Let's Play Catch-Up!

Y’all? Hi! It's been forever, huh? Forgive me. Life got a little...busy. Let's see if we can catch you up!

When we last left off, we'd bought a house. A house! Ahhh! That still seems so unreal. We own a house. An entire building! What the...

And, you know what? Houses take up a lot of time. And money. Oh so much money. Man.

But they're nice. And cozy. And you can pretty them up however you want to – no one cares if you accidentally poke extra holes in the wall trying to hang a shelf (and a cabinet...and a painting...) or paint one of the walls bright red.

So, that's exactly what we've been doing – prettying (or, if you're my momma, "Alanafying"). It's not quite finished yet, so I'm going to make you wait a bit more for photos. But they will come, friends. They will come.

In addition to that house, we'd also recently acquired an adorable puppy the last time we talked – Gallifrey. Remember her?

It's amazing what a few months can do.

Crazy, huh? She's a nut. Outside is her favorite thing. She's so desperate for the cat to be her best friend that she's constantly enduring bites to the face. And she can practically bend herself in half – which makes for rather funny moments when combined with baby giraffe legs and a new hardwood floor.

The other fur kids are pretty much the same. Gigi still prefers cuddling and smooshing between things to being anywhere else, and Grover is still a dog trapped in a 20 lb cat's body.

As for our lives, we're doin' pretty well. The Boy started his new semester a couple weeks ago and got some fantastic news – he's apparently so much of an overachiever that he's on track to finish his PhD work TWO YEARS EARLY! (*cue happy dance*) That boy, guys. He's pretty impressive.

I’m still doing the whole every-other-week commute thing (and kinda likin' it, honestly). My team has fallin' into a groove with it and we're making it work. Hard to believe I've been doing it for 8 months now! Thank goodness for a supportive, flexible team.

Oh, and guess what! I've taken up a new hobby/obsession: cookie decorating! Who knew it was so much fun? It's like painting, but ON A COOKIE! I'm still figuring out the basics, but loving the practice.

I think that pretty much catches y'all up! We've got several fun things coming up over the next few months – weddings, birthdays, trips to those various events. Oh, and we're starting something else new: we’re going to be working through Jen Hatmaker's book, Seven. It should be…interesting. Stay tuned on that.

Talk to y'all soon!

We Bought A House!

These are the faces of two people who just signed A BAJILLION papers.

We're not excited because signing papers is fun, but rather because signing those papers made us official homeowners!

I'll share a little more of our home buying journey in subsequent posts, but for now, enjoy the photos of our adorable new abode.

Kitchen

Dining Room
(I spy puppies)

Living Room

Master Bed

Master Bath

Master Closet
(i.e. one of the reasons we bought this house)

Second Bedroom

Second Bathroom

Third Bedroom

We're painting and moving in this week, so once it's been "Alana'd," I'll post updated photos. Can't wait to make this precious place our home. We're in love with it already.

Thanks for stopping by. More later!

So...We're Buying A House!

Okay...not THIS house exactly. The one we have picked out is slightly smaller...
(I don't have a clear photo of the one we're considering)  

I know, I know. You're looking at me like I'm crazy. We just got married, we're new to the city, we're still putting down roots - why are we buying a house? Well...because the timing (and financial situation) is right.

Buying was always in the plan, but we've gone back and forth on the timing of it for a while. When we first moved over, we found a little house to rent until we were ready to take the next step. We wanted to be able to save up for a down payment, to scout out areas we liked, to truly understand commute time & stress for The Boy, and so on.

This little house (and by little I mean tiny (and by tiny I mean minuscule)) has suited us well okay for the last year or so. Recent events, however, have shown us that it may be time to go ahead and find something else.

For example, a few weeks ago the city left a notice on our door letting us know that if we continued to park our car on the grass, they would impound it. Now, let me clarify here: by grass, they meant the slightly grassy area next to our driveway…you know, the one ON OUR PROPERTY. They also said that we could not park ANY car on ANY surface that was not concrete or asphalt. So…our gravel driveway (again, the one ON OUR PROPERTY) was no longer acceptable. Ummm?

Dear Del City,
       Have you seen the rest of our neighborhood?!? Matter of fact, have you seen the rest of your city?!? Really. Look around. There’s an area down the street from us nicknamed “Murder One” (and no, it's NOT because only one murder has taken place there...imagine the opposite). My Jeep being neatly parked on a perfectly parkable surface should most definitely NOT be your biggest concern. Plus, now you want us to either pour concrete (are you aware of the environmental ramifications to your city if we add more concrete and increase the amount of potentially contaminated runoff we create every time it rains?) or park my car on the street (...the street that isn't wide enough to accommodate two cars driving past each other…that street?) Sure. This totally makes sense.

So, we’re moving. And, in Oklahoma where the rental market is...tiny and sketchy at best, moving means buying. We can get a mortgage for FAR less than we'd be paying in rent for something comparable, and there are programs in OKC that help out with the down payment if you qualify (which we do). 

For the last month or so, we've been gathering documents, getting finances in order, scouting areas, chatting with our real estate agent, and chasing down various lenders leads. We've finally found one we like and are working on next steps now. It’s super exciting! (and scary, but let's focus on the exciting part)

Stay tuned for more details!