The House

Wowsers!  Has it really been a month since my last post?!?  Yikes.  I did not intend to take a month off of blogging, but this has been the summer-o-travel for us as well as the summer-o-hecticness with buying a house among other summer projects.  I will save all the travel stories for another post, but in honor of closing on our house this week, I thought I'd share a few pictures with you.  How does that sound?

Here's a side view: brick front with Hardeeplank siding.

It has a drive under garage, which is new (and weird) to us, but apparently they are quite common here.  While I'm used to only one type of garage (attached, where you just drive up the driveway and straight in), here we've looked at homes with drive unders, side drives, and the traditional front style.  The nice part about a drive under is you get half a basement with it because the garage portion only takes up half of the space in the basement.  Most homes around here are either built on a slab or on a crawl space, so it is a bit of a luxury to have a basement even if it's only 1/2 a one.  The basement will be our primary storage space.

The bad part about a drive under, and the reason we really didn't want a house with this, is that every time you come home, you have to walk up all those stairs from the garage to the main level.  When I think about carrying groceries and R, it gets to be a little overwhelming.  But it's free (forced) exercise, and there were a ton of other good points about the home, so this is one area where we had to give in a little bit to something that wasn't our top choice.

We do have a formal dining room! 

We've never had a formal dining space before, so it's sort of exciting to think about.  I can finally get the hutch I've been wanting for years but never had the space for.  I can't wait to display some of the fine china and special pieces my grandma has recently given me.  These were items that she had displayed in her hutch, so it will be extra special to display them in mine.  Plus, it'll be so nice to have the extra dining space for hosting guests in our home.  We always have large groups of people over, so I'm looking forward to hosting here.  As you can see, we do have some wallpaper that needs to come down and painting to take place.  I don't know what color yet, but we shall see.

The kitchen is also an area that will need a little work at some point.  We have a small breakfast nook overlooking several of the trees in the yard. 

All of the appliances are new as well as the tile floor, granite counter tops, and tile backsplash.  I don't know what to do about the cupboards and dark-trimmed windows though.  This is a sign of the home being built in the late 80s.  The whole upstairs has white trim and white windows everywhere and the main level has these dark wood windows, trim, and doors.  We could paint the windows and trim, but that seems like such a huge task with so much attention to detail.  We do plan to paint some of the dark wood trim in other places, and I suppose we could paint the cupboards or reface the doors.  I just don't have a vision for what to do, but we have time to figure that out.  I know I want to brighten things up a bit but am afraid of it not looking good if we just paint over it.

We have another whole list of items we want to fix or update- trees trimmed, some landscaping problems fixed, repairs on the roof, and so on.  Once we close, we have to figure out what needs to be done before we move in and what is less urgent and can wait awhile.  Thankfully, we have about 2 weeks after we get possession of the home before we need to be out of our rental home.  We could probably push it and be out sooner (We both want to be.  Wait until you hear out latest critter stories), but it's nice to have the extra time and not have to stress about moving quickly.

Our new home is 3.5 miles from our current rental home, so DH and I figure we can load both our cars up and make several trips over on our own before we rent a truck to move all of the big items.  Hopefully, that way we can organize the items we bring over little by little.  Our new home is just 3.1 miles from DH's work and church!  Still super close, but it won't compare to the 0.9 mile commute he's had from the rental!  He's gotten spoiled here.  I know of another blogger who moved 3.1 miles away from her sister (Patiently Waiting....Kinda).  My DH appreciates the 3.1 number as he is a runner too (3.1 miles = 5K).

Anyway, lots more going on that I hope I get time to blog about.  It's still so hard for me to believe we are moving yet again.  It feels like we've been moving since last fall, which I suppose we have been when you factor in prep time, moving, and living in temporary housing.  Even though it's just a local move, this place has been our home for the past 7 months.  It's the place where R learned to crawl and walk, and of course holds memories for us.  It makes me a little sad to think about leaving,
but I guess that's the sentimental person in me talking.  On to new and different things in our own home!

A House Update

Sorry I've been MIA for 2+ weeks.  Phew...it's been a doozy of 2 weeks.  I'm exhausted from everything we've had going on.  I will re-cap most of the activities in another post, but for now I am long overdue on a house update.

We're buying a house!

