About Me

Texas, United States
I am a stay at home Mom from Oregon who has landed in Texas.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

The House

Because I love you all, I haven't wanted to bore you with a million billion updates on the quest for our perfect rental. (Instead I just bored my facebook friends with the updates, and now you with a seriously long post, hehe) Anywho...drum roll please.....we got a house!! Ha! How did you guess that is what I was going to say? Well, we did it! We looked at this house maybe a week and a half ago, immediately put an application in, and then waited. After a weekend, and then one annoying day of trying to get in touch with all the necessary people to get confirmations of job and past rental history we were easily approved for the house we wanted.

We ended up only looking at the inside of three houses. We were hesitant to settle on this one because it is out of our current ward (the area for our church, which decides meeting times, etc), but the price and size and neighborhood was so wonderful, an obvious blessing, that we couldn't deny it. And decided that this was the place for us. We will be in the Arlington 4th ward, in case you were wondering. There are so many positives, that the few "negatives" really just don't make a difference. And I have to say, just to clarify, that the ward we are going to isn't the "negative" it is the meeting all new people that scares me. I am just now feeling REALLY comfortable in the ward we have now, and it has been 3 and a half years. So yeah, I am going to REALLY try not to be so shy. We shall see!

One unexpected bonus is that they changed the carpet for us! We had noticed a few fleas, which we weren't too concerned about, just wanted a bomb done, and they said that since we had kids, they thought new clean, pet free carpet, was needed. Um, THANK YOU!! I love new carpet, and we will take care of it, so that is such a great bonus. They also got us a new microwave, that was another unexpected treat! (We have a spare we are getting rid of if anyone needs one..it is perfect except the display doesn't work anymore.)

We signed the lease Monday, and tonight I went and picked up the keys, and we also bought our washer and dryer and new fridge today! Such a busy and happy day it was! Here are a few pictures, I didn't get one of the front, because I parked my car in the drive. It has a curved drive where the garage doors are perpendicular to the front of the house. The house has great curb appeal which was important to both of us. We wanted it to be cute!

Here is looking from the end of the hallway near the three bedrooms out to the living area. The house is SO full of light, I love it! We will be able to go most of the day without turning on a single light switch. And I love the tile in the hall. And the kids love the "trash cans" where they can throw away their clothes.
The kitchen is small, it was the only interior downside to the whole house. There on the left is where our new fridge will go and through the first doorway there are two little pockets for the washer and dryer. Then out to the double garage, which is HUGE. There is a great landing area where I will put the carpet remnants and have a place to take off shoes. Oh, and I just have to say, when I was signing some paperwork today, I looked up and out the kitchen window on the fence was a blue jay, just sitting there wishing me hello! It was priceless! And having the door open and all the bird songs traveling in? It was a wonderful welcome indeed!
The dining area is small, but it is TILED!! Woo HOOO! No more worrying to death about staining the carpet! And the window there is HUGE, and looks right out to the backyard. I love all the natural light!
Here is the view of the living area from the dining room. That far wall will be my crafting area, and where the kids can craft and learn too. I am most excited about what I hope to have setup there. I want the kids to have a place to do art, puzzles, games, etc whenever they want.
The BEST part of this house. The wall of built in bookcases! This is the view from the backdoor, I just love it! And the fireplace is gas, so we will actually get to USE it. That is pretty exciting! Those carpet remnants are saving me some money! I don't have to get plastic to lay down for move in day, and I can use them in the garage landing instead of buying or hunting down remnants on my own.
Here is Natalie's room from the door. She has two windows, so it is so bright, the one on the left looks out to the side yard, so it can be open all the time. She has a little closet on the wall to the left of the door.
Here is Brady's room. Right next to Natalie's and just the perfect size. He is so excited! Though he has already locked himself OUT of his room twice! Good thing there is a little key thing for Mommy to "magically" open the door.
Here is the master bathroom. That door there goes into the shower and toilet area. There is even a window in there! So many windows!
Here is the master from the door.
And here is the main bathroom. I love that the toilet isn't right next to the tub (and that there is a window!!). The vanity is huge, there is a second "trash can" and tons of storage!
Well, if you made it through, congrats! I just love this house! Can you tell?? Sorry for the rambling post, but I wanted to get it all down!

So EXCITED!!!!!

18 comments:

TexasRed said...

Congratulations! Woohooo! I'm so excited for y'all! Although I'm bummed about the ward change. I love seeing Natalie each Sunday. She's such a cutie! We'll miss y'all - but I'm so happy for you too! :o)

Shannon said...

Yeah, we haven't really explained to her that she will be in a new primary...she is going to be so sad! She loves all her little friends, and all the teachers. She just loves it!

Brady is going to miss Sister Evans to, he just loves her! :(

Anonymous said...

Shannon, the house looks nice. And much bigger than I expected. Good for you guys. A grandparental suggestion. I noticed low windows in both kids' rooms. You might want to consider good, kid-proof security locks for those windows and maybe some sort of screen (like a dog or toddler gate) across the bottom. A little one here in Portland recently fell through a low window. Unfortunately, it was also on the second floor. Love. Dad

Shannon said...

oh man! so funny you mentioned that dad, b/c they went through and put second child locks on ALL the windows!

(I almost feel like I am bragging at this point, LOL)

Shannon said...

P.S. I am so upset that you were here and we just didn't think to get you over there to check it out :(

Anonymous said...

congrats! congrats! congrats! A house is such different living than an apartment. I miss my house everyday, and Jake asks at least once a week when we are moving to a house with a yard. Now I can finally tell him before he turns 5 he will have a yard!
The best thing about going to a new ward is that the gospel is the same! Somethings that helps me is to think that sometimes people may be just as nervous to meet me as I am to meet them. You will do great and "bloom wherever you are planted".

Ashley said...

congrats!

Simply Sarah *K* said...

Congrats! Those bookshelves are to die for!

Anonymous said...

Wow, the house looks awesome! So happy for you guys (now send me the new address so I can send you a congrats on your new home card :)

Bittles said...

Awesome Shannon, I am so happy for you guys, it looks fabulous! I wish I could help you with the move:( Some v.t. I am!

Kelli said...

I'm so excited for you!!! It looks great! I'm jealous of the shelves, but I shall live. Can't wait to see it in person.

Jenny said...

glory, glory, GLORY!!! It looks so fresh and clean...and BIG! Congrats, lady, that's awesome.

Melanie Kym said...

I'm so happy for you! Getting a fresh start in a home is so exciting. And I'm with ya on the natural light thing. Can't get enough. I did have one question. What are the "trash cans" exactly??

Shannon said...

Awww! Thanks for all the well wishes!

And Melanie the "trash cans" are those old fashioned laundry shoots, you can see it there in the hall picture, that middle door swings open and it drops down below, and the bottom cupboard opens up so I can put a laundry basket there. The kids love them, maybe it will help them keep their dirty clothes picked up!

The Eldredges said...

I am so excited for you guys and even more excited that you'll be in our ward! Yay!! The house looks great!

Bobette said...

Congratulations Shannon! You will love having some extra room. The house looks so fun. And don't worry, you'll make some good friends in no time.

Julie{isCocoandCocoa} said...

The house looks great! Congratulations!!

TexasRed said...

Hey Shannon!

If you still have the microwave and no one is in need of it - I'd love to have it for my classroom at school! :o) It'd make life a little easier. But if someone else needs it - that's a-ok. It'd just be a perk.