girls for us while we were gone, and to Jennie B (the best visiting teacher EVER) for watching Maddox. It was so nice to not have to worry about the kids while we were out there! So, thank you thank you!