Home ownership.........

ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Of course, I haven't paid my first mortgage payment yet, so check back with me on March 1st after I write that very large check. :)

Seriously though, I am lovin my house. There is just something so fantastic about coming home knowing that it is MY home. MINE. ALL MINE (oh, and Wells Fargo too).

One thing that I really have to get use to is being on a strict budget. I never really had to be on such a tight budget before so this will be quite an adjustment for me. Every payday, I take x amount of dollars out of the bank, put it in an envelope, and that cash is ALL I GET until next payday. This does not include groceries, gas, utilities, or other bills, but anything above and beyond. If I want to go out to lunch, that comes out of the cash envelope. If I want a new pair of jeans...it comes out of the cash envelope. Those new curtains I want for the bedroom? Outta the cash envelope. It REALLY makes me think about what I'm willing to spend my money on. I'm surprised at how well I'm doing. Of course, it's only been one week, but still. It's a bit easier to be conservative with your money when you know you have a mortgage to pay.

The house is pretty much all put together. As mentioned above, I do have some curtains I need to buy for all the upstairs bedrooms. I'm thinking about making Sabah's, but I've never made curtains before. I do already have the material, so the new cheapskate in me is leaning toward giving it a try.

I've taken a few pics of the inside of the house, but I can't find the little disc adapter thingy that will allow me to download them (thank you Sabah). As soon as I find it, I will post them.

I did get some pictures of my new fireplace mantel (before and after pics) from my flip video. Here is what it looked like when I moved in:



The previous owners painted the two walls GREY! Now, I don't really have anything against grey, but it really did not look good in here.

I decided to go with a nice deep olive green, and this is how it turned out......



SOOOOOOOOOO much better looking in green (my opinion of course). When I find that disc thingy, I will post more pics of the living and dining room. I painted one wall of the dining room red and left the rest in tan. When I was picking Sabah up in Ethiopia, I purchased two oil paintings that I LOVE, that are in a red base with some orange (think sunset). They are fantastic paintings and they look GREAT on my red wall. I then purchased an AWESOME dining room table off of Craigslist (I LOVE craigslist). When I went to pick it up, the lady selling it happened to be African and she was shutting down her African restaurant because of slow business. She had purchased several of these dining table and chairs for her restaurant because they were actually made from African wood. So, the dining room has sort of turned into an African themed room. I have two other African pictures with red frames that I have up, and will also be displaying some other items I purchased in ET. I LOVE my dining room.

My house has a two car garage with back of the house entrance with no driveway, as do all the houses in my immediate area. I LOVE having a garage....especially a two car garage. The only downside to this is that EVERYONE comes and goes through their garages. I've been here a week and have yet to see any of my immediate neighbors.....not even a chance to wave hello. Once the weather gets a bit better and we spend more time out front playing, I hope to meet a few of them.
The neighborhood is filled with children and is soooooo diverse. Sabah will definitely not be the only black child in her class. The majority of the neighborhood seems to be equal mix of black and white, with a little bit of Asian and Hispanic. I LOVE the diversity.

I must say, this house has certainly been the best decision I have ever made. ERRRR, back up....the SECOND best decision I've ever made. Sabah was the BEST. Now, please excuse me while I go check the couch cushions for some extra change to put in my cash envelope! ;)