First Time Homebuyer for PaleOMG – Look Inside!

Hiiiiiiiii! No Fashion Fridays for you today. I haven’t had time to wear any real clothes because they are all packed up. I’ve been going through one of the biggest milestones in my life this week. BUYING A HOUSE. I talked about it  a little bit on the blog, but then I pretty much went silent because I was just crying about it every day, instead. The lending process while being self employed left me feeling completely violated. All Brian had to do was hand over his W2 and boom, he was done. They asked for proof of EV.ER.Y.THING with me. Not just employment, but proof of $15 checks from months and months ago. I would have to go to the bank to print off the check (which they would charge me for) then go scan in the checks (which I had to pay for), then I would get a call telling me I missed something and needed to send in at least 100 more pages of proof. While all of this was happening, I was rear ended by a really suck human being, messing my car up pretty bad. So I had to borrow my sister-in-law’s car at first, of course running over a nail 5 minutes within driving it. Then get a rental car. Then pay taxes. I would cry almost every day wondering if buying a house was a mistake and if we would ever be able to afford anything again. But now that we’ve bought the house, the lender’s stopped calling me, I’ve paid my taxes, insurance has taken over my car, and we have a beautiful place to live, I’m finally smiling. Thought that day would never come.

But let’s talk about the house because I love it soooo much! I honestly should be incredibly grateful about getting this house because the Colorado housing market is absolutely insane right now. I guess people want to live in this wonderful state because people are moving here like crazy. And if you want to buy a place, you better have cash and be ready to pay AT LEAST $10,000 over the asking price. Luckily for us, we didn’t have to do either. We were the first offer and we offered asking price and they accepted that same night. And what was even better was the house was under complete construction so we were able to pick all of the kitchen finishes ourselves. The contractor had already picked out the kitchen but said we could pick whatever we wanted and just pay the difference. So I was able to pick out the cabinets, the granite, the appliances, the faucet, the backsplash and the lighting. Everything!

Once we have money again, I plan on decorating and sharing all the details of every room! Maybe you can even help me pick everything out? That would be fun! Now let’s talk some quick details. We bought a ranch style home with a basement. It’s a 3 bedroom, 3 bathroom + a den and an office. A backyard for Jackson and an awesome walk in closet for me! Wood floors at the main floor and carpet in the basement.

The pictures below are just of the living room, dining room and kitchen because well, bedrooms are pretty boring when they have nothing in them. But once I start decorating the bedroom, I cannot wait to share that all with you! Especially the bed I just got, it’s amazing.

Wanna know something funny? OK! After I bought this light fixture for the dining room, I went out to Pittsburgh to work with Bill and Hayley of Primal Palate and noticed they have the exact same fixture in their own dining room! I know, so hilarious.

I had to get a double oven. I just had to! It’s going to make cooking dinner even more enjoyable! Actually, I hate cooking dinner most nights because I’ve been cooking most of the day. So this oven will just make cooking dinner actually enjoyable. Let’s cook stuff!

This granite was our second choice and thankfully, we still love it. It’s called Snow Flake, or something snowy related. And the backsplash snow something. Which was a bit ironic since it’s CRAZY snowing while we are trying to move in. It’s been 70 degrees every day for weeks and now it’s snowing flakes the size of beetles. BEETLES, I tell you.

There is so much light in the kitchen with the giant windows and the light fixtures everywhere. I cannot wait to try to take better food pictures for you. Time to grow up, Juli. Everybody is doing it.

This faucet is one of my favorite parts. We asked the contractor for the biggest sink he could find and that’s not exactly what we got. BUT, the faucet itself is great and has amazing pressure, so it will have to make up for the size of the sink.

Drawersssss!! I’ve always wanted drawers in my kitchen. Storing pots and pans and donut makers and waffle makers. Everything. I love organization. I cannot wait to organize the pantry. I HAVE A PANTRY, YAYYYYY!

I’m so excited to share all of this with you guys! It’s pretty cool to think that when I started this blog in 2011, I was just out of college, coaching CrossFit, living with my parents, then with my best friend, living out of tupperware while working from 4am-10pm and not dating anyone. Four years later, we are planning our wedding (well kind of, we ain’t got time or money for that now!), buying our first house, finishing my third cookbook, and playing daily with the greatest dog in the world. Who now has his own backyard! Who knew.

I just want to thank all of you who have been there from the beginning, who have come back time and time again, who have stuck with me through the ups and downs, who have commented on a recipe, who have tried a recipe, who have laughed at me AND with me, who have shared my site with a friend, who have promoted my site to their clients or their patients or their athletes. Sharing my life with all of you has been a pretty cool experience and you’ll never know how much I appreciate all of you for being such amazing readers, friends and people. So thank you for being you. Because of you, I want to be a better author, a better cook, a better blogger and a better person. And I hope that this new kitchen helps with just that! Now let’s get cooking!