One Year Ago

One year ago today, August 17, 2011, we closed on our house.  We walked into that thing with the keys in hand and Peyton had already started ripping out the kitchen linoleum (haha).  For the next month or so, we/the contractors worked really hard to get that thing liveable.  While we were in Disney World for Labor Day weekend, the carpet was installed and we moved in around mid-September.  I still remember our first night in that house. It was so big and empty, and I was obsessed with figuring out whether or not it was haunted.  (If it is, I guess the ghosts like us cause we haven't had any issues.) 

I remember our first Halloween- we didn't have any curtains on the windows and the jungle outside was terrible, but we turned on all the lights so trick-or-treaters would know they were welcome.  We had a great time handing out candy/telling Doc to shut up.

Our first Christmas- we put up the tree and some rando curtains in the kitchen to try to get the place ready for my parents to visit. We welcomed Chloe into our family on Christmas Eve and had a crazy first week with my family, two dogs, and throwing a NYE party.

We loved that our house was a 'cool' place for Jason and his friends to hang out.  We've become close friends with some of those guys, and now they are always welcome because they always clean up after themselves when they come over.

We've learned that we have a ton of stuff, but also that we have a ton of space.  The house might look neat and organized.... just don't open a closet or a cabinet..... (my parents are laughing right now because this is how I used to "clean" my room.)

The basement... sigh.  It was terrible, horrible, awful, no good and very bad.  We finally got that carpet put in right before my birthday party.  The bathroom down there is still not finished, but apparently it was enough.

Because after a year we are elligible to re-finance our loan.  Meaning our mortgage payment will go down.  But before you can do that, you have to get your house appraised to be sure it is worth a certain amount of money.  This is scary, cause though we have done alot of work in the house, it has a looong way to go.  Yesterday, we got the results of the appraisal.

It was good news.... we appraised well over what we paid for that house.

So... even though I'd like to take my money and move to Disney World, I think we'll stick around, work on saving up for those granite countertops, and enjoy many more years in our beautiful home.

Thanks for following along with our adventures in our very first year.  There will be many more to come, of that I am sure!

~SG