I haven't had the chance to update y'all because we've had an insane travel schedule (more on that in another post), but basically things are working out with the house I had previously mentioned (house #2).  Out of the 10 offers they had, ours got accepted!

I think I mentioned some of the basics in a previous post about how it wasn't what we were thinking of as our dream home, but it was in an area we've had our eye on and just had to walk through it.  Our agent actually wasn't available, so we ended up walking through with one of her teammates.  I just had a sense that we needed to rush to get inside the home, and by the time we did, they had multiple offers on it already.  We pretty much had to make a quick decision (again) about putting an offer on, but this time the asking price was much lower than house #1 and I felt much better about putting an offer out there and seeing what happened.  Our agent told the sellers our story and they accepted our offer!  They had higher offers from investors, but were extremely adamant about selling their home to a family.  I have to respect that a lot.  And it makes me feel good about the neighborhood as well given that they didn't want their home to turn into a rental property from the investors.  The sellers had lots of documents for us to look at and tons of information about the house.  After our walk through and not spotting a speck of dirt, we felt good about the sellers for being so meticulous with their upkeep of the home.

But I kept thinking about how this was not the ideal time for me/us to buy a house.  I spent days talking about how I didn't want to buy a house now given DH's travel schedule, our family travel, etc. not to mention it's the hottest time of the year here in July and August.  Who in their right mind would choose to move?  Apparently, that's us.

But throughout the whole process we've had peace- peace that whatever was supposed to happen would.  From the time we put an offer on to waiting to hear back and then jumping through all the hoops of home buying, we have felt an overwhelming sense of peace.  It's been so completely different than with the 1st contract we had on a house.  I've been much more relaxed and calm.  No freakouts over the purchase of a home this time.  Seriously, what an amazing gift.  Perhaps because I've had too much on my mind with all the travel to really have the energy to get worked up.

Or perhaps because we did learn a lot going through the 1st contract and walking away from that home; we've been more relaxed this 2nd time around.  It was hard to walk away from the 1st house we fell in love with, but having gone through that process, we now have a better appreciation for all the great care taken in this 2nd home.  Yes, it stunk to lose money with the 1st house and I hated getting my hopes up only to have them dashed away by disappointment, but we learned so much through that experience.  We both agree that it was good for us to go through (sort of like our thoughts on IF as well...painfully brutal to have gone through, but it shaped who we are today and for that, the process was worthwhile.  That is definitely a reflection for another post as well).

Anyways, while I spent the first days of June thinking about all the reasons why I didn't want to buy a home right then,  God was clearly reminding me that this process is not about me, my wants, or my desires.  It's all about Him.  And once I realized that, it's like I let out a huge sigh of relief and sat back to enjoy (most of) the ride of home buying.

We went through the home again with our agent and she loved it. It felt bigger than we remembered from our initial walk through, which was a pleasant surprise to DH and I.  We negotiated terms of the contract with the sellers (they had lots of "Wants" on their list that we needed to comply with).  We put down more earnest money for them, we let them have a flexible closing date, we let them have possession of the home 4 days after closing, etc.

Then the house inspection went amazingly well.  The inspector commented on how the home was an anomaly to him because he just doesn't see homes in that good of condition (regardless of its age).  Everything that came up in the inspection was minor, and yet we still asked them to take care of a few things (service the furnaces and a/c units, fix some electrical outlets, clean up bat waste in the attic, repair a leak, and repair a few things on the roof/chimney) and they agreed to all the repairs!!

We got all the loan documents together and signed the day before DH had to leave for 3 weeks away!  Talk about God's perfect timing, huh?  The one week he was home, I was able to run around gathering all the docs they needed as well as getting him to sign everything.  Phew...that was a crazy week along with packing for his trip and ours. 

We negotiated the appraisal (it came in slightly under the contract price) and our mortgage has been approved.  The only thing we are waiting on is a closing date!  Simply amazing.  It's still hard to believe we are buying a home.  There's something so much more permanent about buying a home than just renting.  We really are becoming long term residents here (not that we wouldn't or couldn't staying in our rental home.  It just seems more permanent when you buy your own home).

