Once upon a time

We got married. We lived happily in a little apartment in Swissvale for about 6 months after the wedding. Then, we started itching for something new. We would take turns feeling unfulfilled by our simple life. At times, we wanted a home. At times, we wanted a baby.

We talked a lot about which should come first. On the one hand, it seemed wiser to have a house first. Taking the mortgage plunge would only be harder once there is a child. Buying a house, moving, and fixing a house (in our price range) would only be harder once there is a child. On the other hand, we just wanted a baby. We had a 2-bedroom apartment, and there would be no shame in having a baby in our apartment. In fact, our rent was dirt cheap, and we were saving a lot of money for a new car or anything else we could want.

So I went off the pill. We also casually browsed the Howard Hanna website. We figured that since we couldn't decide which to do first, we would just see what happened first, and go from there. (Aren't we wild?)

A couple of months went by, and no baby. It was very discouraging. We decided to just relax, and let go for a few months, and not try so hard. And so we tried harder for a house. We made spreadsheets, we scoured the county assessment website, we calculated taxes and square footages and budgets. And then we saw the One. It was a 15-second drive from our apartment. The neighborhood was decidedly middle-class, the houses were cookie-cutter, but each one was a home. Our house had a huge backyard, a one-car garage, a front porch and a back porch, and we knew before ever taking a step inside that this was the One.

So we made an offer. They countered, we countered, and we came to agreement. We were going to be homeowners!!!

And about 2 weeks later, we found out we were going to be parents!!!

So the decisions were made. We would buy a house and have a child. This probably wasn't the smartest way to do it, but what's done is done.

Next we will go back in time. Since no one really cares about buying a house, and everyone cares about baby-making, I'll tell that story.