House Photos

So I can't stand it anymore! I have to post pictures of my house! Obviously, these are pictures with the current owner's stuff inside. I look at these pictures like, all day every day just imagining what I'm going to do to the inside! I can't make up my mind on anything! Ha!

 The outside...

 The amazing kitchen! I'm in love with it. I love that it's big, I love the high ceiling, and I love the open cabinets! I also love the stainless steel appliances!

 When you first walk in the door and look to the left, this is what you see. I guess it's the "formal" sitting area? Ha! I plan on putting my piano where that black book shelf is. I think I'm going to buy a sleeper sofa to put where the have that couch. It will be nice to have an extra bed! And then I want to buy a chair or something for the right side.

 This is the dining room! I already have a dining room table, so I just need to get a rug I suppose. And decide what to hang on the walls!

 These are the beautiful french doors that go out to the back yard! Can you see the built in book shelf next to the bar that looks into the kitchen? I love that book shelf!

 This is the master bedroom. It's huge! I love the color of the walls, so I will probably leave that!

 The back yard! I think it's the perfect size. Gus and Julio are going to LOVE having a backyard!

 This is the den and bar area. I already have two extra chairs for my dining room table, so I plan on putting them there.

The den! I love the fireplace. I am going to buy a rug and two couches for this area I think!

What do you think?? I think it's adorable! I can't wait to get into it and make it MINE! :-D

Master Bedroom

I'm currently obsessed with designing my new house.

I'm also obsessed with the chevron pattern. And the color yellow.

SO... I'm going to throw all my ideas on here. This is mainly so I will remember what I'm thinking/planning. Also, if anyone wants to donate to the new Heather bedroom fund, you just let me know.

Here is a picture of my room the way it is right now. The area to the left is pretty big, so I want to put two chairs there eventually. I really love the color of the walls, so I'm trying to plan something that goes with the wall colors.

This is what I want to do with my master.

I love this bedskirt from Etsy, but I would want it in yellow. It's $100 though, and that's a lot for a bedskirt!

This lampshade is also from Etsy. I would want two of them! At $65 a piece, I think I need to try to make my own! Ha!

I also love this rug from Urban Outfitters. It's currently back ordered, but hopefully they get them in soon!

I would want to do a canvas like this, but in yellow. And paint a circle in the middle that is gray, and put my monogram in the circle! It would then hang over my bed.

I love love love love love this chair from Urban Outfitters. I want two of them, in gray, to put to the left of my room!!! Considering they are $279 a piece though, these may have to wait. I'm in love with them though!!

For my bedspread, I want to make a duvet cover that is just plain gray I think. And then make some gray and yellow chevron pillows to throw on there, like the two in the corners from Etsy.

What do you think? Too much chevron?? Maybe so...

If all else fails, I'm going with option #2. Which I'm also in love with....

I'm SO READY to be in my house!!

LIFE

The house process seems to be going well. My mortgage has moved into the next step, so that's well on it's way. The inspection is over. I made a list of things I needed for the new house- washer & dryer, refrigerator, guest room furniture, patio furniture, and new couches. Through a few different circumstances, I have ended up with all of the above (for FREE!) except for the new couches and a table for the patio! Originally the couches were a future purchase, but now I'm thinking I may be able to purchase them sooner rather than later. I'm about to write my LAST full month rent check to the apartments! Next will me writing checks to pay off my MORTGAGE! I feel like such an adult! :)

Life outside of house buying has been busy, as always.

Friday night we had a jewelry party with some friends. I was the hostess, so with my hostess rewards I got some cool stuff! I think I ended the night with two new necklaces, earrings, and a ring. I can't wait to get them in the mail! After the party, I went to dinner with John. Then John and I came back to my apartment and watched "Date Night". He hadn't seen it, and I think it's pretty funny! I think he enjoyed it :)

Saturday I was in a faculty basketball tournament. We were a lot better than I thought we would be! We ended up losing by 10 in the first game, but we played our hearts out and had a lot of fun.

That afternoon I went shopping with Cali. I got 6 new pairs of pants and 2 dresses... all for $175! I love good deals. That night I went to dinner with Ashley, Kat, Ian, Alex, and Garrett and then we just went out to different bars in Dallas. After I got tired of bar hopping, I went over to David's and played RISK with David, Cali, and Katie. I was terrible, but I had fun. :) It was overall a good Saturday!

