New Furniture!!

I almost forgot to share one more exciting, housing detail!!! Last weekend, we went furniture shopping for the new house and found a GREAT deal!!

We spent all day Saturday checking out different places, most of which aren't your typical furniture stores (Ashley, Ethan Allen, Rooms to Go, etc.). We find ourselves going in, making a complete circle, and then walking out of those type stores. They have great stuff, it's just not our taste.

Our last stop of the day was at a furniture outlet in Anderson, where the seller buys floor sets, and then sells them at wholesale.

When we first walked in, we were immediately thinking, "nice stuff, definitely not our taste though." This was until we entered the MASSIVE warehouse with all the floor sets. As soon as we walked in, we both saw the perfect coffee table.....which was huge for us because we have literally been on the look for a coffee table for 2 solid years. We asked about the pricing, which was very affordable, and after walking throughout the rest of the warehouse, actually ended up finding 2 more matching pieces (an end table, and a console table)!! This was unusual because whatever the seller gets, not only is there only 1 of it, but it's rare that he gets matching pieces. We asked the price for these 2 pieces, all still affordable, and the seller then actually combined all three pieces at an unbelievably lower price!! We had no intentions of buying that day, but the price was too good to be true and we couldn't turn it down!!

Console Table

End Table

Coffee Table

Most of you are possibly thinking, "eesh......" but it's a retro/contemporary style, which we like. We have some great ideas for our new home, and we think these will look awesome in the great room. We can't wait to get moved in and see!!

Since getting married, we've moved more times than we want to count, and our living situations have not required purchasing a whole lot of furniture. With that being said, we don't really have a lot to take to our new house. We bought our bed that we had been longing for from IKEA when we lived in Charleston, but couldn't buy all of the matching bedroom pieces at the same time. We managed to get the matching 6 drawer chest of drawers for our 1 year anniversary, and still would like to add a couple more pieces. Aside from that, there really aren't many other pieces that we have that are worth "holding onto," so these 3 pieces were a nice addition for the new house. We have other pieces in mind that we need/are looking for, but, you've got to crawl before you can walk!! We'll add and get what we need over time; I think we have a tendency to be on the "picky" side. I mean after all, we are getting a house of our own. And as far as I'm concerned, we can sit on the floor in our brand new, beautiful home; who cares!! :)

Overdue Update :)

It's been a month since I last updated, and my sincerest apologies!! So much has been going on and we have just been super busy. 

The latest housing update:

When I last posted, we made an offer, the seller accepted, and it was the "odds and ins" to be taken care of at that point. Inspections are completed. Found an attorney. Found homeowners insurance. Appraisal done. 

Now on to the final stages, the paperwork. 

We qualified for the Palmetto Heroes, which I'm sure many of you have recently heard of; a housing grant for first time homebuyers who are employed as firefighters and EMS, police officers, and teachers who meet specific criteria. Our lender actually shared this program with us 1 day prior to the program being reinstated in the state of SC, and therefore, we were able to get our paperwork ready very quickly. This program works on a "first come, first served" type deal, and we were one of the first applicants that were "put in" that morning of reinstatement. A HUGE shout-out to our lender for making that process VERY easy!!! Since then, we've only had to provide the necessary paperwork and conditions to make it ours. This amount of money, $7,000, went directly to our loan amount, lowering it, and consequently lowering our monthly payment.......

amen!!! Praise Him for providing this bonus to our home buying process!! 

We then filed our taxes, with plans to file an amendment for the $8,000 incentive for first time homebuyers that we also qualified for and will see in our bank account in about 6 weeks. On top of that, after filing our taxes, we realized we would be getting a sizable amount of money back, which could in turn be put towards our new home........

again, another huge amen!!!! God has provided so many "bonuses" to us in this whole process, and we have NO idea why. We have been abundantly blessed and our cup runneth over!!! 

And finally, our bank loan for the amount of the house has also been approved, and we have turned in all the necessary paperwork, but there is one thing left to do to finalize things, and it's on me. I don't know how familiar any of you are with buying a home, and/or if this is something that has not been required in the past, but I have to take a "Homebuyers Test." Yeah.....a test. I do NOT test well, no matter the type of test, and I hate tests. 

There's an entire study guide (119 pages long in fact) that I must "study," then I have to call the Homebuyers Association, answer questions for 10-15 minutes, and if I pass, the loan goes through. And this would NOT be a problem if Jonathan could take the test, but the loan is in my name therefore I have to take it. 

My stomach is in knots and this test has loomed over me ever since we discovered its necessary existence. If you are reading this, please pray that I can make it through the questions and that God will provide the answers. I know I cannot do it by myself, that's for sure. This may seem like no big deal, and that I might be overreacting, but it's a big deal. 

Lots of family and friends have also been driving by the house and noticing lots of things going on. We've gotten a lot of calls and texts from them wondering what it's all about, which we've really enjoyed!! :) When the appraisal was made on the home, there were some things that were required to be done by the seller before we could close. The seller took the last week off from work to get these things taken care of; hence windows being all over the place, trucks/people all around, and all the work that's been going on in general. 

A shot sent via picture message from a family member who caught some of the work going on while driving by!! Haha!! Notice the windows, and it's hard to see, but the added stair rails as well. 

As far as closing, we were set to close on March 31st, but with the Palmetto Heroes grant, the paperwork has pushed this date back (as well as my completion of the aforementioned test). We're now looking at the first or second week of April, pushing to close before the 12th. 

So as you can see, all in all, God has showed up in MAJOR ways for the Edens throughout this process. He is amazing and we praise Him for how He watches over us and provides for us in big ways. Thanks to everyone for your love, support, and prayers throughout our 1st home buying experience. We are not finished yet though, so please continue to lift us up as we finalize things and get ready to move into our first home ever!!