It all feels so meant to be.

We closed on the house yesterday. Now that the home-buying process is over with, in hindsight it doesn't seem so bad. Hopefully we'll be able to say the same thing about the next two weeks, once hindsight has arrived.

When we submitted our offer, we included a homebuyer letter, to tell the seller how much we loved this house. In fact, my advice in this competitive market would be to always submit your offer with a personal homebuyer letter, we think it made all the difference. When we met her, we learned she had saved our letter, and she told us she had been sharing it with all her friends. This closing was a casual, very friendly one. There were hugs. This was a good experience. Justin and I love this home. The seller seems delighted to have found a young family to sell it to--apparently she had rejected selling it to some flippers. {Serves 'em right.}

We take possession on Saturday, and from there it's paint paint paint, sand sand sand, stain stain stain, finish finish finish, then finally, MOVE. We have our work cut out for us; all of this should really be done before we move in. The hardwood floors are worn in places, and really the only good time to do such a thing is before anyone or any furniture is moved into the place.
Justin's parents are fantastic DIYers. My father-in-law spent two days last week cleaning up our neglected rental yard, while my mother-in-law painted Violet's room back to white. All the grandparents have been doing a lot of babysitting. I can't imagine not having our family here!

So that's where we stand now! Homeowners and up to our necks in projects. Already? Already.

I know exactly what I want to do with the living room and dining room, and since that requires painting on the ceiling area some, we also should/need to get that done {very quickly} before refinishing the floors. SO, I'll be rushing to get a good paint job done on Saturday afternoon while Justin starts ripping up carpets in the master bedroom, and sanding the bedroom floors. Look at all the wood beams! Let's just say, if you're a big fan of woodgrain...you're about to become very put out with me. Sorry. Just be glad I'm not painting the floors.
If anyone is reading all this and thinking, "Wow, I'd love to be in on that! I wish they would invite me {and ten of my friends} over to help!" then by all means, do join us. No really, you won't be imposing at all! No, I mean it, we insist. We'll even supply pizza and beer.

Heheh...

Oh, and if anyone in the Denver area needs a referral for an AWESOME Realtor and a just-as-AWESOME loan officer, we're the people to ask. We're pretty sure God was watching out for us even on those decisions, how we met our Realtor seemed kismet. We also know of some amazing programs that Denver has for first-time home buyers, so feel free to ask. In hindsight, this whole process could not have gone more smoothly if we'd been on ice skates.

Thanks for all the encouragement :-)

Oh, one last thing. I tried to do a video blog last night with Justin and me. This video, I kid you not, was the best one we got. That's not saying much, considering I recorded most of it upside down after getting confused with the screen rotation. Watch it if you want. I don't think I have a future career in video blogging. {And if you watch it and wonder what a Smeg is, see here.} Also, I really did do a study on fracking {aka hydraulic fracturing} last night too, I'd even say I got a crash course on the subject.

Cheers,
Heather