House

Most of you know that we've been given the opportunity to purchase a brand new home at a drastically reduced price through Howard County's Moderate Income Housing program. Our names were chosen through a lottery drawing at the beginning of September. We are very excited because this is the only way that we'll be able to afford a home in this area. You can go here to see the model that we'll be getting. We're getting the one with the double bay window. In the picture it's the 5th one from the left. These are unusual townhouses in that there are two, 2 story units stacked on top of each other. We'll have the ground floor unit.

A couple of weeks ago we were able to go in and choose all of our options. The only "extra" thing we got was a dedicated circuit in the garage for a freezer. Otherwise, we stuck with the basics that are included. I got to choose the color carpet - mocha tan, the Formica for the countertops - earthen terra, the color of the appliances - black and the vinyl for the kitchen, entryways and bathrooms - brazilian stone. I'm not sure if I'm going to stick with the same vinyl in the upstairs bathrooms. I'm just not sure how that will look in a bathroom. I have about 12 different options to choose from, but the brazilian stone was the only one that I really liked. I have a couple more weeks to make my decision final.

The one thing that I wasn't thrilled about was the color of the cabinets. The standard color is oak. Last night we had to go to the office so Trevor could sign some paperwork. Afterwards, we drove over to where the new homes are being built. There's one section that is just about ready for people to move in. I was able to peek through the windows and see the oak cabinets and they didn't look too bad. I think Trevor was pretty relieved to hear that I thought they looked good. I guess he didn't want to hear me gripe about them for years to come. If I really hated them that bad I could always paint them later.

Our townhouse won't be complete until April at the earliest. We could've chosen a unit that would be complete in February, but this was the only one with the double bay window. There was no way I could turn that down! There are a few benefits to moving later rather than sooner. A) Our lease isn't up until April, B) it will give us more time to save up money for the down payment and C) it will give us time to sort through all of our excess stuff. I'm trying to sell stuff on Craig's List or give it away. So far I was able to sell all of my maternity clothes and a small bag of Ian's baby clothes.

April seems like a long ways off yet, but I'm sure it will be here before we know it. To be honest I'm in no hurry. We're going to have to shell over a lot of money when we buy this house and I'm not looking forward to that. Plus, I kind of like the condo that we're renting now. It's just one bedroom too small and there's no guarantee that we'll be able to stay here long term.