Honey I'm Home

This weekend will mark one year since we closed on our first home. I’ve dreamed of owning my own home ever since I first discovered HGTV but once I was ready to pull the trigger, that dream often felt unattainable. During the pandemic, we watched as the all already out-of-reach housing prices continued to climb. Back in California while walking the dog, Emory and I would analyze every house in our neighborhood and add various ideas and things to our wish list. (While watching HGTV shows I used to make fun of people who turned down a beautiful home for lack of mature trees but now I totally get it.)

Our ideal scenario still seemed so far beyond our reach, California was starting to feel less and less like home for many different reasons. I knew I was ready for a change but I was unsure what that would look like. Throughout 2022 a lot of little moments triggered something in my gut that was like “Maybe it’s time to go home.” After visiting Iowa in June, Emory and I both started to take that idea a little more seriously.

From that point, Emory and I were knee-deep wading through Zillow. He constantly looked up deals in Iowa while I tried to find anything else anywhere else that still made sense. Eventually, Emory just bypassed getting my opinion and went straight to the source, my mom who also happens to be our realtor. To which she would cautiously remind us that sometimes the photos in these listings are deceiving and we could find better. To prove it to use, that following Friday morning she sent us a brand-new listing.

Main Floor Living Spaces

It was this adorable little English Tudor-style home (my favorite style of home.) It was full of charm and personality. It was move-in-ready but it offered a lot of opportunities for some fixer-up style renovations. It was very reasonably priced ($165,000) considering the market was still booming. And on top of all that it was located in my little hometown (not 100% a selling point but it offered a different degree of comfortability.)

For me, it was love at first sight. While repeatedly scrolling through ALL of the listing photos I could immediately envision all of its potential. What all happened next seems like a blur. I'm sure there were a few frantic text exchanges with Emory asking if he’s taken a look at it and painstakingly waiting for him to share his opinion. Eventually, he gave me the go-ahead to at least set up a “showing.” A few hours later he raced home from work to tour the house with my mom via FaceTime. I just remember the adrenaline and falling in love detail by detail as we entered every room (except when I realized the only shower was in the partially finished basement.)

2nd Floor Bedrooms & Bath

I knew I loved the house. I truly didn’t think we’d find a better deal or opportunity. It seemed to offer almost everything we wanted but most importantly it offered a tangible way to represent the bigger question of “Are we really moving back to Iowa?” Many conversations followed weighing the pros and cons and making many mental checklists of whether or not this decision would be feasible. After a lot of debate, we finally decided we were on the same page and we at least wanted to take a shot and put in an offer.

Within what felt like hours, we had an accepted offer and were officially buying that we had never seen in person and began formulating a plan to move back across the country.

Dinning, Kitchen & Basement

While the first year of homeownership didn’t go quite as planned, I couldn’t be happier that we made this decision. It’s so nice to have a place that’s truly our own that we’re free to make decisions about as we please. Since the first time I saw it online and in person my mind has been racing with design and decorating ideas. We have big plans and lofty aspirations for each room. I look forward to figuring out how we can DIY and make those ideas a reality. Finding a compromise between Emory's and my design styles (I’m only allowed to paint 1 room pink) has been a fun and challenging adventure.

Bedroom Design Mockups

One thing we both were certain about was the design for our primary bedroom (a project that is currently in progress and more to come on that hopefully very soon.) Other than that our first major project was having a fence installed so that Raleigh could have free rein and enjoy the home too. A fence might not feel like the most glamorous or affordable house addition, but how it’s improved our quality of life is priceless.

I can’t wait to share more home projects here with you. I’m trying my best to take a one-project and one-room-at-a-time approach. The biggest unexpected blessing of homeownership however has been the gift of time. This home is ours for as long as we want it to be. We can take as much time as we need and there’s no pressure to get it all done immediately (no matter how tempting that might be.)

PS: Our actual property doesn’t have any mature trees... So remember things that might seem like a deal-breaker are sometimes actually more of a compromise. What something might lack might pay off in other ways you could have never imagined. Keep an open mind, trust your gut, and follow the journey wherever it might take you.