hunting season

With our fingers crossed we are proud to announce that (drumroll please). . . we have found our first home!

{This is my best likeness. For those of you growing seriously concerned with it's structural integrity about now, have no fear. I'm really bad at straight lines}

If all goes well between now and closing (March 1st) we'll be happily posting {real} pictures and a slew of new home improvement projects. We started looking loosely back in July and we were't sold (pun intended) on a particular area even up until two weeks ago. It wasn't until we started driving through potential neighborhoods more frequently and walking into houses that all became clear. A picture may be worth a thousand words, but we found that those "words" are chosen very selectively when someone is trying to sell you something. However, that feeling of "this could be our home" that we were looking for was finally found in a fabulous southern-style, white gabled house in Bartlett and we could not be more thrilled.

When it comes to buying a house, one thing we did learn is that you absolutely have to prioritize the things on your wish list and know from the get-go how much you're willing to tackle yourself. Here are a few of the must haves on our list - aka the things we were not feeling ambitious enough to create ourselves:

* 4 beds, 2 baths (we want some growing room)

* open floor plan

* bathrooms in good condition (no teal or pink tub and tile please)

And here are some of the things that we want, but are willing to tackle ourselves:

* hardwood flooring

* granite countertops

* white cabinets

* crown molding

* a covered patio

GET PUMPED!! We sure are =)