Brick by brick...

"I long, as does every human being, to be at home where I find myself." 
- Maya Angelou

To me, a house is not a home, until you've created many memories in it. I have mentioned it before that the Mr. and I just recently both our very first house. Granted, it is not the very first 'home,' we've had together but definitely, the one that will be our home for a long time. I look forward to creating many beautiful memories in this house in the many years to come. 

It was a journey when Tom and I decided to buy a house in the summer of last year. There were many unknowns and mostly, just the fear of commitment to buying and owning a house. Getting married and pledging ourselves to each other almost seem like a piece of cake. But, this was the next step... If we follow the children's nursery rhyme: "First comes loves, then come marriage.." Okay, maybe, it doesn't say anything about buying a house in the rhyme, but you have to provide for a place, a home, before "...come the baby, in a baby carriage." 

There was a lot of trepidation on my part and Tom's but also excitement. I've gone on many house hunting trips with my parents but never for a house of my own. It helped that we had a great realtor, who walked us through everything and answered our questions. She was very patient from answering our (ok, mostly mine) phone calls to emails sent out throughout the night. We must have seen over a hundred homes from condos to townhomes to single family homes throughout the summer until one house caught my eye. And, another caught the Mr's. 

Ladies, you know that feeling when you're trying on the 'dress' and you just know, that was it for me. I knew, right then and there, that the house that caught my eye was the ONE. Too bad, that the hubby did not agree with my choice. But, in every marriage is compromise- we decided to bid on both houses. We lost out on his favorite one, while we decided to back out of my favorite one. And, I was quite sad and discontent for awhile, a long while. There were many discussions, erhmmm, arguments on what he wants, what I want. But, all in all, it pretty much boiled down to which house both fit our needs. After many talks, we finally agreed on the house that I fell in love with and decided to offer again. Granted, the hubby is always going at his pace, slow and steady, but this time around, we just found out that the house I love was going to have an open house that weekend. Faster than lightning, we called out realtor and before the weekend rolled by, we were in contract. So much drama... 

But, all in all... the ending is a happy one, we got the HOUSE. And, now we are turning it into a home. We have been living in the house for several months now since we got it and slowly but surely, it is changing with every loving touch we apply to it.


These are some before pictures of the house before we did anything to it. Look at all that stark white walls. Very sterile looking. While, you can't really picture it in these photos, but the white paint was also a very glossy white paint. It made you feel like you were drowning in white. Too much white. The floors in both the living room and dining room are of wood and the kitchen has tile. And, the bedrooms have carpet. Both the backyard and the frontyard have fruit trees and flowers. (Hopefully, my green thumb won't kill any of them)
Picture of both the dining room and the kitchen
Picture of the fireplace in the living room from the dining room
Picture of the backyard
Hallway picture
Bathroom
One of the bedrooms
Front yard
So brick by brick, stone by stone, the Mr. and I will turn this house into our HOME. And, that my friends will be the start of an even grander adventure. 


P.S. 
For any first time home buyers out there, know what you want and don't compromise. And, remember- location, location, location. And, it also helps to have a great realtor. We found ours through a friend of mine and she works at Intero Real Estate. 

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