family showing

on friday night, our second day of home ownership, we had both sets of our parents over to see the house. it was awesome to see what they thought of our purchase!

my mom was really excited. she kept talking about how kid-friendly the house is. she even pointed out a spot in the basement that she thought would be a perfect place to "home school." i'm pretty sure she was kidding. but then again, maybe not. :)

afterward, we took them out for some yummy mexican food. it was fantastic. when we left, ben and i took our inaugural trip to home depot and headed back to the house to start the work. i'll write more about what we did later. but for now, here are just a few photos from the house. there are more to come. and remember, these are the "before" images!

our very own fixer

we bought a home today! wow. feels good to say that.

yup, we closed on our very own fixer. and i really do mean that. we purchased the home out of foreclosure. although the previous owners left us with plenty of potential, not much of that potential has been "realized," if you know what i mean!

let me give you the details. the house has 4 bedrooms, 2 full baths, and is around 2700 square feet. in our estimation, that is huge! (that is about 3 times larger than the condo we are currently renting.)

so what are we going to do with all that space? that is what this blog is going to chronicle. i am planning to use this blog as a place to show before and after pictures, as well as give the dirty details as we rip up carpet, knock down walls, and paint until we are blue in the face.

but before i go any further, i want to stop and wave a verse over this entire experience. i was doing a beth moore study this summer, right when ben i were in the throes of house hunting. this verse stuck out to me then, and it is incredibly applicable now:

"unless the Lord builds the house,
those who build it labor in vain."
Psalm 127:1

ben and i are praying that the Lord would help us build up this house physically and spiritually - that it would be a place where family and friends are blessed, and where one day we could raise up children who love God and honor Him. so with that, thank you Lord for this home!

p.s. one more thing. after the closing, we didn't actually go to the house. i always envisioned us running up to the house after the closing and claiming it as "ours." but this is what the weather was like today, so the drive north seemed unlikely. it is minnesota, and it is the end of february!

and another p.s. to everyone who prayed for us: thank you!