Don't Call This a Comeback
Shhh. Don't tell anybody I'm here.
The last three years have been full. So full, I'm not really sure how to sum them up. They were definitely a blur. I worked a lot. Seth worked a lot. We worked on our little house a lot. In fact, home renovation and the employment that funded it pretty much took over those three years. All with the goal to sell and move to a forever home.
Well, check that off the list.
Here I sit, in my new old house, my kids sleeping in their new bedrooms, and Seth working some overtime (there are still renovations to fund). I can't even really believe it.
Moving here was a deeply rooted goal in my heart for some time, even when I didn't really know where "here" was. Those three years of busy were hard. Worth it, but hard. Like I mentioned in my previous post, I'm not great at having a job. My brain can only focus on so much at a time. I was too exhausted to write, and not only exhausted, but....empty? Dry? Not sure how to describe it. There was nothing left in me to write about.
The last six months have been a whirlwind. We first saw this house on the internet about a year ago. I immediately wrote it off because it was way out of our price range. We were just coming off a real estate bender--having loved and ultimately not gotten a house we affectionately called "craphole". My guard was up. I wasn't going to fall for the unavailable ones anymore. Realistic dreams only. I audibly scoffed when Seth said he had "a feeling" about this one. Seth always has feelings. Feelings don't mean we look at houses $100,000 over budget.
Then late last year, after the price had slowly been lowering (not enough to tempt me), we suddenly got a text from our realtor alerting us that it had dropped into "realistic". Still a little high for me, but not out of the question. We (and several other potential buyers) looked through it. It needed a ton of work, but so did all the houses we looked at. The land, even in late November, was amazing. In fact, the land is the real draw here, and probably worth the original amount they wanted for it, but the house being in such disrepair definitely lowered the value. We made an offer, still not really getting our hopes up. It would have to be contingent on the sale of our house, which could be a dealbreaker for the seller. But we offered her full asking price, as-is.
Long story short, here I sit, still not really believing it. Not only did we successfully sell our house and buy this one, we also made some huge changes in a short amount of time. We've torn out walls, installed a support beam, replaced appliances, removed every scrap of 1970's carpet, painted, installed new flooring, painted, replaced fixtures, painted some more, replaced the water heater and had the furnace and a/c repaired, replaced insulation in the attic, replaced siding, cut down dead trees, repaired mowers, mowed six acres every week....and we're only in phase one.
We call it the Mullet House, because it's a 70's bi-level with a walkout basement. And can I be completely honest with you? It's not my dream house. Oh, I like it well enough, and I can make it work, but it doesn't check all my boxes. It's a teensy bit tight. There's no guest bedroom. There's not a lot of storage space. It's not particularly interesting from an architectural standpoint.
But when I sit outside, or take evening walks with Seth on the path through our woods, or smell the honeysuckle, or catch toads down by the creek with the kids, or watch my family go zooming by the window on the mower...I'm home. I'm overflowing with disbelieving gratitude. THIS was what I truly wanted for my family. We only have a few more years before Thing One is an adult. I was so afraid that by the time we found the forever home, he'd be too old to enjoy the land. But, thank you Jesus, it happened so fast my head is still spinning.
There's so much to say. And who knows if I'll say it. I've been wanting to write lately, but knowing my track record, it could be another three years before I write some more. But now that the dust has settled, I'm able to pause, and I'm intentionally pulling back a bit on all the busyness so I can reflect. I don't want to forget that it's a miracle we're here. I want to record how awed we are by what God has done. To be honest, there's still a little fear--you know, the it's-too-good-to-be-true, something-bad-is-about-to-happen, we-don't-deserve-this fear. But I'm working on not giving my fears much air time. I want to focus on the gratitude instead.
Every day this feels more like home.
Thank you, Jesus.
The last three years have been full. So full, I'm not really sure how to sum them up. They were definitely a blur. I worked a lot. Seth worked a lot. We worked on our little house a lot. In fact, home renovation and the employment that funded it pretty much took over those three years. All with the goal to sell and move to a forever home.
Well, check that off the list.
Here I sit, in my new old house, my kids sleeping in their new bedrooms, and Seth working some overtime (there are still renovations to fund). I can't even really believe it.
Moving here was a deeply rooted goal in my heart for some time, even when I didn't really know where "here" was. Those three years of busy were hard. Worth it, but hard. Like I mentioned in my previous post, I'm not great at having a job. My brain can only focus on so much at a time. I was too exhausted to write, and not only exhausted, but....empty? Dry? Not sure how to describe it. There was nothing left in me to write about.
The last six months have been a whirlwind. We first saw this house on the internet about a year ago. I immediately wrote it off because it was way out of our price range. We were just coming off a real estate bender--having loved and ultimately not gotten a house we affectionately called "craphole". My guard was up. I wasn't going to fall for the unavailable ones anymore. Realistic dreams only. I audibly scoffed when Seth said he had "a feeling" about this one. Seth always has feelings. Feelings don't mean we look at houses $100,000 over budget.
Then late last year, after the price had slowly been lowering (not enough to tempt me), we suddenly got a text from our realtor alerting us that it had dropped into "realistic". Still a little high for me, but not out of the question. We (and several other potential buyers) looked through it. It needed a ton of work, but so did all the houses we looked at. The land, even in late November, was amazing. In fact, the land is the real draw here, and probably worth the original amount they wanted for it, but the house being in such disrepair definitely lowered the value. We made an offer, still not really getting our hopes up. It would have to be contingent on the sale of our house, which could be a dealbreaker for the seller. But we offered her full asking price, as-is.
Long story short, here I sit, still not really believing it. Not only did we successfully sell our house and buy this one, we also made some huge changes in a short amount of time. We've torn out walls, installed a support beam, replaced appliances, removed every scrap of 1970's carpet, painted, installed new flooring, painted, replaced fixtures, painted some more, replaced the water heater and had the furnace and a/c repaired, replaced insulation in the attic, replaced siding, cut down dead trees, repaired mowers, mowed six acres every week....and we're only in phase one.
We call it the Mullet House, because it's a 70's bi-level with a walkout basement. And can I be completely honest with you? It's not my dream house. Oh, I like it well enough, and I can make it work, but it doesn't check all my boxes. It's a teensy bit tight. There's no guest bedroom. There's not a lot of storage space. It's not particularly interesting from an architectural standpoint.
But when I sit outside, or take evening walks with Seth on the path through our woods, or smell the honeysuckle, or catch toads down by the creek with the kids, or watch my family go zooming by the window on the mower...I'm home. I'm overflowing with disbelieving gratitude. THIS was what I truly wanted for my family. We only have a few more years before Thing One is an adult. I was so afraid that by the time we found the forever home, he'd be too old to enjoy the land. But, thank you Jesus, it happened so fast my head is still spinning.
There's so much to say. And who knows if I'll say it. I've been wanting to write lately, but knowing my track record, it could be another three years before I write some more. But now that the dust has settled, I'm able to pause, and I'm intentionally pulling back a bit on all the busyness so I can reflect. I don't want to forget that it's a miracle we're here. I want to record how awed we are by what God has done. To be honest, there's still a little fear--you know, the it's-too-good-to-be-true, something-bad-is-about-to-happen, we-don't-deserve-this fear. But I'm working on not giving my fears much air time. I want to focus on the gratitude instead.
Every day this feels more like home.
Thank you, Jesus.
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