We're Homeowners!

Dan and I have been keeping some pretty big news a secret lately! It's not that we didn't want to share... the timing just didn't seem right quite yet. But now that we know we are closing in less than two weeks, we are finally sharing...

WE BOUGHT A HOUSE!

That's right! We are so tired of renting. We were going to live on base when we moved to Sheppard Air Force Base this spring because of Dan's pilot training schedule (crazy hours and whatnot), but they only allow two pets in base housing, and we have three.

That made us mad and started the thought process: what if we bought?! It seemed silly at first since it's another 18-24 month assignment, but we know that lots of military members come through that base, so we decided that if we could find a home to buy, we would do a little work to get it up to date, and then we can rent it out after we leave!

We wanted a four bed / two bath home so we can have guests over and have an office for Dan to study in. We ended up only finding three bed / two bath homes in our price range, but this house has a hidden gem: an office off the kitchen! It's not huge, but it'll be plenty of space for Dan to study for his flights. 

I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking... and yes, we plan on painting all of the bedrooms! We actually plan on having them painted before we even get there. We have picked out paint for Annabelle's room (a neutral light gray - Polar Star, to be exact), and we're working on picking the color for the master bedroom and guest bedroom. 

Proof that it snows in Texas! I'm so glad! I really want Annabelle to experience snow next year. She loved it this winter in Ohio, but she was too young to really DO anything other than look at it... so PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE make this picture come true next winter! 

Do you own a home?

Goals: January 2016

Yesterday, I shared my goals for the entire year of 2016. Today, I'm here to share my goals for January. I want to be intentional about everything, and focusing on getting things done and making myself a better person is a great start.

Here goes...

1. Get the house back in order. 

We traveled a lot over the holidays, and I REALLY need to get decorations taken down and put away and give the entire house a nice cleaning. It's tough to find time, but I'll try to do it while Annabelle naps each day.

2. Run one mile without walking. 

Okay, so I ran a marathon in 2014. Then I injured my leg... and then I was pregnant and couldn't run because my heart rate would skyrocket every time I tried... so here I am, four months post-partum, and I'm running again. But I'm also walking a lot. And to reach some of my bigger running goals this year, I need to start small and simple.

3. Read one book.

This one is also small... but only because the book I have chosen is REALLY long. Well, it's over 500 pages... but it's for book club, and I've been so excited to finally read it. (All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr). Book club meets on January 26th, so I'll start another book by the end of the month. Maybe I can read two next month.

4. Type 30 recipes for my cookbook.

Since one of my big goals for the year is to completely finish my personal cookbook (with room to add to as I find recipes we love, of course), I need to really get ball rolling with getting recipes typed up. I have a giant basket with random recipes printed off from the Internet... so I will start there.

5. Complete one of my 30 Before 30 tasks.

I have already completed most of the "small" and "easy" tasks... so now I need to get my butt in gear and really start accomplishing some of these. I'm not sure which I'll do this month, but I do have an idea.

• What do you think? Are my goals reasonable?
• What do you hope to accomplish this month?