We're Home Owners!

Kevin and I have been looking at houses since March or so. We were hoping to buy a house before April 30th in hopes to get the $8,000 back. We found several houses we liked but everytime we'd call to look at them, the real estate agent would inform us that they had went under contract a few days prior to our inquiry. It was really frustrating. I mean, these houses had been listed for months and right when we'd find it, BAMMM!, off the market! I was wondering if we'd ever find a home we liked.

Then we found a house we loved. I had seen this house when it was first built a few years ago and I always thought it was gorgeous. When I found out it was foreclosed and they were selling it for almost 100k under what it was worth, I showed it to Kevin and he wanted to go see it. After seeing it, there was no doubt we'd like to have it. We started paper work and made a few offers. However, they wanted a $4k more than we were willing to give. We talked it over and $4k wasn't much but we decided to withdraw our bid. This was the kind of house we wanted to be our last home, not our first. We would never really be able to work our way up. After all, it was over 3,000 square feet. It had a two car garage on the house as well as a 4 car garage off of it with a bonus room above. I mean, why would we ever need more? But at the same time, it still wasn't white brick. Something Kevin and I have always wanted in our dream home. So we figured we'd withdraw our bid. After we withdrew our bid, I have to say, I wasn't really upset. I had a peace about it. But I won't lie and say it was easy to ride by the house knowing it had almost everything we wanted.

We still continued looking at houses and we found one we sort of liked. We weren't crazy about a few things but we liked it enough but decided to keep looking for a while. Then Kevin found one he wanted to look at. When I saw the house, I told him I didn't think I'd like it. It just seemed small and really formal. I wanted a home that was casual and welcoming. But I figured what was the harm in looking at it.

After walking the house over, I loved it! It was exactly what we were looking for: brick, two stories, had a seperate living room and den, lots of closet space, a gorgeous back yard, a nice deck, and a two car garage. So after we talked it over, had our loan officer run some different scenarios, viewed it a second time and showed our parents, we decided yesterday to buy it (:

Here's what it looks like!



The porch!



The yard from the porch!



The yard from the right side of the house!

It's Official (:

One night, back in December, Kevin and I were laying in his room as we often did. As we laid there comfortably talking, Kevin asked me a question. He said "Sara, how much do you like me?" As I often joked around, I opened my arms up real big and said "This much". He rolled over, looked at me, grinned, and said "Well now do you like me or do you love me?". I didn't know what to say. There was no doubt in my mind that I loved him but I didn't want to be the first to say it. But being on the spot, I had no choice. I told him I loved him. Rather than saying it back, he said, "well do you love me enough to marry me one day?" I think I could have screamed the answer yes but instead I said "yeah" all nonchalantly. He rolled back over as if nothing had been said. Here I am laying there thinking to myself that I should have lied and said "no, I like you" But a few shorts moments later, he rolls back over and says... "I love you too"... From that day on, I knew I was going to spend the rest of my life with Kevin.

In January we went to look at engagement rings and I gave Kevin a few ideas of what I wanted. In February, he and his best friend, Brian Loye, took off to Raleigh one day to buy me one. I won't forget that day. The night before Kevin had went to UNCG's Campus Crusades with me and it was really late when we got out so I tried to get him to just stay at my apartment but he insisted that he had to go home. He kept saying he had to do some stuff in the morning. I couldn't figure out what was going on. He refused to tell me what he was doing the next day and that was unlike him. The next day he would message me but it would take him an hour to respond. I couldn't figure out what he was doing.... until he called and I heard his friend in the background. I knew he was looking at rings because Brian told him he'd go with him when he got ready to buy me one. So the cat was out of the bag so to speak. Because Kevin can't keep a secret from me, he finally confessed to me three days later that he'd purchased my ring. However, I was informed I had to wait to get it.

As time moved on, I began to go on and plan our wedding even though I didn't have my ring. I wasn't sure when I'd get it so I wanted to go on and begin planning so I could book the vendors I wanted without worrying about them already being booked by the time I got my ring since most things book a year in advance. We chose our wedding date and when people would joke around and say, "when are you two getting married?" We'd smile and say May 21, 2011. The person's next question was always, "You're engaged?!" Then we'd explain that not technically. Kevin had my ring but he hadn't asked yet.

But he finally did....

On Saturday, May 22nd, Kevin and I had a busy day. We went to look at two houses in the morning, then we went to his cousin's birthday party, then we were going to the Barn and Dinner Theater for dinner and a show. After the show, Kevin asked me where I'd like to go. I asked him to take me to my apartment so I could get something.

We went in and I got what I needed. As I tried to leave my bedroom, Kevin stopped me at the door and wrapped his arms around me. He asked me if I had had a good time that night. I told him I had. He then asked me if I loved him. I said "DUHHHH!". Then he said, "well, do you love me enough to marry me?" I grinned and said yes and asked him the same. He told me to hold on and he'd tell me. As I waited, he pulled a box out of his pocket, got down on one knee, opened it, and asked me to marry him (: It couldn't have been more perfect. It was at my apartment, the place where our friendship and relationship had grown, and it was simple and flirty, just like our original conversation about getting married.

So I guess you could say, our engagement is now "official".

Here's my beautiful ring!





Here's a picture of us right after he asked the BIG question :)

It's Time for a Different Approach

For years now I have wanted to keep a journal. Yet, everytime I start one, it lasts a few entries. It never lasts because I'm what you would call a perfectionist so every time I have to change my thoughts or make an error, I have to re-correct what I have written on the page. I hate that! I can't stand mistakes so I start all over again. After a few entries of this, I get tired and say "forget this".

So I have decided to try a different approach. I've decided to keep a blog. In this way, I can record my thoughts and easily correct my errors without having to redo an entire entry!