It doesn't feel likes its been 25 days since I last posted but I guess it has!

When I last wrote I showed a pretty poor quality picture of our new house that was taken through my car window on a random drive-by of the house after we bought it but before it was officially ours. And unfortunately I haven't taken a better one yet.

Things that I normally blog about but that got totally overlooked this month because of all of the moving craziness were Mothers Day and our Anniversary. I feel like those are events that I have to write down so I can look back and remember them so here's just a quick recap of them both:

We found a house!

You guys, this house hunting has had its ups and downs. We had been to see more than 10 houses by the time we found this one. Mark was available to see it one day on his lunch break when I wasn't able to meet him so I said you know what, you go see it and if you think its worth it then we'll schedule a time for me to come out. That was the weariness of house hunting setting in! So Mark went to see it and loved it right away so of course I came out. I was a little hesitant - afraid to get my hopes up - but when I walked in I fell in love. The high ceilings and open floor plan was a sight for sore eyes that had only been seeing walls to knock down in other houses.

That weekend we had our parents come out and take a look at the property. We value their opinions and wisdom and we're so grateful that they're willing to lend us their eyes and thoughts.

We put the offer on it that Monday and it was rejected. There was some back and forth and we were holding strong at our initial offer because we felt it was our highest and best. Eventually they said they couldn't accept that offer. We were disappointed but I looked at Mark after he got off the phone and told him I had a feeling that we weren't done with that house yet. We gave it over to the Lord and knew that either that was the house for us and it end up working out or there was something better.

A few days later they contacted us again with a new, lower counter offer and we agreed.

We've waited for the home inspection and appraisal to go through before making the official announcement. I wish I had a better picture but I'm just so excited that we've found a new house!

Eating oatmeal - a breakfast favorite.

Okay, so I'm writing this not because I think I'm an expert at selling homes. This is our first time going through the process and it's had it's stressful moments for sure. Though we did do most of the things listed, I decided to write this post because of what we've noticed walking into other houses. In our experience so far it's definitely been harder to imagine ourselves moving into a home that's currently occupied compared to one that is vacant, but it's almost impossible to see the potential of a house when it's looks uncared for or generally unkept.

We've looked at around 10 houses and we've seen some that show beautifully (but just weren't for us) and others that looked like the owners didn't even know people would be stopping by. Because of this I thought it would be fun to put together a list of things that could be helpful in sprucing up your house to help its full potential shine when possible buyers come to see it.

Remember a little over a month ago when I shared that we had put our house on the market? I told you then that the day we put it up for sale we had 3 different people schedule to come see it within the first 48 hours. Well, by the end of those 48 hours we had 2 different offers on our house.

We were in shock! We hadn't even made it to the weekend, which is the typical busy time of showing a house to potential buyers. We put it up Tuesday morning and Thursday night we were reviewing the offers and signing the contracts to sell our home.

Easter Sunday is just my favorite. Everyone comes to church energized by the empty tomb and the promise that it gives us. The excitement in the atmosphere is tangible. The ability to face tomorrow, no matter the circumstances, all because He lives! Yes, this is the promise we cling to all year round, I just wish I was better at carrying that same excitement about the resurrection of Christ thats felt on Easter, throughout the rest of the year.

On Saturday our church's children's ministry held an Easter egg hunt. It was inside because of the chilly and windy weather, but it was a fun time. Reaghan was not a fan of the singing puppet show, but enjoyed the egg hunt!

No chalkboard picture here.... although to be honest, thats not an all together horrible idea ; ) but I still want to write a few things down about what Reaghan has been doing these days since she turned 18 months on St. Patricks Day.

I went to update her baby book a week or so ago, and I realized there weren't really any empty lines for me to fill in about the things she's been doing since her first birthday. Many of her "firsts" have already happened and others are still far in the future. The only blank pages left are for her birthdays so I decided I needed some place to document all the things that I don't want to forget about her early toddler days.



I want to remember...

The Shamrock 1/2 Marathon is only 9 days away which means I've finished all of my long training runs and I'm officially in "taper" mode!

We have some big news we want to share in a couple of days that prompted us to take the following pictures... I'm sure you can probably figure out what we're about to do... but either way, I'm saving that announcement for the official day that it happens. ; )

In the meantime, I thought it would be fun to share some pictures of what our house looks like now... minus some of our pictures that have been taken off the wall and mantel because they needed to go in some boxes. {I know, I know... I'm so good at keeping secrets. This upcoming announcement? Yea, you'll never figure out whats going on.}

We've been in this house about 4 years now and we've done a lot of updating. I'm really proud of all that we've done and as I look at these pictures I get all the feels thinking about the memories we've made and the life we've enjoyed here! The outside is a bit sparse right now because, well, its winter and grass and flowers don't really like to come out and play when its cold outside. So don't spend too much time on those pictures. Instead, feast your eyes on the kitchen, the nursery, and the family room and linger a bit there. I

Enjoy this little tour and a peak inside our home!

We eat way too much pasta in this house, but I can't help it. Its just that A.) its a meal that I can make with 99% confidence that it's going to come out tasting pretty yummy and B.) I just really love pasta.

These spinach lasagna roll ups are one of my favorite pasta meals to make, but its one that only makes it on our table once every couple of months. I always seem to forget about it! But it just makes it that much more yummy when I remember to make it. ; )

Reaghan and I have had a fun week doing Valentines Day crafts to share with family and friends and buying some special treats for the main man in our life to tell him how much we love him! Reaghan especially loved helping me pick up some goodies in the candy aisle at Target. I looked down and she had her own little stash of sweets in the bottom of the cart!