MY HAPPY LIST

I decided to make a list of the top things that made me happy today. Sometimes I just think it's necessary to remember the little things that make you happy.  And sometimes those little things seem bigger than the big things because they are so small and carry such power. So here's my list for today, September 21, 2015 (and in no particular order):

1. The beautiful floral picture above. I could not get over the simple beauty and grandeur of those flowers. That picture really spoke to me.
2. My pumpkin spice candle. I tend to want to celebrate the upcoming seasons/holidays too early so I keep telling myself to hold off, but today I realized that it is indeed the end of September and the cool weather reminded me that Autumn is officially upon us so I whipped that bad boy out! My house smelled like heaven.
3. A sparkly clean bathroom. 
4. Sour gummy worms! 
5. Buying paint to start our house projects! Dude, choosing a particular paint color is a real struggle! Are you surprised that we went with "pure white" mostly because that's the color I ultimately wanted and a tiny bit because we were so overwhelmed by the different shades of each color. And then I watched people walk in behind us and choose colors within minutes and my mind was blown!
6. Cuddling with my husband. I just always feel safe and happy when he wraps his arms around me. 
7. New eye shadow. Don't worry guys....it's nothing fancy...I still buy it from the grocery store. But I'm still excited about it!
8. Homemade chicken noodle soup and chili that friends share with you! So, so yummy. 
9. Pinterest.
10. Our house. I love that it's ours! And it's so cute and cozy.

So there it is.  While I was writing this I asked G what made him happy today and it was a fun little conversation to have. Maybe that'll be our new thing each night. And did I mention how much I love my husband? He is my everything and I'm so grateful I have him.

OUR FIRST HOME!

Well, the stars aligned at the very end of our house hunting trip in March and we found the perfect home. The market up here is crazy and homes sell incredibly fast due to the large influx of medical residents every year. And since we didn't think about it, we planned our trip the week after match day, so it was extra hectic! For example, on the first day with our realtor, we looked at 18 homes. By the end of that day, 16 had gone under contract. Every single day was like this, so it was an exhausting and emotional process! We put an offer on a home and got into a bidding war and then lost. We found another home we liked, put an offer on that and same story. So we put an offer on a third house and left out of town. Literally on our drive home, our realtor called us and said, "I'm driving around town and saw the for sale sign being put up in this yard. I walked through the house and it's perfect - it's everything you're looking for. I'll send you the pictures I took and the link to the listing. Look it over and call me back ASAP!" After realizing that this was our favorite home so far, we pulled our other offer and made an offer on this home. We received verbal confirmation that they accepted our offer, and got it in writing later that night. (And it's a good thing too because apparently the previous owners got a few cash offers later that week.) God was looking out for us. When our previous offers would fall through, our parents would tell us not to worry and that it would all work out. It was hard to keep that mentality all the time but they were so right! 

Are we crazy? Yes. Is this the perfect home for us? Yes! Our realtor is seriously amazing! After spending 5 solid days with us, he knew exactly what we wanted and how much we were willing to spend. He definitely went the extra mile for us and we trusted him completely...enough to buy a house without seeing it in person! We felt so good about this home that we weren't that surprised when it worked out. By the time we got back to PA at the end of May, we were dying to see our home! And you know what? We walked around it with our realtor and said, "It's perfect" probably a hundred times and he just grinned and said, "I knew you'd like it!"

We closed on June 2, 2015 and basically felt like we were signing our life away! Haha. It's sad but true. The moving van met us at our house immediately after and we were so excited to see OUR stuff coming into OUR home. Our first home! Such a momentous day.

LEAVING OUR SWEET HOME ALABAMA & GATLINBURG, TN

After our month in Utah, we flew home to Alabama once more (so sad!). After packing up, cleaning, and saying our final goodbye's, we began our drive to Pennsylvania. It was surreal and sad leaving Birmingham; I remember tearing up as we pulled out of the city, looking over all the places we loved. That place and time was so good for us! We established some truly life long friends, grew together, G excelled in graduate school and I completed my undergrad, and we experienced a place and culture that we instantly grew to love. Alabama will always be home to us, that's the beautiful thing. Heck, I even picked up "y'all" when I told my family before we moved to Alabama that if I ever did start saying that to slap me. That right there proves my love for Bama! Also, #RollTide.

Luckily for us, we had planned to meet some family in Gatlinburg, TN for a few days on our journey. We had so much fun with the Dahle's and were in awe of the beauty of the Great Smoky Mountains!