Sunday was church, followed by a pool day with my girlies. It was so pretty out and so relaxing. Like, amazing. I hope to do it again this weekend! That night I went to get a drink with Val and meet her new boy. He was funny and I think he's a good fit for her! It was fun. That night I went to bed EARLY because I was exhausted from a busy weekend!

Yesterday was a long day at work. I was so glad when it was over. After work, I went home and cooked dinner. John hadn't planned on coming over, but when he heard I had had a bad day, he headed over to make it better. He really is a sweetheart. :) I cooked Rotel Chicken Spaghetti. It's like, my favorite meal! John brought one of his dogs over-- Ruger (Ive decided to call him Rue though!)-- and he's HUGE compared to my pups! But the three dogs had fun chasing each other around my tiny apartment. I can't wait to have a backyard they can run in!! (SOON!)

Tonight Holly and I are cooking dinner together and catching up on TV shows. Tomorrow night we have a bible study dinner and Thursday night I'm going out with Johnny boy again. Friday will be friends night, and Saturday will (hopefully) be a relaxing day by the pool followed by a double date with Katie & Scott. Living for the weekends, for sure! We have state testing this week, so it's just going to be a LONG and DRAINING week! I can't wait for it to be over!! :) Hope you all have a great week!

Summary of My Week:

Paperwork for a house also takes up so much time. Is it weird that I'm kind of enjoying it though?? I get all excited when it's time to sit down and look over paperwork or get more paperwork together. Also, I'm super thankful for a dad who makes home insurance picking easy!! I would never have been able to understand all the different rates and plans without his help! I'm so ready to be a homeowner!

ALSO, I went to bed at 9:00 last night. If that doesn't show you how tired I've been, well, I don't know what will!

Tonight I'm going to see the early viewing of "The Hunger Games" with Ty. I'm so excited! Tomorrow I'm hosting a jewelry party at my apartment for a friend from 6-8. After that, I'm getting single celebratory drinks with Jesse. Saturday I'm playing in a basketball tournament with my school... as soon as we lose a game, I will be headed to the pool with my girlies!! Should be a fun and exciting weekend! I'm definitely looking forward to it all. :)

Hunger Games- Early Viewing

I am SO EXCITED!!!

Ty is one of my best friends here in Dallas. He is an accountant for C*inemark! They are giving the people at their corporate office tickets to an early viewing of "The Hunger Games"-- and he gets to bring TWO friends!

It's Thursday night at 7:00! Ty asked me to go as one of his friends, and I'm bringing my friend Amy with me. I am so excited!!! I'm trying to decide if I have time to re-read the book before Thursday!!! :) :) :)

Spring Break Wrap Up!

Spring Break 2012 is officially over. I'm back at work and ready to go! We are wrapping up our current project today and tomorrow and launching a new one on Thursday. This next one is going to be a lot of work, but I think it's really going to put my students and I in a "spring" mood! I will share more details about that project as we go!

Spring Break was super relaxing and super stressful all at the same time. Here are the highlights:

-I went house shopping.

-I found a house and got a contract on it.

-I started the piles of paperwork and phone calls that apparently come with buying a house.

-My grandmother passed away so we had a last minute 30 hour trip to Birmingham.

-Lots of time spent at happy hours with friends.

-Saw "Undefeated" with Ty- it was AMAZING. GO SEE IT.

Whew! Busy week. I am so exhausted from the trip home to Alabama and CAN'T WAIT to sleep in Saturday. Too bad it's only MONDAY!!

Hope you all have a GREAT week back at work!

stressed!

Buying a house can be stressful! So many steps, so much paperwork, so much money!!!! Especially when you are trying to get it done at the same time as you are trying to get home for a funeral!

However, at the end of the day, I absolutely cannot wait to be a homeowner!! This will all be worth it soon!!!

Heaven gains another angel...

My mawmaw met Jesus this afternoon. As much as we will miss her here, I am very glad that she isn't suffering anymore. I'm flying home Saturday morning and the funeral is Saturday afternoon at 2. Please keep our family in your prayers!

Holly and I with our Mawmaw Kidd, who died last January, and Mawmaw Glenda, who died today. We will always remember them both!

Contract

We reached an agreement on the house! I just signed my part and sent it off. Tomorrow I'll go and drop checks off at places and I just scheduled the inspection for Saturday! If all goes as planned, we will close on April 20th. They have asked for me to lease it back to them for a few days, which means I would be moving in on April 28th! That gives me two weeks to move stuff over to the new house and clean up the apartment. I can't believe it! I'm going to be a HOMEOWNER soon!

