Babe, we're building a house!

It all started this weekend.

After years of living in cramped basement apartments, sharing duplexes with spiders and weird neighbors and trying unsuccessfully to disguise the urine smell in a "luxury" unit, we decided it was time to seriously look for a home of our own. Our first home. A home we could make our own. And hopefully resell at a profit a few years down the road.

We'd saved for a down payment. We talked to a lender and found out we really could afford a nice place. We found a Realtor we really liked.

But finding a house we liked in our price range was a whole other story. I spent days covering every square inch of the TriCities with Realtor Sally. Ed and I found a few neighborhoods we really liked. We were even ready to make an offer on a 2005 rambler with a beautiful backyard. Problem was, someone beat us to the punch by two hours. After a few more days of stalking our favorite neighborhoods, keeping our eyes peeled for "For Sale" signs, and touring house after house that was not quite right, we made a really big decision.

We're going to BUILD our first home.

Seriously.

We'd quickly determined what many before us have discovered: for what we'd spend on a nearly new home with "quirks", we could build our very own brand new house. We could add what we wanted. Choose our own cabinets, hardware and paint colors.

I have a feeling this will be a blessing and a curse!

The goal: a 3 bedroom, 2 bath home, around 1500 square feet on a good-sized lot, for around $185,000, in Kennewick's Creekstone development.

Will we survive building our own home during our first year of marriage?

Will Sara lose her mind trying to make so many decisions?

Will Ed remember to bring her chocolate when she's feeling overwhelmed?

We'll keep you posted.