in other news...

for the past few years, my husband and i have wanted to buy our own home. because of uncertainties with my husband's continuing education, we didn't feel confident digging our roots in too deeply anywhere, thus leading us to be living in an uncomfortable limbo state. while my husband's schooling future is still up in the air, we both felt strongly that we needed to take advantage of the current housing market, and so, in february, we began our journey into homeownership. unfortunately, the past four months proved to be one of the most stressful, confusing, and whirlwind experiences we've ever had.

i'll spare you the boring yet stressful up and down rollercoaster ride that we just came off of, and get right to the good stuff.

when bryce and i walked into this house, we both knew right away it was the one. it was strange that it both hit us like it did. the house was not near perfect condition whatsoever, in fact out of all the homes it was the smallest, oldest, most lived in house we had looked at. it surprised us as we looked at other homes, that seemed more perfect for us, had less "pre-move-in" work required and from an outsider's perspective appear more fitting for us, that we didn't get that same feeling as we did in the other home. putting in the offer on that house felt like the easy and right decision. while it may not have proved easy, we still feel like that house was the right one for us. and when all was final, and the keys were handed to us after the whole frustrating ordeal, although scary, we still knew this home was supposed to be ours... and that in itself was and is a comforting thought.

i can't wait to show you all the changes, improvements (and a few mistakes) and renovations we are doing to our new home. we have been busy every night and day working on all sorts of things pertaining to the house, our house. our kids love toting along and running all over "the new house". and each new guest gets a personal tour from ava starting first at her room.

until i can officially unveil the work we have done, although seemingly never-ending (there is an end in sight, right?), here is a tiny peek of our very first home. in all her motorcycle, broken porch light, arizona coyote and roadrunner glory... which also so happened to be the first things to go upon the keys being handed to us.

aren't those two guys fantastic?

wile e. and that pesky roadrunner.

it's already feeling more like home.

now if i could just figure out how to magically transport all of our furniture and stuff there, we'd be set.