I’ve been house-hunting for a while–well, mostly planning on house-hunting while I saved up the money and got all the bills cleaned up and such. At any rate, I found one, and bought it. It’s a little three-bedroom ranch close to the old neighborhood, and although it’s not anything fancy or amazing–it’s amazing to us. It’s just me and the two youngest kids now (my 18 yo is living on his own) and a passel of dogs and cats, and we feel like we’re in heaven. Hurray!
I’ve painted and organized and painted some more, and am starting to accumulate some furniture. I’m cooking again (very good!), spending more time with the kids, painting some more, and overall finding the whole experience a blast. I’ve never bought a house all on my own before, so it’s a whole different experience.
For Christmas, I’m buying myself one of those DIY home fixit books, so I can do minor repairs and things. The dog fence goes in this weekend. Plans are in the works to insulate the garage so that I can do candle and soap out there. Ahh! Projects!
I don’t have cable/internet yet, so I only get to post on weekends when I’m working (heh. love this job.) but I’ve been wanting to spread the word. I have some lovely friends and confidantes here, and I always feel like there are folks here who might be happy with me. 
Best,
karol
Congratulations. Wishing you luck and joy in your new home!
How wonderful! I’m very happy for you, that’s quite an accomplishment.
Don’t forget the wonderful search archives here when you come up against the thorniest of home improvement problems. My boyfriend thinks I’m brilliantly handy and able to fix most anything, he doesn’t realize I just search for previously given advice on here. 
Congratulations
We bought an old fixer-upper out in the woods in 2001 and that ‘wow this is really mine’ feeling still hasn’t worn off and it gets stronger with every project that we finish. Sometimes I just sit on the porch and look out at the view and the gardens and grin from ear to ear. Ours isn’t fancy either but I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
Congratulations.
I bought my first home a year ago, before that I always rented. It is such a wonderful feeling to realize it is your home and you can make everything to your exact liking!
A tip for furniture; If there’s an ikea near you, go visit it an look for furniture you love. Try out sofa’s, beds, etc. If the price of new Ikea furniture is too high for you, then go on E-bay *and look for used Ikea stuff. *As the furniture is so inexpensive, often people throw out perfectly good stuff to replace it with the latest style, and that’s where you can profit. I did it that way with a lot of my furniture.
Congrats to you! There’s nothing like house projecting! Love it love it love it~ Be sure to post your befores and afters.
Yaaay! All your hard work paid off! Room for candle- and soap-making, oh my. Congrats!
Congrats!!! We were also very happy to get our first house, which is nothing fancy, and only cost us a little over 50K. But to us it was a dream come true.
I just wish I had the energy for some of the DIY projects you are doing! I have put off some painting and new flooring for 10 years already. So it is great that you are doing it right away. If you wait, it may never get done.
Have fun!
So when do we all get to come and help build the white picket fence? 
Home ownership is a giant pain in the neck. There’s always something that needs fixing, painting, nailing, rewiring, mowing, cleaning, replacing, rebuilding . . . The Money Pit is not a movie, it’s a documentary! Nothing but headaches, headaches, headaches.
It’s great. Congratulations, and welcome to the club!
Congrats! I knew you when you (and soon enough me) didn’t have 2 quarters to rub together.
Congratulations on your new home!
Congratulations, and when it comes to home furnshings, Craigslist is your friend!
We’re still waiting for that - we bought our house to fix up and sell, so everything we’ve done has been with an eye to what buyers would like to see. Our next house is for us, and we’re really looking forward to it (next year, hopefully).
Congrats, bodypoet.