The countdown begins....

We finally did it :) six weeks, 50+ houses, two realtors, and numerous Internet searches later....we have our home! The home inspection was completed last week and came back fairly clean. There are a few things (old gutters, cracked sidewalk, etc) that we are getting estimates on today.  Good news is, in 25 days (or less!!) we'll get to sleep in our new home!!

Husband man has already asked me to stop counting down each day, it's annoying to him haha but I just won't tell him :) I don't have photos on my iPad, but I'll try to upload some soon. I already picked paint colors out for our bedroom and my sunroom. I can hardly wait. It's such a big house with extra bedrooms that we can grow into....hopefully with a nursery and not just a bunch of stuff :)

It doesn't look like I'll have a teaching position this year. I'm thinking about going into something different and still working with kids. We haven't decided anything permanently, but if I'm not going to work is it really worth my time subbing only to walk away from a job in a few years. I don't know? I go back and forth. It's what I love to do and I've been told I'm pretty daw gone good at it. Ivealso been told I won't be able to leave my kids so I'll probably end up staying home with them. Both our moms did that when we were little....I just don't know.

I also don't know if I'm ready to enter mommy world yet. With husband man being 6 years older than me, maybe we are getting closer to that time. I have this huge fear of still not being needed or wanted. What would I do if my kids aren't affection and don't want hugs? What if they are early independent kiddos who waltz right not preschool without a second look. When I teach, I know I have students who need me to be there. There day isn't the same without me.

I've been told its very selfish of me, and I have come to agree, but that doesn't mean I've ended the struggle with feeling like I gave up my whole world for this move. Yes the hours are better for him, but honestly, I did believe there would be something here for me too. There still isn't. No one needs a newbie teacher they never met before.  Somedays it's almost suffocating....I just want to have a reason for being here.

25 days.....at least I can start painting then :)

t-minus...

We negotiated a price over the weekend and received the scanned Agreement of Sale this morning in our email :)  WAHOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!

Now we wait.
We wait on our realtor to call the home inspector and set that appointment up.
Then we wait for the home inspection report to come back.

Then we decide if it's still worth the negotiated amount....

Then we get to go through banking paperwork.

BUT FINALLY!!!!  We'll have a closing date...

Right now, that date is estimated on or before September 24th.

I can't wait :) It will be such a wonderful day when we open that front door and I know it's our home <3

OOOO Guess what?!

Thursday came and we went with our realtor to visit three homes....two we had seen before, one was a new one.  We had high hopes for the new one; judging by the photos online it looked like a decent outside with an inside that needed a little love and fixing up.

Little didn't come close to describing the amount of love this new house will need.  It appears as though someone wanted to flip it; and they started to.  They had made some progress but then apparently got terribly mad and took foot & fist to walls and nice work causing much damage.  Plus there was one room that was painted a bright blue floor to ceiling.  It needed more love than the two of us have to put into the home.

So guess what?!  Friday we put an offer in on the house I've been praying for since the first day we went house hunting.  It was the second house we walked through....I loved it then and I love it now.  It's a big house with bedrooms to grow into.  It has a living room with a pretty bay window and that beautiful dark trim that only comes with a 1926 home.  There is a dining room and a cute little sun room that I know will become my favorite little hiding place :)  The kitchen has more than twice the cabinet and counter space than our current home.  There is a half bath downstairs and a normal size full bath upstairs.  There is a laundry room/mud room which has an entrance to the backyard (perfect for a muddy or wet dog!).  The basement stays dry and husband said he could put a work bench and his tools down there and they wouldn't be ruined.  It's tall enough for us to stand up and walk in....though probably not my 6foot + brother....but he won't be in our basement much anyways!!  The main floor has tall ceilings (BEAUTIFUL!) and the upstairs ceilings are of normal height.....not low like many of the houses we have seen.

We spent the weekend negotiating the price and came to an agreement Sunday evening.  I don't know if I have slept as well in the last 5 weeks as I did last night.  It's a wonderful relief and a great way to go into week 6....there is light at the end of this "temporary housing" tunnel.  My husband man seems satisfied with the price we'll be paying and just keeps reminding me that we need to wait on a good home inspection report.

I don't think he believes me when I say I know everything will be fine :)  God showed me this home weeks ago and it just took us forever to come full circle back to it.  Husband man will be able to sleep soundly knowing we walked through every (and I do mean EVERY) other option....knowing we made a good choice......

So, dear bloggy world readers, we are one home inspection and a load of bank paper work away from moving into a beautiful home in a wonderful old town.  It will put us 2.5 hours away from his parents and just under an hour from mine.  It's not perfectly in the middle of the two, but both are only a days drive away and we'll be able to see both families often.

