Housing Trip A Success

We spent the weekend house hunting in Indianapolis! After spending much of Saturday disappointed at the houses we saw, we came across a community of Beazer Homes 20 t0 25 minutes away from Matt's work. To our surprise, we learned we could buy a brand new inventory home (houses building companies build anticipating they'll be able to sell) for the same price as the 20-30 year old homes we'd been looking at all day. There was only one four bedroom house left in the 1,000+ home community, and we were fortunate enough to nab it.

At this point the house is only a cement slab, but we're assured it will be completed within 60 days. We got to pick out the flooring, cabinetry, etc. (Cool right? But in a year when I decide I don't like a color scheme I'll have no one to blame but myself. Oh, the daunting responsibility!)

The outside, which we didn't get to pick out, looks similar to this. The shutters are brown instead of green.

Main level

Upper Level

If you click here then select the virtual tour red button on the left side of the page, you can get an idea of what the inside is like—except our home will be down-graded about a hundred notched from what you see in the tour. No hardwood floors, sunroom, or stainless steel appliances for us!

A few perks about the area include:

• A library, a community pool and park, and two city parks within walking distance
• Wide, safe streets and trails for running (No need to worry, Dad.)
• Grocery stores and gyms 7-8 minutes away
• Four-star school system
• An almost completely built community (ours is one of the last five lots) which has a lot of young families
• Close proximity to the city, but it has a country feel. You pass corn fields on the way to our neighborhood.
• A small-ish ward with 100 Primary kids, seven youth, a few students, and an okay balance between younger and older families. (Matt loved the ward and thought the Elder's Quorum was especially close. The men have "book club" and "cooking club", but it's really just a cover up to get together and watch baseball and UFC fights. I was not such a big fan of the ward—and am still a little worried—seeing as I was the only person under 40 in Relief Society. (I guess all the younger moms are in Primary.) But I have talked to a few women in the ward and it sounds like it'll be good. There's a playgroup, book club, etc.

I'm super excited about this house, but it's really hit me the past couple days that we will soon be leaving Des Moines—our ward; our friends; all that is familiar to us. I can't imagine being any happier in this home than I've been in our apartment. Even though it's small and ghetto, being surrounded by incredible friends and neighbors has mattered most.

I don't expect Indianapolis to be the same experience as Des Moines—really nothing can compare to what we have here. But I hope to find at least one friend for me and a playmate for Skylie in Indy. (And I pray there's someone to call at 2 a.m. when I go into labor and need someone to watch Skylie. She throws a fit when doctors check Baby's heartbeat... I don't think she'd do well in the Delivery Room.) :)

P.S. A BIG thank you is due to Dave, Jenny, and Cindy Pitcher for watching Sky while we house-hunted and to the Payne's for lending us their portable DVD player. The drive was much more enjoyable with Skylie who thought she'd died and gone to heaven when she got to watch Dora and Elmo for seven straight hours!