We don't know if we will be here 5, 10, 15, or more years, which was the hard part about buying a home.  I still think we'll want/need to get better organized with our things to maximize space in the new home.  And we still have some items to sort through that we just ran out of time doing before the cross-country move.  Our home is "cute" and will become "cozy" unlike the 1st home which was "stunning" and felt "massive."  And DH and I are ok with cute and cozy.  It means our family will have to spend time together in the living spaces (and hopefully the kid/kids will want to).  People won't be able to retreat away and "get lost" in the house.  And it'll probably mean we think twice before we make purchases, so that we aren't buying unnecessary items that'll just take up space.  We are so comfortable with our budget for the new home and will still be able to save aggressively for retirement, tithe, and travel.  Those are all important to us.

I still don't understand the timing of this all as I would have preferred to wait until the fall, and yet I believe God is doing "something more" here that I can just begin to see.  He's reminded me (again) that I'm not in control, and trusting Him is the best place to be.

Quick Takes (38)

--- 1 ---

Homes: I have an update I've been mulling around in my head regarding the home we put an offer on.  It's an experiential faith lesson for me at the moment, and I'm still learning/processing it all.  Let me process a bit more before updating.  Sorry to leave you in suspense!

--- 2 ---

Video monitor: It seems like every day I kick myself for not getting a video baby monitor.  We settled for a baby monitor that we loved when R was little (it had a motion sensor under the mattress that would go off if she stopped breathing).  I could sleep easier at night not worrying about SIDS as much, but we no longer use the sensor pad.  And with all her activity in the crib lately, I'd love to see what she's doing (the other day she got her shirt half off).  Plus, I think it would be helpful to see what she's doing as I think about night weaning at some point, and helpful to see when she starts trying to climb out of the crib because I have a feeling that will be coming soon and I'd like to prevent direct falls on the head if possible.  So do I give in and just spend a few hundred on a new video monitor or ride this out??

--- 3 ---

Thunderstorms: I've forgotten what it's like to live in a place where you have to take cover during weather warnings!  We were spoiled in our previous home where severe storms were few and far between.  Yes, we had snow, but lightening, strong winds, and tornadoes were rare occurrences.  I still don't understand why all homes don't have basements around here.

--- 4 ---

Hard times a'coming: We're soon entering a time of summer where I must face several challenges from DH being out of town, to spending time with my mom (our relationship is extremely strained), to travel with a super active toddler, to a climate I don't enjoy, etc.  I'm trying to make realistic expectations for myself given all that is coming up and am praying already for peace, safety patience, and kind words.

--- 5 ---

Heat and humidity: I hate it.  DH hates it.  We knew we wouldn't like living in the South for this reason.  I might just hibernate to the kiddie pool for the next 3 months.  If you don't hear from me, its because I'm in the water and staying away from electrical items while wet.  Our rental home does not get cool.  The A/C seems to run constantly from 2:00 onwards and that can be with the air set at 80 degrees.  It's hot overnight.  The humidity makes our house smell like a combination of wet dog and mustiness.  We are so ready to find our own place and move.  Sorry for the whining.

--- 6 ---

Email responses: I'm terrible at responding to emails.  What is wrong with me?  I love getting mail in all forms (email, snail mail, etc.) And I love sending mail as well.  But lately, my in box just keeps getting fuller and fuller and fuller.  I can't put together many emails of coherent length at all.  And I just think about how far behind I am in the email department.  What is with the pokey little puppy approach to my email responses? 

--- 7 ---

And now I'm off to find some "cool" somewhere.  Oh what I wouldn't give to have a 70 degree day around here and I'm not talking about 70 at 3am!  Enjoy the weekend.

 

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Quick Takes (37): Hodge Podge

--- 1 ---

Women's conference: I had a fabulous time at the women's conference last weekend!  I was so glad I went.  I felt a little odd going by myself, especially when it came time to try and find a seat among the other 8,500 women there, but I mustered up the courage to do it both days and told myself I'd never see the women I was sitting next to again, so who cares if they thought I was a weirdo for sitting by myself.  The conference has given me a lot to think about and I'm still trying to find the time to process and put up a post on what I learned/was challenged with.

