We bought a house (and other big news)

Our blog has remained silent for nearly a month. That's because Becky and I have been in one of the busiest months of our married life, and many more busy months on the way.

Here are a couple of things that have been keeping us joyfully busy:

1. We bought a house

I've always heard people talk about the stress of buying and moving into a house. I never believed them. Surely buying a house couldn't be that stressful! ... Now I know.

Becky first raised the idea of buying a home back when we were engaged. She pointed out that if we were going to be in Lynchburg for several more years, it would be good to start building equity in something. It made sense for other reasons, too: The apartment I had at the time would be good for us to start out in, but it would only last us so long. Finding another apartment wasn't a viable option considering that many decently sized apartments now rent for more than a house payment.

So we started looking at houses soon after our wedding.

In September, we looked at a foreclosure that seemed rather nice but needed a lot of work, and we felt they were asking way too much.

Apparently, we weren't the only ones who thought that. In late November, we learned that the price on that house had dropped tremendously. For the first time in our housing search, we became really excited about the prospect of committing to a purchase.

The weeks after that were characterized by a roller coaster of emotions, decisions, offers, negotiations, worrying, waiting, and, finally, home buying.

The house is a fixer-upper. It needs a lot of work. But it's beautiful and has a lot of potential. Since we got the contract on the house, we have met numerous people who had looked at it, loved it, considered making an offer, and consider us lucky for getting it.

Thanks to some great friends with muscles and trucks, we were able to move in just a few days after closing on the house. Two weeks later, Becky's mom drove up with Becky's piano, dining room table, and other furniture that had been stowed away in her basement. Here is a picture of the dining room:



We are grateful to be in our home, and we look forward to documenting the repairs and renovations as we complete them.

We're having a baby boy.

That's the other big news / announcement for the month.

The baby is due in June. I am nervous, but I'm also very excited. Back when I was single, it was no secret that I longed to find love and happiness in a relationship. But almost as heartbreaking as being single was the fact that I wanted to be a dad. I wanted to come home from work and read stories to or play games with my children. It makes me very happy to know that that dream will come true someday soon.

When Becky and I fell in love, one of the things we liked about each other was our desire to raise a family. We had some people who advised us to wait until we had been married for several years before having children. But it didn't feel right. Some people need to travel the world or something like that before having children. But to us, making a family felt like the great adventure. I'm happy to have such a beautiful and devoted wife who shares that dream with me.

We kept the pregnancy a pretty closely-guarded secret for the first few months. We told our immediate family members and a few others, on the condition that the news would not see the light of Facebook. Then we got to the point where we were ready to tell other people in person. Becky wore maternity clothes in public a few times, but no one asked about them. (She is the only woman I've ever met who was frustrated that no one assumed that she looked pregnant.)

Finally, after we got the first ultrasound and learned that the baby was a boy, we announced the news on Facebook:



So for the foreseeable future, we will be repairing a house and changing diapers. Combine that with my web design business and Becky's sewing projects and substitute teaching, and we might not blog much for the next little while, but I'll try to update at least once a month.