Big News!

I purposely did not post last weekend. We've had some big news, but I wanted to wait until everything was final so I didn't "jinx" things. So....


WE'RE BUYING A HOUSE!!!!!

Yayayayayay! I'm so excited! We've looked at a few, even put in an offer on one that didn't work out. Then I found the listing for this house. It has only been on the market for about a month, so I thought there would have been much more interest in the house. I was envisioning bidding wars and a final sales price well above the listing price. But that isn't the case! We were their first offer! Of course we low balled them just to see what would happen, but they were willing to haggle a bit so we ended up getting a good deal!

The owners bought the house super cheap and "flipped" it, so basically everything in the house is new. It has a huge backyard - almost an acre in town. Basically unheard of! There are also two decks on the back of the house, one on the 2nd level, and a big deck on the front of the house. And there is a treehouse! Trav and I have joked that that's where I'll send him when he's in trouble. Hey, it has electricity - just no heat!

The inspection went well, so we're moving forward full steam. There were a few things that did pop up though. The house has a new 200 amp breaker box in the basement, but there is still a functioning 30 amp fuse box for a couple of plugs upstairs. They have 4 30 amp fuses in there when there is only supposed to be 15 amp fuses. So like the good first time homebuyers that we will be, we took a trip to Lowe's to check out how much fuses are. $6 for a set of two heavy duty 15 amp fuses. That I can handle. There is also a junction box in the basement near the water heater that needs a cover, so that's less than a $1 to fix.

Of course there are other things, just nothing to urgent. We will eventually replace most of the windows in the house. There is a set of 3 floor to ceiling windows in the family room that I'd like to trade out for french doors or a sliding glass door. And we have to buy curtains or shades for every single room. Oh, and appliances. So we spent an hour in Lowe's checking out prices for nearly everything. Eventually it will be the "home of our dreams", but for now it's pretty good too!

Oh, and did I mention that it has 2 bathrooms? Yippy!!! This is so ridiculous, but having 2 bathrooms was a must have for me. I wouldn't even look at homes with only one, or a basement bathroom, or just a half bath. I figure this: we have lots of out of town family. I want to be able to put people up and have them be comfortable. Some people up here think that's crazy, but apparently Northern Minnesota is the only place on earth that hasn't decided that two bathrooms is normal. It's been slim pickings!

That is really all that's been going on in our lives right now. Or at least, it's been the major theme. I will be so grateful to be in town and closer to everything. I can't handle living in the country, not like I thought I could. It's not the worst, but definitely not my preference. And they've started working on Trav's office (hooray!), which should be done at the beginning of April. So talk about saving money on gas!!! I'm still enjoying my part time job. It's just data entry, so it's a little taxing by the end of the day, but I just do my job and no one bugs me and I get paid! It's like a little mental vacation every few days.

So, yea! That's it! Wish us good luck in the next few weeks as we scramble to pack and move!