Wedding Dress Shopping

Shortly after Jon proposed, me and some girlfriends headed out to do one of the most special events of a girl's life: wedding dress shopping!

The dresses I had been trying on all day were all of a similar style. Kind of like this:



I knew exactly what I wanted and even found a dress I loved. Unfortunately this particular dress was out of my price range so we kept shopping, but I was sort of getting tired and a little frustrated when all of a sudden my fantastic bridesmaids produced a dress that was not anything like the ones I had already tried on. Although it was beautiful, I was hesitant to try it on because it wasn't really what I was looking for and wasn't the style I wanted.

Well, I tried it on and has a magical moment. Even though it wasn't what I set out looking for it was perfect. It gave me that special feeling, caused tears to come to my eyes and I just knew...

This is the dress I ended up with:



This is sort of what house hunting has been like for us. That's right, I said house hunting!

Although I never thought we'd get to a place where we can buy a house, God has been good to us (even though unfortunately so many homes are priced low because of the bad economy, which saddens us) and I am ready to move out of our delightful, although too small, rental.

After looking at lots of house we didn't like, and a couple we did like, it finally took us going back for a second visit for us to know which house we want to make an offer on.

It didn't have everything I wanted. Some examples are the bathrooms are 'old ladyish' and it is further from campus than we'd like.

It wasn't really one I was excited to 'try on'initially, but both times when we have been in this house I have had the same reaction that I did when I tried on my dress.

The second time we went, I actually teared up a little bit.

"This is our home" I thought.

Jon feels the same way...we can both just see ourselves living in this house and being happy there. It is a little dated in some areas and there are changes we want to make, but a friend told me that it is very special when you do those home improvement things because it just makes it more yours.

So, after Christmas we are planning on putting in an offer on our very first home!

This is scary for me because
1) it is a huge financial commitment. Money is the biggest area of anxiety for me, and to be honest most months we barely make it by the skin of our teeth.

2) it is a big commitment to Tucson. I am still hesitant to say that we are 'putting down roots' here. Buying a house will mean we have to stay in Tucson for at least a few more years.

But at the end of the day, we have discerned that God wants us to stay here for the time being and have felt his blessing in moving forward to buy a home.

We are praying that the buyer accepts the offer and that everything goes through. If not, well I guess we will have to keep 'dress shopping' :)

Here are some of the things I love about the house:
3 bedrooms. Right now Evangeline sleeps in our room, and I am SO READY to kick her out :)

Master bath. I just think it will be such a luxury to have our own bathroom, free from princess potty and bath toys and Thomas toothpaste.

Fire place. It does actually get pretty cold here in Tucson in the winter and a cozy fire place seems to make everything better!

Laundry inside the house. After having to put on shoes to do the laundry every day for the last 4.5 half years I am beyond thrilled by this feature!

The Backyard. It is not too big, there is a nice covered porch and patio, grass, and room for a garden! I haven't wanted to build a garden at our current house, knowing it was a temporary residence so I am quite excited about this.

665 extra square feet than what we have now! This doesn't include the laundry room and garage (yes, there is a garage!!!). Its not palatial by any means, but it will be perfect for our family.

I have been told by MANY people not to get emotionally attached to any home until the key is in our hands, so I am trying to put all this in God's hands.

But I am also really excited!