I spent the weekend thanking God for bringing husband man around to considering this house; asking Him to let the home inspection go well; and apologizing for whining a few weeks back.  I figure He probably laughed at me and again said 'Child, when will you learn to just trust me?"

The other exciting part.....last Monday three elementary teaching positions were posted on the school district's website that we'll be moving into.  I applied on Tuesday and I received an email today saying my application was received and is in the review process....I'm crossing my fingers for this one now.....

the roller coaster...

There are two things you sweet bloggy people should know about me.

1-I despise roller coasters. I don't like riding them, I'm terrified at watching people I love ride them (seriously! what if they fly off right in front of me!) and I canNOT stand the feeling of a dropping stomach.  UGH!  Nothing about that is enjoyable to me.  I fully respect people (like my husband man) who enjoy them as they were created to be enjoyed.  I appreciate the fact that not everyone has an anxiety attack at the thought of getting on one, but this chick prefers to keep her feet on the ground and be the "can you hold this bag" lady :)

2-I am a terribly emotional person.  So much of my life feels like a roller coaster.  Some days I appreciate my "emotionalness" other days I do crave a switch that would allow me to turn it off and be semi-logical about such things.  Maybe that is why the good Lord brought a man that is a logical as I am emotional into my life and said "marry him".  Hmmmm....there's a thought!

So we are half way through week 5 of our "temporary home" situation.  I have become a bit stir crazy I will admit.  Thank goodness for a second car and a nice library with reliable internet service :)  At least I get a little bit of the outside world.  My mama, mama-in-law, sisters, and best friend have been constant phone companions :)  Thankfully they enjoy talking (or at least they pretend to for my sake) and have been willing to take on my emotionalness so that I can appear somewhat level headed for my husband man when he comes home.

School starts in a few short weeks and hopefully someone will need a substitute teacher!

We have one house to look at tonight.  A ranch style whose carpets are currently the beautiful shade of 1960s green....haha I know right?  I think husband man is hoping this turns out well....I was too until last night's conversation.

He asked me to list the houses in the order I would live in them....my favorite being first.  I had given up on my "ah it's the one" house after the third time I brought it up and him saying "M....really?  There's this and this and this and this".  But it still ranked number 2 on my list last night.  I told him I'd never fully give up on it.  I'll make a home anywhere we choose to live, but until that last paper is signed and someone hands me a new key to unlock our bigger nut hut, I will always choose this house......

Well, last night....rather out of the blue...it topped his list....pending the house we're looking at tonight, and the one new one we are looking at tomorrow....and as long as the home inspection comes back okay...

Oh my word!! I think I almost cried.  Except that I made him repeat it....then I sat and stared at him.  Really?  You're still thinking about that one?  "Yes kind of" was his simply logical reply.  So I calmly began telling him how joyful I was that it's still on our list.  Giddy almost really.  I told him of the dream I had about bringing a baby home to that house and knowing it was supposed to be ours.

"But M, why for this price has it been there so long?" and to this I said "Because it's waiting for us and we're taking our good ol time getting to it."

We have made no commitments to any house at this point.  And if you asked me to honestly tell you if I thought we would really buy this house....I don't know that he'll really want to.  But it's still on our list, and we're going to see it again tomorrow night (for the 3rd time!!!!!) and there is a very large part of my heart that is simply saying "God, did you show me that in hopes that I would wade through all these other homes only to come back to this and be so grateful for it?  Please?????"

No matter how it ends, for a few moments last night I felt as though my desires, and wants, and pleading hadn't been fully ignored.  They weren't being overlooked by my husband.  He was listening....he just thought it best to wait 4 weeks to show me.

Would you pray that this beautiful home is the one we get to move into??  And if it's not supposed to be that one, that we would find the one we are to move into soon?

square one and a happy puppy...

Well, after a calm discussion last night, we have come to the conclusion we're back at square one with the nut hut hunt :)  Go figure! We have three "for sale by owner" homes to walk through this morning.  Two are brand new, one is a nice one we looked at last weekend and want to look at again.  *crossing fingers* Maybe today will be the day....I'm praying.  One of the new ones is just a few minutes from husband man's work place....so I think he's pulling for that one!

**I had this post ready last weekend, but our sketchy free wifi failed :)  Sorry it has taken a while to load, but I hope you find the video as funny as I did.  The house hunt continues....five new ones on the list to see.....ugh...**

In the meantime, please enjoy the video of our puppy...husband man has a feather pillow.  We discovered that she LOVES feathers. Have a laugh and a happy Saturday.

Isn't she adorable?!

there's no place like home...

