Homeownership Discoveries

I never, in a million years, thought that this is what my life would look like at age 22. Maybe 44, but not 22. We are homeowners. That fact is still settling in. Our home is unbelievably beautiful. Every part of it is like a dream. The kitchen cabinets and counters are perfect. The carpet is perfect. The fireplace is perfect. I have a garage. (I've never had a garage.)

Homeownership is a new adventure and I definitely am facing new challenges I've never faced before. I thought it'd be fun to come up with a list of the discoveries I've made so far since I signed my life away...

• Spiders! (Eek!) When we had our walk through I noticed a web with a few nests in the garage. I made a mental note to find the spider spray. Later, when we were moving in, one of the movers took a closer look at the web. Black widows. We have black widows! Sooooo, off to Lowe's to buy some spider spray. I've only seen one since, and it was dead.
• Weeds. Ugh. I never truly understood how frustrating weeds are. I've never even noticed them before. But every time I look in our front yard, all I can see are the weeds. Bought spray at Lowe's for that, too.
• Mud. That's the downside to living in a new construction. Our front yard has sod but our backyard is straw and seed. I didn't think it was a big deal until I took Misty outside and realized the danger our new carpet was in. My solution: little rain boots for Misty. Cheesy, yes, but it's way easier than trying to wipe off every trace of mud from her paws.
• Chinese. Super random, I know, but we discovered a great Chinese place down the road! Their servings are HUGE and they have lunch specials, so Michael and I can eat for $6 total!
• Stay-at-home moms. Also random. Grocery shopping in this part of time isn't as easy at 11am as I'm used to. There are so many stay-at-home moms with the same idea that you're not really beating the crowds after all.
• Harris Teeter. The only grocery store around. I've always avoided them because I've heard that they're expensive, but I had no choice. (Target has no selection in groceries, btw. Don't bother.) Surprisingly, there were a lot of sales. Like 3 for $11 12-pack sodas. And, they cater to you like you're royalty (might be slightly exaggerating there). Maybe it's Harris Teeter, maybe it's the area I live in now, but they apologized that I had to wait in line when I was the next person in line. They unload and reload your cart and push it over so it's convenient for you. I'm not used to this! (But I can certainly get used to it!)
• Corn fields. I can't drive anywhere without driving through one. Literally. The neighborhood is in the middle of a cornfield. I drove to Monroe and they were everywhere there too.
• Noise. Another downside of new construction. Just because your house is done doesn't mean that the machines are gone and the noise is gone. All day long our cul-de-sac is full of white construction vans and trucks. Hopefully within the next month it should settle down though. Just in time for the construction behind us to begin.

This new adventure is thrilling yet frustrating, exciting yet stressful, and worth every penny. And now our new dining set and guest bedroom set have just come in and all I can do is praise my Lord. I didn't do anything to deserve this. I didn't do anything to earn it. I have no idea how this happened. Yet here I am. Basking in His love. When Michael and I first got married we thought we were 5 years away from buying a house. But God knew the desires of our hearts. He knew exactly what we wanted and followed through on every bit of it. Without us asking. Why? I've asked myself why God chose to bless us a thousand times and this is my answer. I think He's just showing off a little. He's just showing what He can do, just because He can. And, plus, He likes it when we give Him glory, too. All I can do is praise Him for what He's done. Just stand back and praise.

I'd also like to give a huge thanks to everyone who's supported us through this process. Especially to Michael's parents, who let us stay at their house for a month and a half after our apartment lease was up and shove all of our stuff into their garage. And thank you to everyone who helped us write the Bible verses on the wood before our house was done.