Here to Stay (alternate title: Her Very Own Backyard)

Looks like we're here to stay. Alan and I have decided that we love New Jersey so much—the accents, the aggression, the weather—that we might as well plunk down an exorbitant amount of cash and sign away our lives. That's right: We bought a house.

After years of apartment living, I can't wait to be a homeowner. I know it comes with a lot of work and maintenance and gutter-cleaning and snow shoveling and paying for garbage pickup. And property taxes. Holy mother of all property taxes, by the way. New Jersey ranks No. 1, as in, most expensive in the nation. We know how to pick 'em!

But it also comes with a sense of relief that maybe we won't be moving once we hit the two-year mark, the freedom to paint the walls any color we choose, renovation adventures that are sure to come, and most importantly, a backyard. I cannot wait for little Martikins to have her very own backyard. (Also nice is that I won't have to put on pants and a coat at 5 a.m. and walk down a long hall to take Marti out.)

The house we got is pretty much adorable, if I do say so myself. Which is surprising and lucky, because after looking at about 30 houses, it is literally the only one of the lot that is actually livable. Our criteria wasn't all that stringent either. My priority was a backyard. Alan's? A dishwasher. Little did we know that we should have put items on our must-have list like "No standing water in the basement" or "Alan's head doesn't hit ceiling" or "Absolutely no gaping, muddy monster's lair holes in the basement walls."

So our house is not only cute, but it satisfies important criteria. Alan can stand up in the basement, the main floor and the second floor? Check! Backyard? Check! Dishwasher? Check! Add in the fact that it's got a fireplace, a bonus den, a finished basement AND a formal dining room? You can imagine our excitement. Sure, there is a random second flight of stairs that goes from the upstairs bathroom down to the kitchen, but maybe they did things differently in 1927.

We close tomorrow and will camp out there tomorrow night. Our official move-in day is Wednesday, at which point I will hopefully be able to unearth my camera charger and start taking pictures and documenting my life via blog again. You know you want pictures of that random second staircase.