Our First Cottage

Last Saturday, Joshua and I again made the trip to Peoria to look for houses. I was getting a little discouraged. Some were nice, but didn't feel like home, until we looked at this little cottage in West Peoria.I loved it instantly. It's not enormous, but it's perfect for us. Here are some of the best features.

1. wood floors (Swiffer stick!)
2. attic room, my sewing tower
3. partially finished basement, Joshua is really excited
4. decent sized bedrooms, complete with double closets in the larger bedroom
5. fenced yard, if I ever get over my fear of dog ownership
6. two-car garage
7. small yard
8. quiet neighborhood that seems to have relatively low crime by Peoria's standards. Looks like we'll just have our stuff damaged instead of being murdered. That's nice.
9. nice neighbors. Joshua already made friends. I'm choosing to believe their names are Jim and Florence, a lovely older couple with a golden retriever.
10. Newer air, furnace, water heater, windows, and roof make for reasonable utilities

It's ours! Closing is May 18, and I'm so excited. It's a fantastic first home, and I can't wait to move in. Now I just have to figure out what to do about paint colors. I'm very bad at picking things out. Good thing Vanilla Bean Counter is in town. She is great and can do it for me. Until then, I just keep getting paint samples from the various home improvement stores. It's funny how much time you can spend wandering are them when you're going to be a homeowner.I also picked up some kitchen counter samples. Although I'm convinced this is the perfect house for us, the kitchen does need some help. Orange and yellow cabinets with 1950s counters don't really agree with me. More discussion on that project to come later.Other fun news for this week, I was offered a job! Woohoo! I don't have the details about the school in which I would be working. I'll find out next week. Cross your fingers for Bartonville.