I am falling more and more in love...

With house hunting.

With the idea that soon my husband and I will have our first home, a place to truly make ours.

The first place we lived in together was a house we rented from my grandparents, so technically we probably could have done whatever we wanted to it (with permission). It needed tons of love and TLC though, and we chose to save our money for our eventual own place... however far off that was... rather than investing in a house we would move out of soon.


Our first (rented) dwelling... flower bed on the right is incomplete.


We did go crazy with the outside and the landscaping though! :)

 One of the many flower beds we added!
AND Look at all that bamboo!
I want bamboo in every house in which I live.

So we've seen 6 houses together, he's seen a few on his own, and tomorrow we're seeing 4 more.
I know I've mentioned here and there on this blog that we'll be moving, to the Northern Virginia area, to be exact. I had hopes and dreams of returning to Florida, where a bunch of my best friends live, in Jacksonville. After a recent visit, I think I'm okay with moving to the DC area. I prefer to do my running outside and unless I did it at 5am every day... it's just too damn hot in Florida most of the year.

For buying our first home, everything seems to be in our favor right now. According to this article, mortgage rates just hit an all-time low today:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_mortgage_rates;_ylt=ArF9K76K_bL0dWCKQ0hknpis0N

And properties in NoVA are moving fast. If we miss something, another great house pops up right around the corner!

I'm also having a great time scouring the internet for decor ideas, although that may be a little premature. But I can't help it....

Starting with the outside, some of the houses on our "favorites" list have fantastic interiors but the exteriors are just meh. Looks like all they need is a fresh coat of paint though, so even if I have to be stealthy and super sneaky and do it when my husband is away on travel (heh... I'm kidding... sort of) I am dying- DYING!!!- to paint our house yellow. Not bright fluorescent yellow like my car or anything. But a pretty pale yellow with nice white trim... (if I can't live at the beach, I can pretend, right? A cute little beachy looking cottage. In the DC metro area. It's cool.)

One of the contenders....  Imagine this house painted YELLOW!! 

with a total makeover of the yard.
Hardy banana tree, yuccas, ferns, hostas, daylilies, pachysandra, rhododendrons, bee balm, coneflower, sweet bay magnolia tree, bamboo, milkweed .... 

And then some pretty potted plants by the front door. Maybe in terra cotta pots- that never goes out of style. I'm thinking red geraniums, too, since that's what my grandmother always had by her door.

What's funny is while I was bouncing around amongst decorating blogs, I happened to find this one a few minutes ago. Gorgeous. And look.... a beautiful yellow house. Imagine that!
http://deardaisycottage.typepad.com


The last few times I've taken my dog for a walk, we've gone all through one of my favorite little local neighborhoods so I can gawk and gaze and drool over the little tiny gardens and many flower pots that adorn the doorways of the cute rowhouses in Shipoke and I take many mental notes.

Of course I already have about a billion ideas for the landscaping. Last year I missed my gardens so much I wrote a Squidoo lens all about Tropical-Style Gardening in the Mid-Atlantic so I didn't forget all my ideas when I moved!!
http://www.squidoo.com/MidAtlanticTropical

I AM OBSESSED WITH PLANTS.... STOP ME.... OR HOLD ME.... I have over 70 house plants. Help!

The other night I dreamed about a magnolia tree, so I'd like to add one of those. One of those things I always wanted since I was a kid, but never allowed to have? And when my family moved into a house with a HUGE one they immediately knocked it down? :( (in preparation to add on to the house BUT STILL, I was devastated.) Not sure if I'll do a regular one or settle for the Sweet Bay Magnolia that I posted about recently... but I would love to have one.

Ok, I am done rambling for now. Because I could write a whole other post JUST on my ideas for the office/art studio! You bet your ass I already have a folder full of inspirational photos for it!