Cooley update

I got off work at 3 this afternoon to go to our house inspection (but it's not 'til 3:45, so I have 20 stolen minutes to sit and enjoy the afternoon. I feel like a kid who skipped class and snuck home for a nap). I stopped at Zanzibar's (best latte's in Des Moines) and I love seeing all the people there just relaxing on a rainy afternoon (and I'm secretly envious that I can't join them more often). It's been one of those weeks that is in no hurry to get done with. Work isn't super busy, which is nice for a change, but I'm ready for it to be Friday tomorrow.

And yes, a house inspection means that we are in the process of buying our first house! Our condo was the perfect introduction to homeownership, but we're ready to have a yard, a front porch, and a little more room to have people over. We have our place on the market, and have signed a purchase agreement contingent on the sale of our place. So keep your fingers crossed and pray for a buyer!

In other news, we had a very uneventful summer, we didn't have any vacations, but just kind of enjoyed the things to love in Des Moines all summer and had visitors. Then Sept hit and things got crazy. I got the bug to find a house in August and by Sept our search was full force. I was constantly checking Iowarealty.com and we were going to open houses on the weekend. We limited our search to the neighborhood we're in now. We love how close we are to downtown, the neighborhoods are mature and have beautiful trees, and the houses are full of character. We found THE house in Sept. It was on one of my favorite streets/neighborhoods in Des Moines to run on and the garden editor for Country Home used to live there so the landscaping is topnotch. The wood floors, open floorplan, sunny eat-in nook in the kitchen, deck and screened front porch wooed us. It was for sale by owner, so we got approved for a loan (literally 2 weeks before the economic crisis) and made an offer. The owners weren't really interested in working with us. I was more emotionally attached to the house than Adam, but we decided if they didn't come down on the price we would walk away and start looking for houses again in the spring.

So we went on vacation a much-needed to Colorado and tried to forget about the house. Then the first week of October we got a call from the owners and they were willing to meet us in the middle. Since then we did a few updates in our condo, put it on the market (forsalebyowner.com) and signed a purchase agreement. So farm we haven't had much interest in our condo, but we're hopeful. So if you know anyone looking for a great place close to downtown Des Moines, send them our way.

In the last month we also broke down and got a second car. We were a one-car family for a little over a year and I feel a little guilty that we had to go back to two, but it was time. Adam's doing a lot more driving around Iowa for work and it's harder and harder to have just one car—when it's nice out I can walk home, but in the winter that isn't always an option, and if/when we move that won't be possible.

I'll try to keep this updated with what's going on with us selling our place and the new house. Pray for a buyer!



Colorado is GORGEOUS the end of September all the aspens were blooming!