All is Calm

I want to start off this post by getting something off my chest. I hope I dont make anyone mad Im really not trying to do that, I just want my feelings out there. Tim and I seem to be getting tons of flack over the house we are buying. Its coming from co-workers, some family members, and thank god its not coming from our friends. Those who know us best know how hard we have worked to be able to have what we have. I normally do not get this personal about our life but I need to get this off my chest bc I am not going to feel ashamed! Im damn proud of what we have accomplished!

Yes at one time Tims job was VERY generous with bonuses. Ill admit that. BUT we were smart with it! We saved almost all of it! When we needed a car we bought one but believe me they were not top of the line cars just get us to point A and B. We both admit we would not be where we are today w/out the generosity of his workplace and his success with the company. As everyone is now well aware of this economy SUCKS! So as you would expect the bonuses went away and so DID the pay raises! Thats right no pay raises at all for Tim in the last 2 years. We just made it work.....bc we had the bigger picture and goals in mind. So for those out there who continue to try and make us feel bad or call us names like "money bags" or snide comments like "we know who makes the big bucks" please just stop. We both worked our tails off to get where we are and this is not a home we are just buying to sell in a few years. If we have it our way we will grow old in this home. That is the reason we bought what we did bc we knew it was long term!

So let me get a few more things straight....since there are people out there who seem to think we have it all!

• We do not have a lake view
• We do not live on the lake
• Due to this economy we got this home very moderately priced and are fortunate enough to come in with some equity.
• Even though it looks like a large lot its not, its under an acre.
• It wasnt excalty what we wanted. Its still your moderate 3br/2.5b home. We were lucky the basement was finished.

Im not downplaying this house and how much we love it. Its just the ignorance of some people that have made my skin crawl the past few days. We arent bragging about anything we are just excited that in this economy we were able to sell our home, find a great deal and still come out with some of our nest egg. Im sorry but I dont see anything wrong with that...IMO I hope AT takes all the lessons he can get from his father about money and he can have the same life. There Im done. Ive said my piece....its just sad I had to say it at all!

So onto the excitement! We finally sold our house, and made an offer right away on the home we found in Trinity. We were under time constraints so we waited by the phone for almost a week with the final deicison that the seller didnt want to sell his home afterall! Even after he let us back in for a final walk through! What a jerk, I hope he sits on that house forever once it goes back on the market.

It finally came down to the fact that he knows he has more money in that house than it was worth...doesnt everyone believe me we didnt make a killing off of the sale of our house. We JUST broke even! I thank my lucky stars that even happened. We werent willing to pay as high as he thought he could get so with time not on our side we walked away, and on our first trip out house hunting again we found the one!

Its not a locale I was interested in bc its so removed but really its not. I can still be to where I live now in 30m, and to work in less than 30m. It just seems so far out bc of all the back roads. But honestly we could be to Concord, Salisbury, GSO, or WS in under 45m depending on the location. Im going to have to get used to that but I will. It will just be something we do once a month or every other weekend instead of every weekend, meaning we will save a little green. I may get cabin fever but I have a lot of decorating I want to do over the next few months so that should keep me busy.

So onto the tour. Here is a front shot of the house/yard. The front is where most of our lot is. Its sloped and wooded in the back. We have a few plans for it in the years to come.


This is a view of the steps from the living room.


This is my fave part of the house besides all the windows. The fireplace has mantels on both sides, which is awesome its a focal point of both the living and dining rooms. I also love how the livng and dining rooms are not completely seperate from each other, its open.



Again LOVE all the windows. I really dont want to put any blinds or curtains up!


Next up is the kitchen, it flows nicely from the dining area. There are no granite counter tops "GASP!" yes I said it...the house isnt that fancy that we have granite too ;). It does however have a cook top stove and the oven and microwave are on the wall! Which to me is worth its weight in gold and I would trade granite counter tops for a wall oven anyday! LOVE it! As you see we need a fridge too, need to get on that quick. There is a bar which is nice.


Shot of the master and master bath. The master bath is showing 1 of the 2 sinks. We can finally co-exist in one bathroom together! Holly Crap! There is a better pic somewhere of the garden tub and view out the window. Its gorgeous! I may not be loving all the pines come fall though.


View of one of the upstairs bedrooms, this will be a guest room for now. And the upstairs 2nd bath. We plan to put AT in the smaller of the 2 rooms since it will be a nursery again one day and we wont have to move furniture ;)


Here is the finished basement. Its a pretty big room. But its sectioned off well. The first corner is a den area, then we may use the wall area as a bar and make bigger patio off the walk out basement area.


Here is a second view. The area where the foosball table is now is going to be my workout area. The double doors lead to the garage.

This is the back of the house, we have a screened in porch but no outside access. Its still nice but we will add to it later on to make it accessible to the basement area. Id love to have a grill out there but for now it can be down stairs. Some things will have to come later.


So for now we just pack and get ready for the move. We are shooting for the weekend of the 13th. We close on our current home a week from today so we have a lot to do! I may be absent till we get settled, but Ill share as many updates as I can. Thanks for all the support and well wishes it really means alot....even though I went on a tirade at the beginning of the post. It had to be said!

I will give you this peice of good news!! Im down in weight to 145.4!!!!! All the stress had something to do with it Im sure. But Im hoping with all this moving stuff I can stay on track eating wise and get below that 145.....bc once I get below a 5 or a 0 I seem to stay there! Oh and our trip to sunny MX is in less than 90 days!!!! We will both need that break once it gets here!