As exciting as this all is, there IS a part of me that is missing my mom even more than normal. The only reason I'm able to afford a home right now is because she passed away. There is so much going on in the Harwood family right now, and I know she would so enjoy being here for all the different excitement-- me buying a house, Holly getting ready to plan a wedding, Chase graduating highschool, along with lots of other things. These are the times she lived for- the times to live life with her kids. I miss her so much. I can only pray that I use this house to keep her memory alive.

Life outside of homebuying...

Although looking at houses, preparing things for mortgages, home searching, and being addicted to pinterest for home ideas HAS been taking up most of my time lately, there are other exciting things going on in my life! So I thought I'd do an update post on what's been going on lately!

Last Friday night, I went to happy hour at Ian's patio. Ian is one of my best friends in Dallas-- I couldn't say how much I adore that kid! And patio parties are my favorite. We then headed to dinner. After that, I went to Plano to stay with Lacey and Charlie! We had a slumber party. :) Saturday was Lacey's birthday, so I took her and Charlie bear to lunch. We then went fabric shopping, and then headed back home and played in the back yard with Charlie for awhile. That kid is so wonderful. I can't imagine a better way to spend an afternoon then pushing him in his swing, sliding with him, and just running around the backyard laughing. He makes my heart SO happy! That night I went to dinner with Lacey and Charlie too. It was a fun, simple way to spend her birthday! I was super glad to have a day with them since Baron was out of town. :) Sunday I went to church, napped, and went to Will and Alex's soccer game. They lost, but we still had a lot of fun!

This past week was a fairly busy one. I had stuff going on every night, and it felt like the week was never going to end! But I feel like weeks are typically like that right before spring break. It finally ended, and another weekend was upon us!

Friday afternoon I had happy hour with the girls at Chuy's. I am so blessed with friendships in this city. My friends are the funniest, most amazing women in the world. After dinner, we invited the boys over and watched the new "Footloose" at our place. After the movie, we just sat around and talked and goofed off. I could go on and on about how amazing my friends are, but if you read my blog, you should already know how I feel about them!

Saturday was a day full of house searching. You can read about that in my previous post!

Yesterday was church and then more house searching. After house searching, I took a quick nap and then headed up to Alex and Will's soccer game again. They lost, again, but we still had fun. :) Then we all went to Kona for Zack's going away party. He is moving to Oklahoma today. :( :( :( I'm super sad about this, but not as sad as I'm sure Holly is. It will be a test for their relationship, and I pray that they pass it because I love that boy with my sister!! After dinner, we went to Ian's for more hang out time. Seriously, my friends are the best.

Today I'm spending the day by the pool with some friends and some margaritas! Tonight I'm hanging out with my sweet friend Valerie. Tomorrow night, I'm catching a movie with Ty, which I'm excited about. I haven't seen that boy in a long time!

And if you could keep my grandmother in your prayers, it's greatly appreciated. She had a stroke last week and has regressed daily. Hospice told my dad yesterday that she could go at any moment, so please keep my family in your prayers as they deal with that loss, make arrangements, and the rest of us plan to fly home. Thanks! :)

We found it!

Saturday was a rainy day, but we headed out anyway to begin the house search. (When I saw "we", I mean me, Holly, Kevin, and Alicean!) We looked at about 8 different houses. I was able to veto three right away. The other five were all really nice though! We then narrowed it down to three, but we kept going in circles about their pros and cons. There was one house Holly and Ali really liked, but it had a tiny master bath. There was one house Kevin really liked, but it was huge and I just didn't feel like I needed that big of a house. Then there was one house that I really liked that no one else liked. Saturday night I was just really overwhelmed with all the options. I had no idae how to make a decision!

Sunday morning I woke up and realized there was one house that I loved in the pictures that we didn't go see on Saturday. So I texted Alicean and she got it set up, and we headed there after church. And we all fell in love. It's perfect. 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms. It has a beautiful landscaped yard. A red front door. (I told John last week that I wanted a red front door!) You walk in and it has a beautiful sitting area. A huge, gorgeous kitchen. Vaulted ceilings in the den. A fenced in backyard with a patio. A big two car garage. Two big spare bedrooms. A beautiful master suite. (With a big closet!) Beautiful floorings throughout the house and beautiful paint on the walls. We were all in love. This was it. This was my house! We all agreed on it.

