it's official...we're getting a house!

we arrived in utah on july 6th and have worked dilligently since then to find the right house for us. we were really quite picky. below are some of the things we wanted.

* to live within 3 miles of campus.
* a slightly older home that had some funky element.
* a place with a small yard.
* a 4 bedroom/3 bathroom house.

with that in mind, we put in an offer on a really funky house--but that offer was rejected. we then decided to put in an offer on a place (actually the house that was brian's first choice when we moved to utah), and it wasn't rejected! it really meet most everything we wanted, and there are a few bonuses (it has a firepit in the backyard, it has a basement apartment we can rent out, and it is only a 12-minute walk to brian's office).

so after going back and forth with the seller for a few weeks on price and other issues...we finally have it under contract and are excited about it. we hope to close on friday the 15th and then start moving in on the 16th. in this buying process, we discovered a few things.

* it really helps to have a good agent. thanks peter!
* it's good to know what you want.
* nothing beats buying a place from a contractor. our seller is so handy. he replaced the family room asbestos ceiling in 1/2 a day. he's replaced all the showers in the house, he replaced the roof, ect, ect.

without further adieu, below are some pics (the second is the view of the mountains from our place). we'll send more once we're in. yea!