As many of the readers of this website know, my fiancee and I are looking at buying a home.

Yesterday, we took one of the first crucial steps in the process: applying for a mortgage.

Names have been changed to protect both the innocent and guilty in this re-creation.

From the beginning of this process, we have been flying by the seats of our respective pants by not getting financing before we look for a home, but we decided to end that and sign our souls to the bank in perpetuity.

Our down payment will be fairly sizeable, thanks to a forgiven loan from a secret donor whose name will not be revealed, but we are still uncertain of how much we could afford, and what rate to go for.

"Just see how much you can get," said the overly cheerful woman at the front desk.

Cheerful or not, she was right. If we were going to get out of the proverbial tar-paper shack that we live in currently, a massive mortgage will be coming down the pipe.

After waiting half an hour for the loan officer -- in the spirit of continuing to fly by the seats of our pants, we didn't make an appointment -- she appeared; an attractive woman who destroys people's dreams of home ownership with the stroke of a pen.

I entered her office as Kirk Pedersen, web producer, but left as Kirk Pedersen, begging, sniveling rat.

The loan officer introduced herself pleasantly and asked us various questions about our past, bad debts, loans, and anything else that may hamper our ability to get approved.

The feeling in the room was similar to that of a root canal, with myself and my fiancee giving the officer reasons why the bank should give us more debt to climb out from.

After running the numbers, she returned to us and said that I had an excellent credit rating, and even though that's not a surprise, it still feels good to hear.

We left not knowing if we were approved or not, but I received a call several hours later from the officer saying that I would have been approved for what we were asking for and more.

The place we were interested in? Subjects were removed by the first offer a few hours before.

The search continues..