Making a house into a home

It's been a busy few months for the husband and I. We've been in the process of figuring out if we can buy a house, and I had intended to make posts here detailing the steps we've taken and what we've learned so far. Unfortunately, I have to say that our search has been pretty discouraging, and I didn't feel like putting it down in words most of the time. I know that's probably the most useful information for everyone though - when people aren't successful - so at some point (when we have a final yes or no) I'll try to write down what we did and how long it took us.

The one thing I will say now falls on the "things nobody ever tells you" spectrum, where the information is likely relevant to many of our friends, especially the ones a few years younger than us. We were really sure that we'd have enough income and good enough credit ratings to get pre-qualified on a mortgage at maybe 70K or 80K. What no one told us until we were sitting down with bankers was that our deferred students loans were going to count against us. The law changed, at least in Illinois, a few years ago, and now banks have to consider every aspect of your debt before they give you a mortgage.

From an objective perspective this makes enough sense to me. What if the husband drops out or fails out of school? Suddenly we'd be saddled with $500 a month in loan payments, plus his income would be gone. Our ability to pay our mortgage would be severely threatened, and I understand that. But to me, our current stability should count more in our favor, especially considering the housing market right now. They've basically made it impossible for people to participate in the corporate banking system (admittedly, it's a pretty awful one), even though we have the money and could be contributing it in a time of national and global economic need.

So. Be careful with your loans. If you're not sure how much to take out, and think you might be interested in doing something like buy a house in the next few years, check out your state's mortgage laws. A quick call to a local banker should determine whether or not deferred loans will count against you when they calculate your debt/income ratio.

That's the bad side of things, but there have definitely been good things too! We're consistently making little improvements to our health and livelihood, one of which I just started two nights ago. Illinois has had some pretty unusual weather for mid-March, reaching highs in the mid-80s and being dry as a bone. The magnolias, daffodils, and hyacinths are all in bloom. It's lovely out, but it's also potentially misleading for people with gardens. No one's sure if there's going to be another hard frost, which certainly seems possible in the next two months. I had been thinking of buying vegetable and herb plants in May, but decided this week that I needed more joy in my life, and so I started SEEDS!

The guest bedroom has been transformed into a bit of a "tank room," between the lizard and the seedlings.

It's the warmest room in the house, with insulated curtains, heat lamps on the lizard, and direct sunlight. It's also the room where things won't get disturbed, as the cats and giant doggy aren't allowed in there.

Here's an updated picture of the little guy (Golly), hiding on the "cool" side of his tank where it's just 95 degrees. You can see from all the salt crystals built up on his nose that it's been pretty warm in there for the past few days. As a creature that sometimes likes it to be 120 degrees, though, I don't think he's complaining.

On the other side of the room are my two seedling trays. The instructions all said to keep the soil pretty damp, give them as constant sunlight during the day as possible, and maintain around a 70 degree room temperature. I was pretty sure the guest bedroom could accomplish this, but I still knew I'd need to be patient and that germination could take up to 3 weeks for some of these plants. Little did I know that two days later...

...I would have broccoli shoots! Look at all those lovely broccoli plants in the making. I guess the conditions were just right for them afterall! So far the broccoli, zucchini, basil, and tomatoes have already started poking up, while the rosemary and lavender are still dormant for now. We'll see in a few days though.

This last one is the "fun" seed that I decided to try. I've always loved sensitive plants, and used to keep them in my dorm rooms at college. I bought one when I moved to Illinois, just a little fella, and it promptly died on my windowsill. I thought I'd have to wait until the end of summer to get a new one, but I'm happy to say I was wrong. These little darlings above are sensitive plants just beginning germination. They're the one non-food plant that I've started this year, and we'll see how well they hold up. I'm pretty excited about them though.

Next up will be possibly making a few planters from wood with the husband, keeping up with the seeds, and of course, spending the next 2-3 weeks determining if we're buying a house afterall. Wish us luck!