First comes Love, Then comes Marriage...

no no no, no baby in a baby carriage....

a new HOUSE!

It became apparent early on that two people and two cats in my house was just too much.  Not a big enough kitchen, and a cramped bathroom were the two big vices that prompted us to look for a bigger home.  Along with the hope of kids one day in our future, Chris and I started looking at houses shortly after Christmas.  Little comments while cooking "we need more counter space" then to "we need more wall space" ...we have all of these beautiful wedding pictures and no where to hang them.  And discussions like "i'm really not comfortable bringing a newborn into this house."  We started the house hunt.  It has been an interesting ride.  At first I was the one more anxious to buy.  I would ask Chris, "If we go out and look at houses, and we find something we really love.  Are we ready to make an offer?" or, "You know my parents are planning to come visit in May.  Do you think we'll be in a new place by then?"  His responses were "Well we'll see, I think it would be better to move in the summer time." 
And then we found this house.  I think both of us feel in love, but at different speeds.  I really liked the house, and it was the first one we saw on our third or fourth trip out with our realtor.  After seeing a handful of houses, I asked if we could go back to the first one.  During our second visit to the house Chris said "I could see us living here."  In my heart of hearts I knew it was over.  His mind was made up.  24 hours later after discussing it, I realized how ready he was, and I wasn't quite there yet.  I wanted to save more money, give it some more time.  But I know that once my husband wants to do something, he just does it.  ...remember the purchase of the wedding bands?!  After me questioning him a hundred times, and him comforting me and reassuring me over and over, about 28 hours after we saw the house we called our realtor and gave him the GO to make an offer!  That was back on Sunday January 6th.  And now we have a house.  Our first house together.  It feels so good, and so comforting. 
The house itself is a detached ranch style home, which I love.  I've always wanted a ranch because that's what I grew up in.  I had never lived in a house with stairs until I bought my townhome in 2006.  I love going back to a ranch.  It has a small formal entryway with two small guest bedrooms, and a full guest bath.  A very open floor concept with a large living room, and a fireplace!  The kitchen is huge, and has a nice giant pantry!  I'm sure we'll be able to fill it all, but it almost seems like we have more kitchen space than we know what to do with!  We have a nice big master bedroom, with an ATTACHED bath (this is a big deal).  Our master suite has a shower, garden tub, a closed off toilet room, TWO sinks, a linen closet, and a nice big walk-in closet.  We also have a finished basement and a full bath downstairs.  Lastly the location.  We're just moving right across the freeway in Thornton, and it's within a few blocks of Eastlake where I love to go running!  I truly can't wait until the warmer weather is here.  There is also a park and tennis courts.  It's fabulous if I do say so myself. 
My one concern is our window in the bedroom faces a sorta busy street.  And we have a street light that is pretty much right over that window.  Hopefully the noise and light won't be too bad.
We started moving in over the weekend, and got a lot accomplished.  We hired a painter to get rid of this orange-terracotta color in the kitchen and stairway to the basement, along with the yellow and green in the master bath.  He should be finished tomorrow, and we officially move in on Thursday.  Movers come to take all the furniture Thursday morning, and TV/internet will be installed Thursday afternoon.
This move (among all the other things going on) has been weighing heavily on my mind, and to know that it is now all done has given me a new lightness.
With this house we have room to grow inside and out.  Along with the inside we have a nice big patio, and a full garden on the side of the house already planted with raspberries, tomato's, herbs...those are the items I can remember, all hooked up to a custom sprinkler system!  This will obviously be Chris' area to take care of!
It's so exciting to know we have this space together, and that together we will make it our own.  That this could be the house we bring a baby into.  That all of the memories here will be ours together.  I am a little bit sad to say goodbye to my townhome, where I have lived for almost 7 years.  But it feels amazing to be able to move on and forward with my new life.  I think of the person who moved into that house, and how lonely she was, and how it seems appropriate because I'm no longer alone.  It's definitely time to move on.
So this is your official invitation to come visit!  We have plenty of space and would love to have you!
Pictures are of course, to come!