Saying "Yes" (Part 1)

I should probably rewind all the way back to August- even before starting my blog- to the house hunting process.  And actually maybe even rewind back to November 2009 when Ed & I moved into a cute condo together here in Bristol....

Upon moving in together we knew our relationship would go one of two ways- 1.) We would realize that we couldn't live together, hated each others guts for never putting the toilet seat down, taking hours to get ready, or fighting over who got stuck  had the pleasure of taking our sweet precious Weezer out on cold nights

You know I like any excuse to add a picture of sweet B.B., and yes, she is wearing a tutu!

or 2.) We would figure out that we can live together, love spending countless hours watching the Food Network side-by-side, enjoy waking up next to each other's morning dragon breath & greasy hair, and continue to fall madly in love with one another ;)

I'm not gonna lie, those first two months may have been more like #1, it was tough figuring out each other's living habits and figuring out that fine line of actually being good roommates; nevertheless, strengthening our relationship when we were arguing over whose turn it was to take out the trash or unload the dishwasher.  Luckily, we weren't delusional when taking this major step in our relationship.  We knew it was going to be tough, there were going to be days when we just needed a break to spend time with friends, quiet time to ourselves, or occasionally taking a step back and saying "WOAHHH! it's dishes in the sink, NOT the end of the world" so after the transitional period, and a S.W.O.T. Analysis (no joke, I was a business major) we figured out how to make it enjoyable and agreed that we wanted to stick it out for the long-haul! (Say what you want about living together before marriage- it works for us- it may not work for you, to each their own!)

However, after a few months of paying rent and listening to the 3 & 10 year old boys next door charge up & down the stairs at all hours of the night we knew come Nov. 2010 when our contract was up, we needed to move.  We needed space to ourselves where I had the ability to paint, hang pictures, and be creative with our home (no joke, we had predetermined nails in the center of each wall as a designated picture spot in each room).  We thought about renting a house- with a more easy going landlord- but, renting options in B-town are few and far between and with interest rates at all time lows (hello 3.9%), the thought of building equity at a lower price per month than rent, plus a gracious gift from my grandparents estate, home ownership became something we thought about more and more.

Next Up, the house hunting process... more pictures...I swear!