House

Well we have our closing date set and the due diligence runs out in 3 days so I am going to risk it and go ahead and post this picture of, dare I say it, our new house. This is it! What do you think? We think it is incredible and one of the largest (physically at least) blessings in our family to date. I mean.. it's even our style you know? It is unique in a neighborhood that was built in the 60s and has many lovely split levels and brick ranches. To be honest the first time we saw it on the site we were sure it was too good to be true. Turns out, it wasn't. 

I haven't written much about this process because it has been so new and different which, inevitably, sends me on a roller coaster ride of emotions that no one wants to be a part of.. seriously! Stephen is a saint. In a nutshell once we were under contract and had the home inspection done, there were things that needed to be fixed. Big things like the roof. Oh me of little faith lost hope right away and figured we would need to move on. Our financing is structured in such a way that the only way we could purchase the home, was if the sellers were willing to do all the repairs. All of them. Most minor things but the list was twenty some items in length. It would take a miracle and as it turns out the sellers were(are) that miracle. They agreed to make all the repairs. We have the re-inspect on Tuesday and I can't wait to see the results. The appraisal came in where it needed to be so we are well on our way to the new closing date on November 30th. We are so excited. 

Last week was apparently the week of furniture. We will have a living room and a den (with a fireplace!) in the new place and we were hoping to have a least a few things to move in with. Another couch, possibly two end tables and a credenza of some kind for the TV. A wish list since none of it was essential to life but each of which would have been a nice addition to the comfort of home. I have been looking for weeks in Craigslist - casual browsing of all things vintage (since we are so picky about appearances). Suddenly I found a vintage sleeper sofa, a credenza, a fabulous vintage lamp, and 2 end tables (one of which is Lane and worth about 5 times what I paid for it) in the space of 48 hours! For a total cost of a little over $200 since we need every penny we have for expenses related to this process. See how good God is? Not only has taken care of our every need but suddenly even our wants have come to fruition! Not just stuff we can live with.. stuff we are psyched to find! Stuff we would have paid more for but... didn't have too :)

The last thing I will say about this process is that it is taking a tremendous amount of trust. Something I am quite the novice at. This home buying thing kind of came as surprise for us. Didn't know we were even good candidates, had no idea it was even a possibility.. thus we were unprepared financially. We had our emergency fund. That was it. We were blessed with an incredibly generous check from a beloved family member and though I thought it might be extra, it has turned out to be just what we needed to make this happen. We are going to coast into this closing on grace. But His grace is sufficient and I am clinging to that promise.

Anyway, just wanted to give everyone an update from the home front. I am having trouble with all of this info backing up in my brain so I am challenging myself to write something every day from now until the closing. Hold me too it you guys! Please! I really need this outlet right now.