Wedding Dresses, Houses, and Other Big Girl Stuff...

Let me start out by saying I have the greatest family (and soon-to-be family) of all time. I know I say this all the time, but planning a wedding in under 4 months is a crazy idea, and with the details we’ve decided to go with, we’re making it slightly more intense and. For all my West Virginia/Maryland/Virginia friends, calm down about not getting an invite for my wedding that’s happening in 3 months. We have every intention of having some sort of celebration/reception this coming summer, but right now, I can’t even begin thinking about that. 

This is why: our actual wedding day is going to consist of our temple sealing at 10 AM, followed by probably a million pictures, then a ring ceremony, luncheon for family (so we can actually sit down with family and have time to visit with them all), and then a reception that evening! Talk about a long day.

I’ve only been engaged for 2 weeks, but I already feel like I’m behind where I should be. However, we’ve reserved the temple, reserved the venue for the reception, mentally decided on the reception food, figured out who our photographers would be, roughly scheduled engagement photos, AND the BEST part: GOT MY WEDDING DRESS. Just for fun, I’ll include some of the No’s and HECK NO’S while dress shopping. Here they are…

 I almost thought this one below was the one, until I found my actual dress.

 I look so thrilled..

But now, just in case you thought that’s what my big news is.. think again! Some of you know that Brian and I have been house hunting for a while now. Honestly, we began sending each other listings before we were engaged. But now, we’ve been hardcore exploring. We’ve been in somewhat of a dilemma trying to decide if we could get a home before my current apartment lease expires in Salt Lake City before the end of September, or if we would need to rent another place for 6 months (the shortest lease I could find) before starting this journey anew. However, our dilemma disappeared when we found a home Thursday night. 

 We had just spent two hours driving around with our realtor going into five homes, none of which were what we had hoped. Like many nights before, Brian and I parted ways with her and continued driving around on our own, hoping to find listings that we had either overlooked online or that weren’t posted yet. We found a super cute house in Clinton, UT that was almost exactly what we had been looking for. The listing price was within the budget we had decided to (make ourselves) stick to, and I decided to call them the next day.

Friday morning came around and I texted our agent (who was out of town camping with her family) and told her we would try to contact the agent that was listed for the home. I called his cellphone where I was greeted with a message saying he was out of the office until Monday, so I decided to call his office instead. His assistant told me that there were already two other offers on the home. They were going to be reviewing the offers at 3 PM that day, and if they didn’t decide on one of them right then, we could go see the home that night at 6 PM. Our agent called a friend of hers who agreed to show the home to us, and at 5:15 PM we got the confirmation that they would be waiting until 10 AM the next morning to make a decision. AKA, if we wanted this house after seeing it, we had to make an offer that same night.

So Brian and I went to the house and got there a little early. We tried to be responsible adults and talk about how we would be open minded about the house, without being too picky or too forgiving for it’s flaws, and decided if we liked it, we would make an offer on it. Our first offer on a home, we probably wouldn’t get it anyway right?

The realtor got there and began giving us a tour of the house. From the very beginning, I was so excited. It was everything we had talked about: two-story, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, cute fenced-in backyard, garage, and secluded. While it’s in a neighborhood with the houses close together, there’s only one outlet in and out of the neighborhood and our home sits in the very back (so there will be little to no traffic). 

We spent more time in that house than any other, examining every little detail about it. That night we sat down together and discussed everything about it and prayed about whether or not it was the best decision for us. We felt good about it and decided to make an offer. We discussed how much to offer, knowing there were at least 2 other offers already on the table. We made the best decision we could, called our realtor (who drew up the paperwork for us at 11 PM WHILE CAMPING), we signed it electronically and put it out of our minds.

The next morning, I was wedding dress shopping and Brian was paint balling with the guys for the start of one of his best friend’s bachelor parties when we got the news. I had just decided on my dress and was freaking out that I had actually chosen one, when my freakout went from “I JUST FOUND A WEDDING DRESS” and transformed to “OH MY GOSH I JUST BOUGHT A HOUSE” with the arrival of our realtor’s text: “I just tried to call you guys but I just wanted to let you know that you guys are going to be homeowners pretty soon! Congrats, they accepted your offer.”

There are moments in your life that you will remember forever, and this was one of those times for me. I sat down on the ground and could hardly breathe. Growing up, they don’t tell you in school the right ways to find a home loan, how the buying process goes, or how easily you can afford a mortgage. When I was younger, I had this idea in my head that it wasn’t realistic for me to own a home before I was like 30. Now, I’m 23 years old, about to marry the man of my dreams (who really is smarter, more money conscious, and more professional than me, but don’t tell him I said that), and we’re about to own our very first home. When we started talking about buying a home, I didn’t realize I was already paying enough in rent to cover a mortgage. The idea of picking a place to live long-term was scary, but it’s not as scary as throwing money down the drain and not creating any type of investment for yourself. 

I don’t feel like I’m old enough to be making these big girl decisions, but then again, that’s probably because nobody else our age is. I feel like I’ve gained so much life experience in the last two years, and I’ve realized that every single choice I make each day is creating a path for my future. This choice is such a positive step and the beginning of our lives together. I am so blessed to be surrounded by the people I am, for all the support Brian and I have received, and for this opportunity. I am so grateful to have found a man who has big dreams and aspirations like me, but also has the work ethic, smarts, and dedication to make them happen and be the best husband and support to me he can be. I can’t express my happiness at everything that is coming our way. Look out world, the Baldwins are coming for you!

 More photos will be added once we clean up the outside of the house and redecorate. (: