House Buying: the Saga

I had no idea what house buying entailed. Let me tell you that it costs a lot of money to "buy" a house even when you finance the entire cost of the house! So, for those of you considering buying a house, start saving now! You need a good ten grand or more. Wish someone would've told us this a few years ago. We would've been stockpiling and our house buying experience would've been different.
We decided to start looking into buying a home because we wanted to be settled before our daughter started school. She starts kindergarten in the fall and we wanted to move to the same town as our church. It is a great community with a small town feel. However, thanks to our lack of funds the homes we could afford were not what we were wanting to purchase as first time home buyers. We kept our search focused for a short time but quickly expanded to see what other options were out there. We put an offer on a house in the town where we live. It would've gotten us closer to church and made just a slightly longer commute for my husband. WE WANTED IT BAD! The had an open house on a rainy Saturday from 9-1 and said they would decide Sunday night who's offer they were going to accept. We nervously put in an offer and included a personal letter from myself explaining why this home was so great for us. My husband and I barely slept that night. The anxiety was almost too much to bear. Than came the "I'm so sorry" call from our real estate agent. It was heart breaking but we were so early in the process that we tried not to get discouraged. Later in the week our agent was showing us some houses that were not up to par for what they were asking and suggested a subdivision that we might like. He said it was an additional seven minutes away if we were up for looking out there. I asked if there was anything we could see right then and he made it happen. We were EXTREMELY skeptical. Especially on the winding country roads to see this place. The house he showed us was a 4/2. We were overwhelmed with the size and condition of it. It was built in 2006 and we were excited to see if we could afford it. We emailed our mortgage guy and he responded that we could afford it and it was $100 less than we are paying in rent! I cried. Like ugly cried. I was scared. I wasn't sure that this is where I wanted to live, but I couldn't imagine owning any less of a house if we could own one like this! We put in an offer and nervously waited for a response...that took forever...and was once again, "I'm so sorry." The next day I was back out in that neighborhood and saw an even better house. I couldn't believe it. This house was immaculate and incredible. I wanted this house. It was my dream house! Granite in the kitchen. Tile and hardwoods in the formal and kitchen. Great size rooms and back yard. I wanted this house so bad! We put in a lofty offer agreeing to beat any other offer by $500. Another sleepless night and another "I'm sorry" phone call and I was ready to throw in the towel. I was done. I was emotionally drained!

The following week my realtor and I were the first people to see this house:

We had an offer in by 5:00 that evening and should close on it this week. It is in an awesome neighborhood with fun amenities: two pools, splash pad, walking trail, catch and release pond, and two parks. The elementary school is also in the neighborhood. The house itself is everything we were looking for in a floor plan. This is definitely a house that we can grow into. And it's pretty!

We can be certain in uncertain times

The pain of the world this week has come crashing down on me today. The senseless bombings at the Boston Marathon and the disastrous explosion in West, TX. The pain is unbearable. I'm so thankful for the incredible pastor who leads our church. He is an amazing speaker and preacher. The message today was so perfect for a time such as this. As Christians it is our job to share the message of hope. The Lord is our strength and our refuge. He is in control even when it feels like the whole world is in chaos. As a means of sharing this message I will paraphrase his message today. We can be certain in times of uncertainty because we have a message of hope, an identity in Christ, and are certain about the future. We know that God holds the future in His hands and we know how it ends. My relationship with Christ is the most incredible thing in my life and I pray that each of you has that relationship too. If you don't and you want to know more please send me a message.

Love in Christ,
Jenn

Makenzie Dec 2012

 

 Look at that sweet face!

 

 

 Our wonderful neighbors gave her this scooter. She does really well and loves it.

 

 

She has been dying to play in the leaves!

Perfectionism

I used to be a perfectionist. I wasn't obsessive compulsive about it, but I certainly liked to have things organized and in their place at all times. I was proud of this character trait. However, after getting married and having two kids my perfectionism has gone by the wayside. My husband gets frustrated that I want the house picked up and company ready at all times. He doesn't understand the embarrassment I feel when my neighbor stops by and sees my kitchen in a horrible state of disgust! But I know that our home, family, and children won't be the picture I have in my head. I really do KNOW that, but I'm not going to stop wanting my home to be clean, my children to be polite, and my attitude to be positive. Even if it takes work to get it all there. Why do I have to feel bad for wanting theses things? We may not be able to afford better things, but we can make the best of what we do have. My mom always said that you don't have to be dirty just because you're poor (or something like that). I'm going to continue to want a clean home. I'm going to continue to work at having it, but not at the expense of time with my children or husband. That is the point my husband tries to make. He doesn't like that my attitude is bad when our home is a mess. I put stress on myself to keep our home at least picked up, but it is far from clean. There is always more to be done. Life is such a balancing act.

This sort of puts things in perspective:
http://rachelmariemartin.blogspot.com/2012/12/dear-mom-who-likes-everything-perfect.html