So this morning I put an offer on it! And now I'm nervously waiting for their response and for negotiations. I want this house! I am praying and hoping that it all works out. Cross your fingers for me! I'm not vey good at this waiting part. If you know me, you know I have NO patience!!

I'll post pictures of the house soon, if it all works out!! Trust me, it's gorgeous!!!

Excitement

I am so excited about tomorrow! Tomorrow I officially start the search for a house. I have been pre-approved for a mortgage at two banks, so I'm ready to go! I am so excited, but also nervous! I hope that I find the perfect house for me!

Pinterest has been my new best friend lately. There are so many things on there that I want to do in my future home! Some examples...

Baskets for towels... I think these are adorable!

An office closet... this is genius! (However, I have way too many clothes and would never REALLY be able to give up an entire closet just for an office!)

This amazing craft room in an old TV stand! I NEED to make one of these!! Does anyone have an old TV stand like this laying around?!

This pallet table for the patio. I think it's adorable!

I love the idea of using two curtain showers for the curtain. I think it looks so elegant!

And I am also a little obsessed with the idea of a book shelf as a door! Isn't this amazing?! I don't know how to get one, but I love it.

Of course I have some other ideas floating around. Like I want my guest room to be a guest room/craft room. I would love to find a houndstooth bedspread for the bed with a crimson bedskirt, and then hang my ActionSportsArt in there. And then seriously somehow make one of those craft stands to go in there. I would want it to be black, not yellow. Those are just a few ideas floating around my mind! Obviously I won't be able to do all of these things right when I buy a home, but I'm seriously looking forward to making my new home exactly what I want over the years!

Now, to just find the home....

Step One- Prequalifying!

So since this is my first adventure in buying a home, I thought it would be fun to record the process here in my blog! I'm super excited about this process.

My sister in law is a realtor in Austin, and I think that without her knowledge I would be way too scared to do this! I am using her realty company, but the one that is based in Dallas. Alicean is helping out in the process though, and I am so thankful for her guidance!!

So far, I have started looking at different homes online in the area that I like. I really like some of them! Some things that I really want in a home is 3 bedrooms and 2 baths, an updated kitchen, and a nice big fenced in backyard! I have found a few that I am really excited about seeing. We are going Saturday after lunch to start looking!!

Last night, I sat down and filled out all of the paper work for pre-qualifying for a mortgage. I applied with two banks, and to be honest, I was super nervous about it! I haven't bought much on credit, so I wasn't sure if I'd be pre-approved or not. One of the banks just emailed me and said I'm pre-approved though! Yay! That makes me even more excited!!

Some of you may be curious as to how I'm suddenly able to buy a house. If you know anything about me, you know that I've wanted a house for a long time. Like, probably since I moved into my dorm room in college. Ha! My mom passed away when I was 18, and she left her money to us. However, she made it so that we couldn't take the money until we were 25. She wanted us to use the money as a down payment on our first home. Well, the time has come where I am about to turn 25! Which is how I am really able to afford this at this moment in time. There are some other reasons as to why I've decided to do it now, but that's the major one.

Mine and Holly's lease is up on May 9th. My goal is to have a house by then! That's super soon, I know. But I'm praying that God leads me to the right house and that it all works out! Holly will be moving to Oklahoma sometime in the next year (I haven't mentioned that in my blog yet! I will do a post on that soon!) Anyway, she will be my roomie in my new house until she decides to move to Oklahoma. This will work really well for her, because she won't have to worry about getting out of a lease whenever she decides to move. And it works really well for me, because she will pay me rent that will help pay my mortgage in my first months as a HOMEOWNER!

Since my mom left me this money, it's even more special for me. I would trade this money for my mom any second of any day. But I'm very thankful to be able to use the money she left me for the reasons she wanted me to use it. I hope to find a home that reminds me of her. And I then want to use this home as a way to show hospitality to others, because that would honor my mom in so many ways.

So that's where I am right now! Saturday I will be looking at some houses. I will post more then! This is such an exciting process and I can't wait to have my own home. I am seriously ecstatic!!

Home is where the heart is!

Big news!!!

I've decided to plant my roots in Dallas and become a home owner!! Long story of how it all came about, but I'm hoping to be an official homeowner by the beginning of summer!

Let the search begin! I'll keep you all updated. :) :) :)