We Bought A Home!!

Yep! That's right! We have bought our first home and it is this little beauty below...


We have been looking around for awhile with our realtor and just so happened to stumble accidentally upon this beautiful home in Queen Creek, AZ (about less than 20 min from Mesa and Justin's family)! Here's how this was an accident..

So we found an absolutely beautiful, smaller home for sale just up the street from this house. It was a spec home (which means, it's brand new but the owners who built it couldn't afford it and so the builders sell these spec homes for super cheap). So anyways this other home was going for $131,00 and we knew we wanted it when we saw it. It had all the upgrades, washer/dryer, all kitchen appliances, etc included, but we were hesitant to just come out and say yes right away and we were the first people to see it that day . It also was the first day it went up on the market as well, so we thought we would be safe coming back later on that day to claim it as ours. Well, we were about 2 min away from the house and from claiming it, when our realtor called us (who was already there) and said, "Umm..there is a couple looking at the house, I think you guys better hurry up!" we said "ok, tell the guy we want it!" so as soon as she was about to say it, that couple claimed it and we were absolutely heart broken. We didnt get the house. We were like seconds away from getting it too!! So we walked next door to the other spec home and as soon as we walked in, two guys (yeah. weird, I know) announced that they were going to buy it .

So anyways, our realtor felt really bad for us and told us that there was another spec home that was a lot bigger and not too much more expensive just up the street in the same neighborhood if we were interested in seeing it. Both of us were so dissapointed, we didnt even want to go look at the other house, but we did anyways. It was so hard to not compare this new house with the other one but we really liked what we saw!! I love the floor plan and it is exactly what we have been looking for. Because we saw how serious and crazy the buyers are out there, we knew that this house wouldn't last till the next day. So we talked it over for a little while outside and decided that we would be stupid to not buy it! It's a brand new home, 2700 square feet, 4 huge bedrooms, 2.5 baths, huge kitchen, formal living room, another informal living room, loft/play area upstairs, located right next to the park and community pool, and a laundry room upstairs along with the bedrooms all for $151,000. We got a STEAL! It is WAY bigger than what we need right now, but that always leaves room for us to grow right? :) We are looking at spending 10-15 years in this home while we save up to build to house (and backyard) of our dreams. If we wanted to, we think we could turn around and sell this house right now for at least 20,000 more than what we bought it, but we both think want to keep it and add some beautiful upgrades to it. So without further adeu, here is a photo tour of our first/new home!!

This is the view from the entry way. The front area is the formal living room, staircase in the middle (which we would like to upgrade to beautiful wood railings someday), and beyond that on the left is the family room with the kitchen on the right


This is the half bath located right across the stairs in a little hallway...

The family room

The kitchen! I love how big and open it is! If we would have built the house, we would have put in darker cabinets with beautiful darker granite tops, tile and black appliances but maybe we will upgrade to that someday. For now... I think this will do just fine! :)

This is our small backyard. It's not much but we plan on putting in grass where we can, planter boxes and a peach tree! You can always find room, right? We actually were looking for a big backyard and would gladly give up some of the space in our house for a bigger yard, but turns out here in AZ, they are a little selfish with their land and it cost BIG bucks to purchase a decent size backyard. So maybe someday.

But luckily, our house is literally across the street from this...

and this..

and this! There is a lot of room to play in these areas, so we dont feel too bad about our tiny backyard. At least we have one!

As you go upstairs, to the right, we have this nice, big loft area. This is where Ethan's toys will go and will stay. It will be SO nice to not have to hurriedly shove all of Ethan's toys into the nearest closet in the living room when someone surprises us by knocking on our door :)

Laundry room... I love all the closet space

The master bedroom is on the left as you come up the stairs..

Master bathroom

Bedroom #1. There are 3 kid bedrooms that all look pretty much just like this. I'll spare you the pictures then..

The kids bathroom


Here we are sealing the deal!!


Man, I've decided that buying a house is kinda like having your first baby... kinda a whirlwind experience. We have been preparing ourselves to buy a home for a while now, kinda like in the 9 months of pregnancy, but when it actually happened, it happened so fast and was so surreal, kinda like labor and delivery. We still can't believe we own a home, kinda like how it took us a few months to believe that we were actually parents!

We are so excited though and feel so blessed to have found such a great house for such a great price that we can afford. We will probably be moving back to AZ late July or August and are so excited to start "real" life. We have loved living in Mexico, but we both feel as if it is time we come back to the states. Because Justin is now in charge Turkey and Greece, he will be traveling a lot more (not that he doesn't travel enough as it is )and I would feel better if we lived back in the states for that. I think my parents should be jumping up and down for joy right about now upon reading that. Am I right, mom and dad??? :)

So anyways, I've been dreaming of how I'm going to decorate and of buying new furniture, but I think our house will remain empty for a little while because we dont have hardly any furniture to put in it and nor do we have enough money to furnish it completely for now. I think we will buy little by little and set some goals. For example, save up enough money in 3 months to buy a headboard, 3 months to save for a dresser, kitchen table, etc. We will see how it goes. What is nice though, is we got that pretty little check for an $8,000 tax credit coming in the mail soon for being first time home buyers buying this year. Oh, the possibilities of decorating with that kind of money :) Just kidding sweetheart. Anywho, I would love to know from you guys what are some cheap, easy, and cute decorating ideas that you have done and love?? Hope you enjoyed the tour of our new home!!!!