A New Focus

After the wedding and honeymoon, Ellie and I started to look for a house. It wasn't a speedy process as we had to contend with the winter, and finding houses that fit our desires AND was within our price range wasn't the easiest thing.

With the help of my friend Eric Rollo at Raveis Real Estate, and a lucky break on a "let's just hit up a bunch of Open Houses this weekend", we found our new home.

Picture saved from original listing at Raveis Real Estate.
This is technically the back of the house, but it's the main entrance.

Admittedly, we were not expecting a whole lot from the pictures (pics Pinned from the agent's webpage, our pictures will go up in full soon)--it looked nice enough, but we had difficulty grasping the layout, or wondering how all that fit into 1500 sq feet, and honestly, the kitchen needs love. But we went, and were impressed by just how much bigger it was than the pictures let on. I'll say it right now, when it comes to a house and yard, we are TOTAL size-queens, and not ashamed to admit it. The square-footage listed was not accurate, the almost-finished basement isn't included, and gives us a ton more room to work with. The yard is huge and wooded, but with enough open space to let us garden and build a deck.

I think what really sold me was seeing it the second time, with Eric in tow. Ellie & I had already begun talking about making it "ours", but discussing it with an outsider, someone who has seen a LOT more houses than we have, allowed us to--in a way--validate our thoughts. Eric has been very diplomatic through the whole process (a good thing!!), but also let us know if he thought something was particularly awesome or terrible.

It's funny that we've been unofficially shopping for a house for most of our relationship. After the wedding, we knew it was time, but took the time and energy to really look at many houses, both online and in person, because we want this to be our forever home--neither of us had the desire to get a starter home just to move in 5-ish years and start over. We want roots, and to really take our time to make this place OUR home rather than going into it knowing that it wouldn't be permanent. I think, if we' bought a starter home, neither of us would be as dedicated to improving and updating as we will be here--I feel Jelli-fying the house will be less half-assed because we'll be living with it forever. I know I would not be NEARLY as dedicated to some of the small things if I felt there was a possibility of leaving this place--I don't have that kind of drive or dedication.

I hope all our friends and family enjoy the ride as much as we will!