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Most things that I've worked for in life haven't come easily or quickly. (And there's nothing wrong with good things taking awhile! It teaches patience and faith, and builds character.) Whether it was years of singleness before meeting my husband, a lengthy job search to leave my old radio job in Charlottesville, or the even longer job search I had this past year after leaving radio for good and needing to find a new career. It is safe to say that I'm used to big things in life taking time!
I give that disclaimer above to say it is absolutely wild to me how quickly and seamlessly finding our first home went! To be honest, I'm still in shock about the accelerated timeline and how everything fell into place with this. Ryan and I were not expecting a quick experience with buying our first house, especially with how competitive and expensive the housing market is right now in Coastal Virginia. And yet, it all happened so quickly. It was truly such a gift for once in my life to have something so big happen almost instantly, rather than having a prolonged season of waiting first. This all has been a blessing from God that neither of us are taking for granted.
I started my new job in higher education in late May, and it was a few weeks later in June that Ryan and I both decided we did want to find a realtor and give home shopping a try this summer. We fully didn't expect to find anything, and we were prepared to re-sign our apartment lease for another year and resume house hunting sometime in 2026. But God really did have a much faster timeline for us!
We found our wonderful realtor, Perrin Duvall, in late June 2025. Finding Perrin was a blessing enough in itself! I found her through the recommendation of a friend that used her to sell their home last year, but quickly learned that Perrin and I also have several other mutual friends in the Virginia Beach area! Less than a week after meeting with Perrin for the first time, Ryan found the Zillow listing one morning of our house. And the rest is history!! The process moved incredibly fast. It's not been without some stress, anxiety and unexpected hiccups (is any home buying process totally absent of that?!), but overall has been so fast, positive and exciting! To any local folks reading: I can't recommend working with Perrin enough for buying (or selling) a home in Coastal Virginia!
I have so much more to share about the house with you soon! I'll also post a Q&A box sometime today or tonight on Instagram for you to ask any specific questions that you might have about this exciting life update.
And speaking of Instagram! One final piece of news: I'm starting a new Instagram account to document our home decorating process!! Don't worry- my main @miss_alk account isn't going anywhere. That will continue to be my main account, and focus on outfits, shopping finds and travel posts. But I wanted a special space specifically for sharing detailed home content. I imagine in the first year of home ownership it'll be a lot of decorating content, and then eventually move more into sharing fun hosting occasions and daily homeownership things! I'm excited to expand more in the home decor niche for content creation. I'd love if you followed the new Instagram account: @home.sweet.mead!
I'll leave you with a few fun home decor picks that I've been saving on my Amazon wishlist since our offer was accepted on the house. I cannot wait to decorate this space and make it ours!!
Crystal Door Knobs || Ginger Jar Topiary Mat || Blue Scalloped Frame || Block Print Pillow || White Ruffle Mirror || Blue Buffet Cabinet || Acrylic + Gold Drawer Pulls || Floral Lighting Fixture
God Bless,
xoxo Annaliese
Congratulations! So exciting!
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