--- 2 ---

House hunting: We've continued the process.  And as much as I'm not interested in moving this summer because of all our traveling, we walked through a house yesterday that has us putting an offer on today!  It's an older, smaller, less open feeling home than the 1st one we had an offer on, but financially it is so much better for our comfort level.  It's in a great subdivision with swim/tennis and lots of activities for families. It's on a court (that would be a cul-de-sac for you Midwesterners- myself included) in a really nice neighborhood.  The home is older (built in 1987), but still the original owner who has meticulously cared for it.  We'd feel good buying from someone like that.  They listed everything out, including the types of bird species they regularly see from the deck!  Most major items have been replaced (roof, a/c units, furnaces, water heater, etc. and the siding and deck have recently been painted). We would need to do some updating (take down wallpaper, paint dark wood trim, etc.), but that would all be cosmetic and could come later.  It has a nice yard I can see R playing in and an unfinished basement for storage...well, 1/2 basement since it's a drive under garage.  My only issue is the square footage....I'm wondering if we will outgrow it at some point as it's hard to imagine what our family will look like in 5 or 10 years.  They already have 6 offers on the home (1 from a family for close to list price and 5 from investors for over list price), so we are #7 but they only want to sell their home to a family.  So we wait and see what happens over the weekend, but I'm really ok with whatever happens.  I've come to terms with the financial sacrifices we need to make if I stay home and if we want to continue to tithe 10% and save 20% for retirement.  I love the newer homes built after 2000 and how open and roomy they are, but we just can't afford those in this particular school district on one income.  I'm ok with whatever happens with our offer.  We shall see.

--- 3 ---

A baptismal birthday.  R's baptismal birthday is coming up and I'm wondering how to celebrate.  Do any of you celebrate your baptismal birthday (the specific day you were baptized)?  I always send a card to our Godchildren to acknowledge the special day each year and remind them of the importance of their baptism, but I'm wondering what sort of traditions to start with R.  There's always so much emphasis on actual birthdays- the physical day we were born.  Why not place the same or greater level of importance on the date of our baptism- a day that marks our spiritual re-birth?  I know R won't remember what we do now, so I guess it's more of a question for down the road, but I'd like to start some sort of traditions with it now.  Hmm....ideas?

--- 4 ---

Summer Bible study: I've decided to try participating in an online Bible study of sorts this summer (well, really just 6 weeks starting next week).  My personal time with God and His Word has really been lacking since we moved here.  I read a short devotion with a Bible verse in the evening and journal a few thoughts down on the remainder of the page.  I pray throughout the day and with DH in the evening.  I attend worship on Sundays.  I think about God-related matters frequently.  That is about the extent of my spiritual walk, and it seems to be the sparsest it's been for awhile, and I'm not proud about it.  I saw this study on a blog, and just felt it would be so good for me.  It's a study based on Gideon about my weakness and God's strength.  I'm not super familiar with Gideon, but reading about the study seems so valid for me right now because I feel so weak in my parenting skills, my ability as a wife lately, etc.  It starts on Tuesday with a video that will be uploaded to a blog and then there are 5 days of homework (readings about Gideon, questions about the Bible, and personal questions).  This goes on for 6 weeks.  If anyone wants to join me, I'd love to have a study buddy or two!  More details can be found here. 

--- 5 ---

Upromise: If any of you were interested in setting up a Upromise account that I mentioned in a previous post, let me know because I can send you an email to sign up and we'll both get $5 in our account!  Sweet. Free money.  I like free money!  This is only good until the end of June, so let me know ASAP.  Upromise is a way to save for college (for you, your child, or existing loans you have).

--- 6 ---

Travel plans: I'm kicking myself that I didn't buy some of our airline tickets earlier this spring when I first started looking.  I've traveled enough by now that I should have known to book earlier rather than later, but I was waiting to see if the flight on a specific airline would come down to the lower price another airline offered.  It hasn't and now we're probably going to pay $100 more a ticket.  Dumb $200 mistake, PPIW.  And now I wonder if I just book to prevent the price from going further up or wait and see if it comes down again.  There are still plenty of seats, so that does give me options, but it's a gamble and I've never been one to like gambling!

--- 7 ---

And this, you see, is what happens when I actually start Quick Takes on Thursday.  They all of a sudden become Long Takes when I finish them with all my wordy details on Friday.  Ah, well.  Enjoy the weekend!!

