We're Homeowners!!

What a week! Monday brought a new nephew, Tuesday was spent making calls to the bank and closing company trying to figure out where our last-minute paperwork was (they got it to us at the very end of the business day), and yesterday we bought a house:)

We slept in just a little yesterday, then loaded up the car, got our cashier's check from the bank, and headed to Elizabethtown. We met the realtor and did a final pre-closing walk-through at 12:30. The previous owner left us a letter and a pile of information (manuals, receipts, and warranty info for appliances and info on services like pest control) and their phone number in case we have any questions. She was very thorough about cleaning the house ( I only found one cobweb at the very back of a closet) and actually steam-cleaned the carpets and scrubbed the floors for us, even though she only had to sweep. She said in her letter that she has taught for over 10 years at the elementary school our kids will eventually go to, so we may cross paths again in a few years:)
After we finished the walk-through, we met with the sellers' realtor and the rep from the settlement company. Most of the paperwork we signed, we'd seen before, so we were totally done in an hour. The sellers' realtor took our picture for the sellers' who were disappointed that they weren't able to meet us. So closing was not nearly as bad as I was afraid it might be:P 

We went back to OUR house, tried out all the keys, and unloaded a bunch of stuff from my car. We took enough stuff to function (pots and pans, paper plates and utensils, cooking utensils, towels, paper towels, shower supplies, etc) and unpacked it all, then went to Kmart and Giant to stock up the fridge and cabinets with food for when we stay overnight. 

When we got back, there were a bunch of kids scraping the grass off of the far side of our retention pond!!!! Haven't even owned our house for 3 hours, and I've already had to scare the neighbor kids!! :( As soon as they saw us, they bolted. They even left their bikes and helmets behind. Tim had seen them earlier trying to fish in the stream (which is funny because it's like 6 inches wide right now), and the best we could figure is they were looking for worms. We put their bikes and helmets out on the sidewalk and put our sod back (which was probably futile...it'll all die if it doesn't rain soon). They came back about an hour later and collected their stuff. Hopefully we startled them enough that they'll stay off our lawn for awhile :P

We ate dinner on our deck (mmm...white pizza with spinach and warm chocolate chip cookies) and made a toast (with sparkling apple cider--yumm). Then we shut everything off, closed all the shades, locked all the doors, and left a lamp on in the front room. And we came back to our apartment. Which is a mess, since we've been packing and doing laundry and have really not been there much this week.

I haven't taken any pictures of the house yet, but here are the ones that got sent along with our appraisal report (for posterity):

From the driveway:)

Back w/ deck:)

Garage-side of the house (retention pond is to the right, out of frame).

Front living room.

Dining room.

Kitchen!!!

Family room.

Half-bath on the 1st floor.

Master bedroom:)

Master bathroom (there's a stall shower on the left side.

Full bath on 2nd floor.

Guest Room:) (there's another bedroom that we'll use as an office, but I don't have a picture of it...)

The littlest bedroom (for the littlest Rohrer!)

Obviously, the furniture and decorations in the pictures belong to the previous owners, so I'll have to post pictures once we've finished moving things and painting and whatnot:) I might take some pictures of the yard, too. The couple that lived there before us did a really nice job of landscaping...I just have to do my best not to kill off all the plants they left us:P And...I have to find the perfect spot for my rose plant:)