We have a renter!

Haven't had an opportunity to sit down and blog for a while, so we have some catching up to do. Firstly, we got a phone call on a Friday morning from Emily's Rentals that someone was interested in signing a lease. Josh called me 5 times I think, I was at the gym. I love when he gets that excited. We had left a few things in the garage, so we went over to get them out and while we were there we actually met our renters. I got that warm fuzzy feeling just from meeting them. They have a daughter starting high school next year so they will be here for at least four years. The woman said she fell in love with the house instantly. She also complimented us on our paint colors and said the house felt like home already, even empty! We were so excited, and still are! They even asked about buying, which eventually we want to do, but for now its a great investment so we will stick with renting. So glad to get that taken care of, and not have that burden hanging over our shoulders. We have enough to deal with coming up!

Downsizing

Its official, we have listed our house on Emily's Rentals. To all of you, this is a shock because you know how much time and dedication we put into the house, not to mention that most of our memories are in this house. 

Months of discussions and weighing our options has lead us to believe that this is the best choice for us.  I LOVE our house, but its house is huge, 4 bedroom, 2 1/2 baths, 2 car garage, about 1/4 of an acre, and with the deployment (much too) quickly approaching it would be a lot for me to handle on my own.  So, its a done deal. We really think we will get a renter in quickly, because...

 Who wouldn't want to cook in that kitchen?           

  Or spend holidays with their family in this awesome dining room?

Or wake up in this huge master bedroom?

Or pull into that driveway ever day? 

 We love our house, but this seems like the best option...After the deployment (regardless of staying in or getting out) we won't stay here at Ft. Hood, meaning we would have a few months to sell our house, or rent it, before moving onto somewhere else. This way, we won't have to rush into making a decision in such a short amount of time.

I'm sure you are wondering, "Where will Amanda live?" and that brings me to the next section of this blog. "Where will I live?" We signed a lease today at an apartment complex here in Killeen called

The Bridgemoor at Killeen. They are really cute, and more like garden homes than your conventional apartment.  We liked them because they have real hardwood floors, granite counter tops, and real wood cabinets, plus there is only one floor so NO walking two dogs up and down tons of stairs every few hours! 

Apparently, there are some pretty awesome tax advantages to the renting of our house, and with following our Dave Ramsey guidelines, we are all about saving money and making money anyway we can. That's all for now. I'll update on the progress of finding a renter, moving, and trying to figure out where to put all of our stuff!!