Say hello to the home owners!

It happened! We finally signed closing papers on our house last night. We are officially home owners! After all of the problems that we had this week with it being delayed (we still won't get keys until next week), I still feel very grateful for how well the process came off. Our one problem- the loan officer. He dragged his feet. I don't even think it's really the bank. It's him. So, he won't be getting a referral. But everyone else that stepped in to assist us deserves a world of thanks.

And it all comes down to one person - Jaime, our realtor.

How do I love our realtor, let me count the ways:

1. Everyone that we loved came as a referral from her. We had a home insurance rep that did a house call. We had a title rep that helped us close papers on the house come into the office on 5pm on a Friday night... and he had the day off because he was *sick*. He came in as a favor to Jaime because he likes her and trusts her that much. We also now have recommendations for a roof guy and a different loan officer to help refinance when the time comes. Awesome.

2. She did everything in her power to help when things were dragging with the bank, including calling the bank every other day to get them rolling.

3. She was available nearly any time of the day when we were choosing which houses to see (Seriously - I remember some email conversations that went past midnight).

4. She was honest about everything that came into our path and did whatever was best for us, not anyone else.

5. When the delays with the bank made it so that we weren't able to get into our house this weekend, she agreed to let us into the house to make choices on paint, do measurements, and make an overall "to do" list. She's already sold us the house, but she's still taking time out for us.

6. Not only did she bring in wine and flowers for us last night for the closing as a "congratulations!", she is throwing us a house warming party. No kidding. She said pick the date and let me know who you want to invite and I'll take it from there. Holy cow!

7. She's simply a cool person. If we would have met her otherwise, she still would be someone that we would like to hang out with.

OK, enough boasting about our realtor, I know. I can't help it.

Over the next week we will be packing, cleaning, painting, planning, and moving. I'm making sure to take pictures during the whole process, so you'll definitely see more. Since it's finally official I can show you some pictures of our house!

Exterior, from the front

Kitchen - wow, a lot of wood panneling. It's not all staying.

Dining room with built in buffet.

Upstairs bathroom. No, we are *not* keeping the wallpaper!

Upstairs spare bedroom, which will be an office (for now), and that's Catherine's room across the hall. The closets are awesome - very deep, with additional storage cabinets above.

That's all for now... more to come!