I stumbled up this quote photo on Pinterest (my current favorite way to waste hours at a time) and a few months back when I posted it, I didn't realize the significance it would hold for me now. I shall try in a hopefully eloquent way, to explain the drive behind this post.

At one point during my college time, I sat through an evening with a well known christian author.  He spoke about stories and how all stories have 3 main parts.  The beginning, the middle, and the end.  Being a teacher  I would have to agree with his statement.  He went on to further describe how the Bible models this three act story layout.  You have the Old Testament which provides the beginning and background for the church; the middle comes and Christ appears.  You have the climax of his life, death, and resurrection.  The Bible concludes with giving you a preview of what is to come when the third act begins.  We are currently still living in this second act.  The church as we know it today, is the middle of this story.  Act 3 hasn't begun yet and it won't until the good Lord decides to come back.  What an act 3 that will be....Shakespeare has nothing on Him :)

Because we are "stuck" in act 2, there is something deep inside our soul that longs for the end of the story.  Most people would agree there is nothing worse than a story that does not end. My least favorite movies are "cliff hangers".  My least favorite books are those which should have another but the author decides to stop.  We were created with a "three act story" mentality.  So we wait for the third act of our story to begin.  Some days I don't notice this, but then other days I'm reminded of it and I think "yes, that's the unsatisfied part of my soul."  

While I haven't read nor studied much of CS Lewis, I know he was a marvelous writer and a brilliant thinker.  I think he must have had some dreams deep in his soul and I think he must have sat at God's feet and spoke deeply to him.  I think this quote of his is an mirror of that desire for the final act.  The day when earth is no longer the earth we know but the heavenly kingdom begins.  It will be a different world; one we cannot fully understand now.

I read through the book of Hebrews (great book by the way).  It mentions multiple times the world that is coming.  The story that has not be written; known only to God.  

"All these people [referring to all the great men/women mentioned previously] were still living by faith when they died.  They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance.  And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. ... Instead, they were longing for a better country --- a heavenly one."   Hebrews 11:13, 16

"For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come."  Hebrews 13:14

It all points to the story that hasn't arrived yet.  The part of the play in which you breathe a final breath and stand to your feet in applause.  It's not here yet.

When I think of the idea of my life being a mini story within God's enormous story book, it's comforting to know that the end is written and He wins.  Within my mini story are micro stories (if such a thing even exists).  This house hunt/move is one of those micro stories.  Currently it feels like an elephant story; a gigantic rock sitting on my shoulders; an unending story.  I am struggling waiting for this third act of the move to arrive.  To know that we have found a house, to load a U-Haul and finally move.  The in between is torture. I think part of my longing will be satisfied when this micro story ends; when life becomes it's new "normal".  

But until God begins His third and final act, my soul will never be fully satisfied with this world.  It's almost comforting to know that this longing I feel is because I was created 

for more than a one room motel; 

for more than "being an American";

for more than being a wife;

for more than being a teacher;

for more than this world can provide.

I was created to sit at the feet of a mighty King and worship Him without reservation.  Someday this story will be complete.  The third act will arrive and praise God my soul will sing.

what they didn't teach you in kindergarten...

Buying a house is hard. It is frustrating.  It is time consuming. It is failure after failure after "ooh is that a nice one" nope, failure.  And then there's the *one* that you know you love, but the foundation has multiple cracks that have gone through the middle of the stones...not cement blocks, and not around the mortar joints like brick walls...but right through the middle of the stone.

It's even harder to buy one with someone else.  Or at least that is the conclusion I have come to at the end of this fourth week of "temporary living".  It's been 8 weeks since the initial "Hey I got a job, should I take it? Okay we're gonna move soon" conversation.

We have spent numerous hours googling, zillowing, truliaing, etc homes in our "30 minutes of driving from his work" radius.  We have had 3 realtors at two agencies take us through approximately 40-45 homes.  We have looked at just under 10 "for sale by owner" homes on our own.  Bringing our current grand total to X number of computer hours, 3 full days, and 50 houses.

I'm done.  It's not that I'm tired, or I'm cranky, or I'm confused.  Nope.  I'm done. Period. End of thought. Fully formulated opinion. I'm done. I don't want to walk through another home. At all.  I don't care if it is the most "beautiful, perfect, completely updated, only $60,000" home.  My brain can no longer distinguish wonderful from awful.

I'm tired of discussing the pros/cons of each home.  I'm tired of thinking "oooo maybe this will be it" and thinking about what colors I would paint what walls.

We had our second walk through of the house I "previewed" you bloggy readers with last week.  The wiring is old.  The plaster walls covering the upstairs hall and stairwell are pretty impossible to tear out and replace....leaving us with terribly dark red walls and awful texture.  The smaller bedroom we noticed isn't drywall, but apparently the type of walling they put up in trailers.  It has a thin thin piece of covering that has a light texture on it...again it would need to be fully ripped out to avoid the texture....and the few holes are impossible to patch.

