Our new house?

After many hours of house hunting this is still our favorite house.  Its a 2,600 square foot home, has four bedrooms, three and a half baths and would be built brand new on a large lot.

The just dropped the price by $15,000.00 so it is now comfortably in our price range.  We never really thought about building a house but we LOVE this home.  Luckily we have the time to really think and pray about such a huge decision. 

In the meantime enjoy the tour.

When you walk into the house on the left is the study. 

We would add french doors and turn it into Jordan's office. 

The house then opens up to the family room/dining room and kitchen.

The pantry.  Love!

I love having the dining room in its own area but still open to the rest of the house. 

The Master bedroom

The master bath that has a walk in closet.

 Upstairs has a loft which we would use as a playroom and then turn into a theater when our kids are older. 

So weird to think that far into the future!

 Closer look of the loft

First bedroom upstairs has a bathroom right outside of the room. 

We would use this as our guest bedroom until we needed it for a bedroom. 

 On the other side of the house upstairs are two more bedrooms that share a Jack and Jill bathroom. 

View from the loft.

 View coming down the stairs

 The backyard has a covered pateo with a fan.  Perfect for playing games outside at night. 

We still have a lot more homes to look at but always seem to keep coming back to this home.   It will be interesting to see if this is our home or if something even better is waiting for us. 

House hunting can be stressful but this is so much fun!         

Camel back Mountain

Saturday while I was at work Jordan hiked to the top of Camel back Mountain.  He said that it was an easy hike but really crowded with a lot of Oregon and Auburn fans in town for the national championship game.  I am looking forward to hiking this year and was a little sad I couldn't go because of work.  Blah.         

In the meantime I enjoyed Jordan's hiking adventure narrated by pictures...

Happy New Year

For New Years Eve we went to Texas Roadhouse with the Echols.  We thought it sounded like a good idea and apparently so did the rest of Arizona.  There were so many people there!  Luckily Shawn had called ahead and put our names on the waiting list so it only took us about ten minutes to get a table while everyone around us waited over an hour.  I was very happy we had called ahead.  Everyone got steak and potatoes while I had BBQ chicken.  It was so good!  A great way to begin our night.

After dinner we played games. 

We played a few rounds of our favorite game Bang and then catch phrase.  It started out as couple against couple but quickly became too competitive so we switched to girls vs boys instead.  A much better idea when playing with husband and wives.      

At midnight we quickly lit off fireworks and drank sparkling cider.  It was so cold outside that night!  We are not used to anything below 70 degrees so having 30 degree nights is quite the adjustment for us.   

The next morning Jordan took me to Shawn's brother house so I could see how to use a potato gun.  The drive home was rather entertaining.  I told Jordan that I really tried to enjoy myself because I know that he enjoys doing things like...shooting potato guns.  I just don't get it.  I find it boring and pointless.  You shoot a potato into the air to see how high it will go.  Really?? 

We just grew up differently.  He grew up shooting potato guns with his brothers and learning about cars with his Dad.  I grew up playing house with my sisters and going Saturday shopping with my Mom.  Luckily our differences work for us and even if we don't always enjoy the activity we are doing, we love spending time together.  It will be interesting to see how our children grow up and to watch them discover their own interests.              

With the start of the New Year we are excited with what is in store for the upcoming months. 

We plan on buying our first home this September and have already started looking at homes.  We are debating between building or buying an established home.  Luckily we have a few months to look, pray and decide before making such a huge decision. 

We are continuing with fertility treatments and hope to become pregnant this year and are anxiously awaiting the day we start our family.  

And with my new job we should be able to meet our goal of becoming almost completely debt free this year!  

We are so grateful for the many blessings we have received over the last year and look forward to a happy new year.