My sincerest apologies, dear blogger friends, for being so out-of-the-loop over the past month. Seems as though our life has been on fast forward for several weeks; however, we're now currently on pause...at least in one area. As some of you know, we've been on the house hunt for over a year now. We love our current home, but it's not the most "user-friendly" for a growing family...don't read into that too closely - we don't have any news to report ;-)
One thing I've realized I would appreciate more and more is a garage I can actually use. Our current home is a 1950's ranch, and only has a 1-car garage. Unfortunately the vehicle I drive does not fit in the garage, so I have to load Will up outside. This typically wouldn't be a big deal, but we have had an exceptionally bitter cold winter this year, and although it's a luxury, it's one I admit I'd like to have :)
We found a home a few weeks ago we were particularly excited about and felt at peace to make an offer. We got together with our Realtors (also good friends of ours) this past Friday to write up the offer, and ironically enough, we discovered while sorting through old paperwork that our official search started
exactly one year ago to date!
We really enjoy the layout and convenience of ranch homes, and the one we made an offer on was also a ranch, but was in need of some major remodeling. With that in mind, we low-balled the offer, figuring it'd get countered, and we'd be in the negotiating process for a while. Turns out they did not accept our final offer. We were a little disappointed, but completely at peace. In some ways, I felt a bit of a relief, just knowing how much work would be in the days/weeks/months ahead. Thankfully we're not in a rush to move...we love our house and are just waiting on the Lord's best in HIS timing.
In all honesty, I will be really sad to move when the time does come. I realize that it would probably happen sooner rather than later, so why delay the inevitable? But this is Dave and my first home together, and of course we have the memories of Will being born (well, not technically, but you know what I mean) in this house. We also love the neighborhood - we have the best neighbors! Many of them have lived here for a long time. In fact, the family that lived in our house previously didn't want to leave this street, but did need more space, so they literally moved about 5 houses down from us.
For sentimental reasons, below are some photos of our current home...I love seeing photos of other people's homes so I can picture where they live. Perhaps some of you would want to post some of your home as well?
Our friends Jonathan & Desirae from church had the fabulous idea of going to look at Christmas lights together. A few days prior to Christmas, Dave, Will and I crammed into a car with them and their two boys - yes, carseats included! We made hot cocoa for the kiddos and coffee for the grown-ups :) We also brought a bag full of junk food to enjoy along the way.