I'm not sure where we stand or what we are actually going to do.  Maybe make a real low offer?  Then we'd have some money to rip all this silly stuff out and pay someone to rewire the upstairs.  Maybe try to find a different house?

Maybe live in the tiny one room motel/temporary nut hut forever?

I can think of two people who (may/may not be readers of this) who would probably be upset that this is my attitude about it.  So for them, just in case, I'll list the things I am thankful for....

I'm thankful that we are not in a situation where we have to sell our little nut hut right away.
I'm thankful that husband man has a job and has already put in 4 successful weeks there.
I'm thankful that we have a realtor who is willing to drive, walk through, repeat, and have us come to a "uh we're not sure" conclusion....over and over again.
I'm thankful that we have a "temporary home" that doesn't leak when it rains, has a shower to get clean in, and is allowing us to keep our puppy with us.
I'm thankful that we have met another couple and seem to be becoming good friends.  It's nice to have someone to do things with.
I'm thankful my parents left us borrow the college fridge so we didn't have to buy a small one.
I'm thankful that we have both cars here so I can walk the pup in the morning and still come down to the library to use the free wi-fi while she sleeps.
I'm thankful that WalMart is close enough we can go every other day and buy food since our fridge is small :)
I'm thankful that our pup has been quiet and non-barking almost all the time.  I can't wait until we can get her a yard so she can just run like crazy.
I'm thankful that we do not have any children that we are pulling through this mess. Hopefully we'll find the future ones a nice house and have it all updated and pretty before they arrive.  And hopefully they'll have a yard to run like crazy in too :)

I started to read through the book of Hebrews today.  I made it through chapter 7 and then my tummy growled and I stopped for food.  Prior to my selfish food break I realized a few things....I know what is coming in the future chapters of this book....a list of people who were faithful and hopeful yet never received what was promised to them....but they didn't doubt their God.

I struggle most days with truly believing He has a reason for me being here.  Probably because I don't know what it is yet.  Probably because we keep striking out on houses and I feel like we're never going to find one. I thought for sure that if he was moving us at this time there'd be a classroom in need of a passionate teacher.  But all I'm hearing is "you have to be willing to give up everything and follow God's will".....I don't know that I'm willing to give up my desire to be a teacher.  What if that isn't what He wants?  What if that's not in my story?  What if .......

a second viewing...

Thursday evening.  *crossing fingers* We're taking a second walk through the house I posted a few photos of last week.  We're pretty sure this is going to be the new nut hut....or soon to be known as "the bigger nut hut". :)  The more I think of the home and the paint colors I would choose....the more excited I am to get this process rolling.

We're praying for quick paper work and a willing seller :) Husband man said we can buy the dining room table....I'm terribly excited about that!! It's a beautiful table with big brown cushioned chairs :)

My goals for the house...hopefully in this order will be:

-make a delicious meal...including chocolate chip cookies....it will be so nice to have a full kitchen an all appliances :)
-paint the shelves in the dining room so my photographs and books have a home ASAP
-paint the smaller bedroom gray and set up a "guest room" so family & friends can visit us ASAP
-attempt to remove the wallpaper and choose a soothing color for our master bedroom...maybe browns?
-stain the raw wood trim in the kitchen a darker brown/reddish color to accent and create a color palette.

I spent two days in our little nut hut, that we are moving from, attempting to pack it up.  It's not a lot of fun really.  Well, I suppose if I were more like my husband or younger sister, it would be easier to pack.  Grab a box, through it in, tape, label "MISC" on all.  However, I can't even function a little bit with that kind of packing.  Never have, probably never will.  I have between 60% and 70% of our stuff boxed...neatly, organized, and labeled....not only what is in the box, but where the box should be set in the new home, and if I found the box to be a bit heavy, it's labeled HEAVY! haha I figure if I can lift it, anyone who would happen to help us (most of which will probably be men who are stronger than I) will be able to lift it.  I'm certain my brother will pick up a box and say "Meghan, why is this one labeled "HEAVY!" and I'll laugh and say "Cause it was for me!" haha

I have decided that if I never move again in my life I shall die a happy person.  But if somewhere down the line God says "get up and go"....I'm calling my sister and husband man and going away for a few days.  They can box it all up next time :)

Here's to the numerous boxes, yards of tape, "thank goodness I love sharpies", and the moving vehicle we're sure to rent....I'm ready to start counting down to moving day...and going to the store to choose paint colors :)

Happy Wednesday bloggy friends!