When we started on our house search we had certain "requirements" that we wanted in a house: three bedrooms and two bathrooms were about it. Our "wants" list was more square footage, an office area, a spacious laundry room, at least an acre of land, and enough room in our kitchen to keep our deep freezer. Of course, we didn't want to get a loan we couldn't afford, so our options seemed limited.

Tonight Brandi and I recounted all of the extra blessings we have with our new place:

- Instead of a laundry room, we have a roughly 100 square foot utility room with cabinets, a rack for hanging laundry, a sink, and a door to the outside (it's also adjacent to the kitchen, which Brandi loves).

- We have a huge walk-in pantry with enough room to horde canned goods for years.

- It's a four bedroom house, which allows us to have an extra room as a guest room.

- We have a 200 square foot second living area which we'll utilize as a homeschool room and study.

- We have an enormous living room with a good-looking fire place and lots of windows.

- We're blessed with two acres of Texas land with great soil. Yee Haw!

- We've got a 500 square foot detached metal building (we call it "the shop," see the photos below) that was only built a few years ago.

- The land also comes with a ratty old two-car carport (we call it "the shed") which many of our country friends have told us we could easily convert to a barn.

- The house has a durable metal roof (a definite plus!) and attractive stone siding.

- A fixed rate loan with a 4.875 interest rate!

- Last but not least, we've got a couple of beautiful oak trees and a pecan tree.

- Oh yeah, one more thing, we're getting all of that for only $40 more per month than our current rent payment. We're amazed. It truly is a buyer's market out there.

We're very happy with our new place!

Here are a couple of photos of the shop ...





And here's a photo of the back of the shed ...