busy march and fingers crossed

1. *phew* march was a busy one! we counted that we were home for 8 days- 8 days! less for mike since he works off shore. 

2. went back to indiana to go house hunting. we wanted a newer home but still had a budget to keep.  we also planned for renovations within that budget if need be.  after looking at 13 houses on monday, we were kinda discouraged.

3. i told mike about a house that i loved in a neighborhood that i loved and we drove past it. our budget got raised! (see how i did that? took him to some crappy houses first- ha!)

4. funny thing, that house ended up being our 3rd favorite. 

 5. i found this house driving by and looked it up on zillow. (photos courtesy of zillow)  i was kinda dishearten when i saw the inside (very outdated)  and that it was a foreclosure.  they did put in new, dark, hardwood floors [love] and new carpet.  they are also going to finish the half bath in the basement.

 6. but once i saw the outside, i knew mike would love it too!

7. and he did!  the deck is brand new and the yard is big enough for some fun get togethers around the fire pit or a friendly game of corn hole.

8. the pond or "lake" is also usable for paddle boating and kayaking.

9. pretty much all the bathrooms need new everything but cabinets. i'm hoping to just get new doors for them and get them painted a new color.  same with the kitchen cabinets. the countertops are perfect.  we also plan on doing the smaller bathrooms ourselves.  just the vanities and toilets.

10. unfortunately it's not ours yet and that makes me very anxious. [my heartbeats a mile a minute just thinking about it]

while we could put an offer on it we don't want to risk the paper work getting done faster than normal and be stuck with yet another house payment. (foreclosures have no contingency on them and paperwork usually takes longer than normal but i can see with our (non) luck, it would get done right away.)

siding and my instagram is my only friend

 the old roof being taken off

 don't know how those guys can just stand up there- so scary!

 the mess and see our falling siding?

 the new roof -almost done

 old siding off and new siding on or as they call it hardi plank

the backside getting a make over

1. the siding guys fixed and repaired all parts that were falling apart in the front and back of the house. the major part was the back.

2. they're already here to start painting which means they are almost done!

3. i had a color picked out but the guy forgot to save it so they could color match it. [i had mixed 2 paint colors together.]

4. so we went with one that i thought was the color, ended up being the dark color i had originally wanted. guess its a sign.

5. its called texas leather and i found it on pinterest.

6. been a little homesick again. reading what everyones doing on Facebook does that. 

7. and having instagram be your only friend doesn't help much.

8. last friday we did go to a showcase of homes since i had 2 free tickets. [mike got lunch out of it so he was happy]

9. we liked 3 out of 12 homes and of course my favorites were the craftsman style and beach home.

10. hopefully we will be able to build one [craftsman style] by the water

my simple dream...

1. i want this house. i think it would be perfect for us. [its already pending with continue to show]

2. it still has 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms with a pool.

3. i think its a little closer to mike's work but he will still have traffic to fight.

4. its closer to the galleria and downtown area for things to do, places to eat and shop.

5. and it would make going to galveston easier too.

6. and i'm dreaming that it might have that small town feeling that i want. you know, where neighbors actually stand outside with beers in hand talking about how much fun the neighborhood cook out went.

7. and kaylee's friends are riding their bikes or coming over to swim like all day long.

8. and staying for dinner and to watch movies outside.

9. "forcing" me to bake cookies and brownies and to have juice boxes on hand and junk goodies in the pantry.

10. that is my simple dream.