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Quick Takes (36): The state of affairs around here

--- 1 ---

Sleep.  I got 4 solid hours of sleep two nights in a row...woo hoo and then slept another 3 hours!  R has been waking up 3 times overnight to nurse, and we've slowly been trying to get it down to none or at least 1.  The hardest part has been figuring out what sleep training method we think will work best for her: cry it out, no cry sleep solution, baby whisperer, Ferber method, etc.  We briefly dabbled with CIO and NCSS, and it was very clear those were not the methods for us.  I picked up a copy of the Baby Whisperer for Toddlers, and have been reading about how to make her feel safe and secure and to trust I will be there in the morning, how to develop clear routines, etc..  I've been implementing a few of the strategies, and maybe they are working?!?  I still think we need to do something more direct with the overnights, but baby steps, folks.  I'm looking at the positives.

--- 2 ---

Cow's milk.  R doesn't like it.  Her pediatrician said as long as I'm still nursing, I don't need to introduce cow's milk, but I was trying to get her to drink it thinking that would help reduce the overnight feedings.  She loves her sippy cup of water during the day, so I tried to add a little milk to that...nope, wouldn't take it. I tried mixing a small amount with my milk...nope.  She doesn't really like dairy either (cottage cheese, yogurt, cheese.....she won't eat any of it).  Do I just keep offering her dairy and eventually she'll take some?  What if she has a dairy allergy?  I have a dairy sensitivity, and I did have to cut out dairy while nursing early on because of her reflux.  Hmm...not sure how to proceed with that one.  I'll probably just give it some time and things will work out. That seems to me my mantra around here.

--- 3 ---

A 3 year old.  A friend posted on Facebook about how her daughter was turning 3, and all of a sudden I remembered that this was the good friend who told me she was pregnant shortly before I found out I was pregnant for the 1st time in 2009.  And it hit me....I could have had a 3 year old right now if we hadn't lost that baby to miscarriage.  June 2nd was our due date with baby #1.  It's a date that I always remember, but it short of snuck up on me this year.  And for some reason, I feel sadder now thinking about what might have been.  Perhaps because I've seen what joy R has brought into our lives, it makes me sad to know what we missed out on with baby #1 (and #2 for that matter since R was #3).  And while I can't imagine my life any different right now with an older child, I still mourn the loss of those babies I haven't yet met.  But June 2nd is also the date of our sponsor child's birthday.... someone we choose specifically because of her birth date and wanting to honor the memory of our 1st baby, so beauty does rise up from the ashes.  It does.

--- 4 ---

Women's conference.  I'm going to a women's conference this weekend.  I'm really excited because my soul needs some filling.  Everyone from church that said they would join me has bailed, and since I had already purchased my ticket to the event, I'm going alone.  At first I was really depressed about it saying, "I don't have any friends here," "Poor me, I have to go alone," blah, blah, blah.  I was mad that I had already purchased my ticket because I would have just decided not to go, but I'm too cheap to lose the money since I've already paid for it.  And now I'm ok with going to the conference alone and am looking forward to seeing what God is going to speak to me because I'm ready to listen.

--- 5 ---

Ants.  We have ants in our house.  Mainly they are in the dishwasher, but nothing has gotten rid of them yet.  I run the dishwasher and while it's still hot in there, the ants are still crawling around inside.  I don't know what to do to get rid of them.  We have traps set and I daily clean up things in the kitchen.  Ugh.

--- 6 ---

Raccoon.  We also have a raccoon on the roof. Lovely.  I heard a bunch of thumping around two nights ago when I got up to feed R around 2am. I still heard it around 4 or 5am.  Then that morning around 6:30, I was looking out the window towards the roof to see if I could see anything on the roof, and a little raccoon face peers around the chimney on the roof!  It's like he was looking right at me mocking me.  ha, ha.  I kept you awake last night.  I tried to chase him away from inside, but he just ran to another part of the roof and came down later because then I saw him was walking on our deck at 7am.  Once we determined he didn't look rabid, I made DH run outside and chase him away!  Ugh.  We are so ready to move from this rental.

--- 7 ---

June. I can't believe it's June tomorrow!  We're entering our summer travel time with lots of trips coming up.  I'm excited for them but also nervous to travel with a toddler who likes her routine, familiar surroundings, and sleep.  We'll how that all works out in the coming weeks and months.

Happy weekend, y'all!

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Blogger In-Training

We're starting out the training young:-) Perhaps she'll surpass both DH and I in our blogging and emailing efforts.

