House

In case you didn't know, we are house hunting. I have waited (what feels like) SOOOO long for this moment, but now that I'm in it I feel like I'm on a roller coaster ride that I can't get off. I am trying not to get too whipped around by everything but it's still taking it's toll.

I don't remember our first house buying experience being so crazy, but when you don't have kids and both have  decent paying jobs, there's not too much to stress out about. I mean, finding babysitters so we can go view houses, having so many "needs" in a house that there are only a handful that actually fit your criteria, trying to stay in a meager one person salary budget, it's overwhelming. And it's not like our wants/needs are excessive either. We want a house with at least 3 bed, 2 bath, 1500+ sq ft, decent size back yard (I imagine myself telling the kids to go outside and play), decent neighborhood with sidewalks (you wouldn't believe how hard it is to find sidewalks), close to freeways/MAX (for Derek's work), and close-ish to shopping (so I don't waste too much gas). It's not like I'm looking for a granite surround on my jacuzzi tub inside my spacious master suite or something; I want real things.

We have been out twice house hunting. I have (for many months now) extensively searched the areas and found certain neighborhoods and general areas that I really like. On our second time hunting, we found 2 houses that we liked. One was 1300 sq ft, but it was totally finished inside (including a brand new kitchen). It was pretty. The second one was 2100sq ft, but it needed work inside and out but has great bones. We thought long and hard and realized we would need to have some room to grow and realized the large house fit all our criteria and then some, so we put a bid on it (we did this Monday). By today (Tuesday) we found out there are 2 more offers on the table (basically meaning top one wins and we are probably not the top--we should know in a couple days). Well, I guess it's back to the drawing board. I've been searching for more houses and found 2 more to go see, blah. I know that with the Spring coming soon, there will be many more houses coming on the market, so I need to be patient and just wait for the "right" house to come. 

I will update this when we find out more, or maybe when I have news to tell. 

I don't mean to sound glum or anything. This experience is an exciting one, but its also nerve-racking at the same time. I am however really looking forward to having some room to move around--real soon. :)