Can we move in yet?

We have been on pins and needles, wondering if buying this house was actually going to happen or not. I am posting these pictures because I think it's finally safe to say that it is. Almost. The appraisal was today and that is the final hurdle to get over. We think it will appraise well, but in this economy you just never know! We should know after the weekend how the appraisal went.

I love the style of the house. It has an Arts & Crafts kind of feel to it with its fixtures and arches. There is a long list of things that we want to do to it over the next 5 years. The basement is walkout with 2 large, awesome windows. So our big project will be to finish that. We will put a family room, another bathroom and 2 more bedrooms downstairs. Hopefully that will begin next spring with tax return money. I want to lay some tile, paint some bedrooms and add a few finishing touches. We will also build a deck someday. And, oh, am I excited to landscape! The last house we owned in MO we only lived in for 2 years, which was just long enough to decide what I wanted to do with the yard... and then we moved. I am so excited and grateful that we are going to be in one place for 5 whole years. I have a good friend who majored in landscape design that said she could help me decide what to plant where. It'll be wonderful!

Let me just say that location was really what sold this house to us. It is in a subdivision that is built around a small lake in 2 main phases. This house, our house, is the only house in the entiresecond phase. So pretty much, we have, ah, maybe 50 acres (?) all to ourselves. Granted, people could build all around us, but the chances of that happening within the next 5 years are pretty darn slim. We have a 1/2 acre lot too. And the land behind our lot isn't subdivided. We will very much enjoy the privacy. Very much.

Another great perk is that we have access to that little lake we can see from our front door. We will be looking for some canoes and kayaks on craigslist shortly!

We will close by June 18th, but hopefully a week or 10 days sooner. We feel so blessed to be able to buy this house and that everything has fell into place so far. We can feel the Lord's influence in our lives and we are very grateful that He has blessed us so abundantly.

For more pictures you can click here.