Since this video was shot, we have pulled out an old laptop that we no longer use for her to play with.  We don't turn it on, but she still has fun banging away on the keys and opening and closing it!

God's Timing vs. My Own

I've been thinking a lot about God's timing lately.  This was the weekend we were going to move into our new house, or at least that's what we put in the documents when our contract was accepted.  We were supposed to close on Friday, and then the previous owners wanted to have a few days to move all their things out.  We were to get possession of the home tonight and then starting tomorrow, would have been off and running to clean and get the house ready for us to move things in.  Instead, we're having a nice, quiet, relaxed weekend and looking forward to R's 1st time in a swimming pool tomorrow.  A far different scenario than the one that was in my mind for Memorial weekend.

In some ways, I'm a little sad that we're not getting ownership of a home this weekend.  Both DH and I are tired of the rental home we live in.  Now that the humidity has started rising, our home smells like a wet dog.  It's so gross.  The previous homeowners did have dogs, and the flooring here is so old, that it's just retained the smell.  And they did clean the carpets before we moved in! 

The insulation is terrible in the home, the windows are single-pane energy suckers, we've had animals in the attic, leaks and drips in R's room, standing water in the basement, broken doors and garage springs, ants in our dishwasher, cockroaches in every room of the house and the kitchen cupboards, and the list goes on.  I think the problem is the home was vacant for so many years before we moved in, and just hasn't been taken care of.  We are both ready to be in our own place, and it would have been nice to be on the road to making a new place our permanent while we reside in this southeran state.

In other ways, I'm ok that our lives are a little less hectic right now.  It's been nice to not think about the stress of moving and we really haven't been doing much house hunting either aside from looking at the email listings.  I've been accomplishing things around the house and feeling productive getting caught up.  Of course, we are still having major nighttime sleep issues with R, but that's a whole other post for another day (I need your help, y'all).

Back to God's timing.  When we first signed the contract, I remember thinking how perfect the timing of the home purchase was.  We would have had a few weeks to get everything moved in before our 6 month lease ran out on the rental home.  We could have slowly made a bunch of small trips over before DH has to go out of town.  I would have been able to be in the new home while he was away; thus feeling safer by myself than I do here.  And the list goes on. 

Everything seemed to fall into place with us being able to get inside the home and make an offer that same day before they accepted another.  "God's perfect timing" I kept thinking to myself as things lined up nicely in my head to make the move.  Yes, I had my freakout moments with how quickly things happened, but I just kept thinking to myself that the opportunity was God's timing. 

And then things began to crumble and we made the decision to walk away from the home.  We both felt peace about it, but I walked away scratching my head a little bit wondering where was God's timing in it all?  What had seemed so clear to me was no longer the case.  In my mind (my timing), it seemed perfect, and yet I have to believe that God has something better in store for us with a home.  I think about Ephesians 3 (verses 20 and 21, I believe) where it talks about God being able to do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine.  And I guess that's the idea I'm clinging to right now...a house even better than I can imagine for us to raise R in for these next several years (we're thinking we'll be here 10+ years...maybe).

It's not coming in my timing but in God's.  And while those two timings haven't often lined up- I think about dating, marriage, pregnancy and how I thought I was ready for each years before they actually happened- God's timing does always seem to be the better one once I'm able to look back on it and see the final result.  So I will attempt to trust the One who knows me even better than I know myself.  He is giving us yet again another opportunity to trust Him with the provision of the home.  It's scary for me to not be the one in control, and yet it's humbling and faith-producing.

So instead of celebrating with new home ownership this weekend, we're looking at extending our lease and realistically thinking it may be fall before we find a home.  Everybody and their brother is out looking for a home at the moment, so they can move before the next school year starts in August.  Sellers are getting their asking prices or more, and the competition is fierce.  Homes are going off the market in just one day.  I said all along that I wasn't interested in getting caught up in that game, so I'm ok waiting it out for a few more months.  It's harder on DH though.  He really doesn't consider this place home at all, not even a temporary home.  He's so intent on settling down that this renting has been hard for him.

And yet through this whole process, I know God is teaching both of us to trust Him, turn to Him, and rely on Him to provide our needs.  That is reason to celebrate this weekend and enjoy all that He has given us!  I hope you're doing the same.