House

I went with my mother-in-law when she was looking at houses last week. It sparked my interest in owning my own home. She also put the idea in my head that there is another way to do things besides renting and throwing $15,000 in to someone else's equity. Before that thought, I just figured it was fine to do my time renting until we reached a certain point. I don't really know what that point is, but I was fine to wait for it.

So I'm going to live in la-la land for the next few minutes as I tell you about my dream home.

Lots of light. Natural light. I know I can buy lamps but I don't want to have to turn on a lamp before six o'clock in order to see in any room of the house.
I'd like an open floorplan. I want to feel included in the family room festivities while I'm in the kitchen cooking.

I don't want a living and dining room. I am way too casual for such formal spaces.

I would love a cozy feel. Some may even call it a small feel. I don't want a lot of extra space just to have more space.

I'd love to paint. I know this is a perk with any house you own.

I don't want to have to settle.
Now, if someone will just magically send us a down payment so we can somehow manage to get in to our first home. Sucks how we can afford to make the payments every month and we can qualify for the mortgage we just don't have a down payment.

I also wish to note: we are not going to buy a house. Now is not our time. Our lease is up on May 31. That means that we would be looking for a house to move in to two weeks before I'm due. That also means we would use our savings as our down payment and have no safety net for when the baby comes. I am so not willing to take that risk. So, we're going to be smart and safe and wait. I can handle renting for another year or so. We've only been out of grad school for a year. We don't need to feel entitled to own a house just because everyone else we know owns one too.