We Will Soon be HOMEOWNERS!

Back in August, I mentioned briefly that we found a house we liked.  After talking it over and taking our parents to see it, we decided that was IT! That was our house! We waited a few weeks and then found out someone else looked at the house and really liked it and would most likely make an offer on it soon.  We thought we better jump on it if we really wanted the house.  We went to the bank to be pre-approved.  The loan officer at the bank told us that we could make an offer on the house.  We also talked about consolidating some of Kip's debt as well.  He refinanced his car and paid off EVERYTHING...even his student loans that he doesn't have to pay yet! He is debt free (with the exception of the car loan).  It lowered what he was was paying from about $700/month to $267/month.  Talk about saving some money (AND INTEREST!!) He had a few pretty high interest cards and he got all those paid off.  Now his interest rate on the car is only right at 5%.  It is going to help us out tremendously!! I also looked into doing a student loan consolidation to try to lower my payments because I have about $20,000 in loans.  I applied and I am waiting to hear what the actual monthly payment will be, but I think it is somewhere around $125/month.  I also have my car payment, but other than those 3 loans, we are DEBT FREE! It feels good to look at it that way even though we still have some debt. It feels much better to have all those credit cards paid off! :)

So on a Wednesday night (September 18th) we made an offer on the house.  We started out with $10,000 less than they were asking.  They countered and it went back and forth for a few minutes until we made an offer that they accepted! So off to the bank we went the next day! We talked with the loan officer again, and he told us that we were approved for the FHA loan, not the rural development loan.  The FHA has a lower interest rate, but you have to have a down payment.  We tried everything we could to get the RD loan, but it just isn't going to be possible! :( We have to make a down payment of 3.5% which is right about $5,000.  Not too bad, but we don't have $5,000 laying around.  So we are trying to work that out, but the house will soon be ours! It is very exciting knowing that we do have somewhere to go when we get married! :)

There are pros and cons of the house, but it has more of what we want (in our price range) than any other house we have looked at!  Kip wanted a brick house and I wanted a newer house.  Well...we kind of met in the middle.  The house is ALL brick but it is an older house.  BUT the good news is...the inside of the house is less than 5 years old!  They re-did the entire inside of the house! So we both pretty much got what we wanted!

There are so many things that I like about it:

1. 1. HUGE kitchen
2. 2. Open floor plan
3. 3. Flat lot with privacy fenced in backyard 
4. 4. Nice, quiet neighborhood (in Southside--where I have lived almost my whole life)
5. 5. Gorgeous dining room
6. 6. HUGE laundry room
7. 7. Decent sized bedrooms
8. 8. Decent sized closets

The few things we weren't crazy about but can definitely live with are:

1. 1. Small bathrooms
2. 2. One car garage
3. No back porch...just patio (but that can be fixed!)

Yep that is about all.  It really is perfect for us. I can see ourselves in that house...having friends and family over...raising children (until they get a older then we may have to move to a bigger house).  I have already found myself decorating it in my mind!

Now....onto furniture shopping! :)

I'll leave you with a few pics of (soon to be) our house!

HOME!

Back yard

Open floor plan!

Oh the kitchen! So ready to cook in here!

Until Next Time,

So Many Changes!

Wow..so it has been a while since I updated! So many changes have happened in the last month! One major change was a new job!

My last day at WEE Care was September 6th.  Whirlwind of emotions let me tell you!! After working there for 8 years it was really hard to leave.  I didn't cry until Jennifer and Ava Caroline came to see me.  What really got me was when Jennifer said, "Tell Ms. Lauren 'Bye'! She got a new job!" AC said, "She wont be working her anymore???" with a poked out lip and sad face! That is when I started crying!! I got better though until 5:30 when I left! But my sweet bosses gave me flowers and bought my lunch! It was so sweet!

My sweet Kate!! 

My gorgeous flowers!

I started my new job on September 9th.  It was a little slow at first, but I am getting more used to it!  I have been having to work some nights with Susan, the old financial secretary, because she has taken another job.  She has shown me a lot and I am learning new things daily.  I am ready to be on my own, but it is a little scary because if I have a question about something I wont have anybody to ask! But I'll get it...slowly but surely I'll get it! :)

There are so many things I enjoy about my job!

1. 1. Getting to take sweet Graison to school everyday and getting to see my best friend and Evelynn everyday too!
2. 2. Eating lunch with Kip a few days a week--we usually only saw each other about 6:00pm when I finally got into Gadsden from work.
3. 3. My work hours!! Even though I have been working a few nights a week, I absolutely love my hours! 8:30 - 4:30 is awesome! There are days I wish I could sleep in and not go to work until 9:30 like I used to but getting off at 4:30 is definitely worth it!
4. 4. Being so close to home! It only takes me about 12-15 minutes to get to work where it used to take AT LEAST 30.  It is also only about 8 miles from my house to CrossPoint...compared to 25 miles one way!
5. 5.  I love the people here! Everyone is so nice and sweet! I do miss my co-workers in Jacksonville but I do love my new co-workers!
6. 6. My own office! I finally have my own office (almost).  I am ready to fix it up like I want it when Susan leaves! I have bought picture frames and everything! Ready to make it mine!

Everybody tells me what a big job it is and that they couldn't do it.  Well I have faith in myself that I can...I believe that I can handle the job! It is much more than I did at WEE Care, but everyone takes steps up in their career! I can handle it! I know I can! :)

Things have moved forward with wedding stuff! YAY!! I also have some big news about a house for Kip and I as well. More to come on that in another post! :)

Until next time,