a home

Okay, now that Kevin and I have reviewed our financial situation, been pre-approved for a home mortgage loan, set up a timeline for ourselves, and made the official decision to move ahead with our big plan, I can excitedly announce that come this summer - no, we're not pregant - we'll be home-owners! That's right people, Tammy and Kevin are growing up, and we're buying a house to prove it. Okay, that's not why, but we do feel like we are heading into the future we've been dreaming about, and it's exciting to be experiencing this together.

We are both super excited that our goals and planning are coming together and that this is actually going to be a reality of us. For so long, it's seemed that the dream of buying a home was very very far into the future (and, if we'd moved back to CA, it probably would be). Over the past year we've made some pretty huge changes in how we manage our finances (as in, we now actually manage them now) and the reward is, literally, a dream coming true. We've become savers (pretty much for the first time in both our lives), and it feels really good. Of course, we still have plenty of room for improvement in how we manage our money (man, do we love to eat out), but progress is being made and now we can enjoy a big reward.

Anyway, it's still early on in the house-hunting process, but we've been very encouraged by what we've seen so far in our price range. We are looking for a 2-3 bedroom "starter" home in Southwest Minneapolis (you can see a map here - you'll have to zoom in a bit, and it will be on the lower left-hand corner), and, of course, I've already fallen in love with one house in particular. I know, I know, it's still early, but I can't help it. Isn't she a cutie (my new favorite way to describe the houses we're looking at)?

Whatever we end up in, it will be a modest home (we have definitely paid attention to what's happened in this country with people going crazy and buying homes they can't afford), but it will be our home and we couldn't be happier about that. We're going on our first official house-hunting tour with our realtor this Saturday, and I'll keep you all posted on what we find (although, really, it's going to have be pretty darn amazing to tear me away from my current favorite). Wish us luck!

P.S. - For those of you who have been asking us about our baby plans (we know, you're just excited - and so are we), just hold your horses - we promise, we're getting there! One thing at a time, right?