13 is our lucky number

I don't think I could say that I like the number 13 except for these two small reasons -- we sold our house yesterday on the 13th and because our new house address is 13 ______ Court!!!! YES WE BOUGHT A HOUSE, and not just A HOUSE but the one we knew could be the "one" when walking in it a few weeks ago.

God is GOOD!

I have realized and came to terms with a lot in the past week, and that is firstly, we were not meant to build a house . . . yet. I do think one day we will. That will be our next journey, but it's just not time yet. We still have many years ahead of us! But, I realized that we were meant to be in the town we were building in, just not meant to build something we really couldn't afford (who wants to live paycheck to paycheck on a super duper tight budget? Not me.) God's whole plan was this town, but an already established home. We were halfway there when we decided to build, just not all the way to what God had in store for us, and so He let that be known when we could not sell our house by owner for 3 months yet sold it by realtor in 9 days after coming to this realization finally and being at peace with the decision. (If we had sold it, we would have immediately started building and God knew that, which is why it took 3 months to help us see what the true plan was.) Who can argue with that?! Can you believe it? We had a dozen interests, one verbal offer and one written offer in just 9 days? In a town where it's a buyers market and not a sellers market, how unbelievable but what a blessing!

We also did a bit of soul searching and a lot of prayer. I asked my hubby if he had prayed about it and he said 'no'. That really shocked me. I said 'don't you think you should?'. He said without hesitation 'yeah'. I went on a walk about 10:00 that night and prayed my entire mile and a half. Neil prayed that night also. And it was the next day that we found out this girl had accepted our counteroffer.

Another amazing thing is, we leave for vacation on Sunday for a week. We were dreading the fact that we would have to keep the house showing that week and my mom and friend, Heather, were going to come and vacuum, keep the litter boxes clean, water my plants, feed the cats, etc. Now they don't have to do that and we don't have to worry the entire trip. We can truly enjoy ourselves and have the time of our life. I cannot wait for vacation. Lord knows we really need this.

So the new house. Wanna know about it?!?! Ok, you're right, that's a really silly question. Duh. So here's the details . . . it's about 35 years old, and not at all what I would have picked out for us, but the interior pictures of it online looked stunning and and so that made us want to see it. And, . . . we fell in love with it.

This house has almost twice the living area as our house now with 2677 sq. ft. It has 4 bedrooms and 3 full baths (I've never had more than 1 bathroom in my homes since I've lived on my own, so this will be awesome . . . minus the cleaning part, ha!). It has a brand new remodeled kitchen with cherry cabinets (!) and the entire house has new pergo flooring, even in the bedrooms - fun! It has a two-tiered deck in the back that has been well-maintained and for the kids, a swing set and play house --- woot-woot!!!

Let's see . . . an attached garage, an OFFICE for me, play room area for the kids, a living room and a family room. We have decided to not use the living room for us, but for me to take my clients to. So we hope to get some new furniture for that room with a nice presentation table and then I can fill the walls with my portraits. I really like the color of the walls throughout the house, but since I absolutely love to paint walls (I know, there's seriously something wrong with me!), I will probably repaint just about every room. Oh, and there is wainscoting in the kitchen and master bedroom - I love wainscoting!

One of the best parts of all with this house is, it's in a very well kept subdivision with LOTS of trees, on a large lot and it's on a quiet cul-de-sac. I've been lurking through the neighborhood quite a bit and there are kids everywhere Noah's age! The biggest negative for me is the color of the house, but it can be painted. I have never painted a house, but I'm up for attempting it!

We close on our current house July 18th and the new house July 9th! Which mean when we get back from vacation, we have just a few weeks before we can move in to the new one! It's going to be one heck of a crazy adventure, and as Erin told me in an email, we'll still need prayers for as crazy as it will probably get, so keep them a coming!

Is this absolutely crazy and wonderful?! I love the number 13! And, again, God is good, God is great!

Lastly, we need you to keep us in your thoughts and prayers as tomorrow we take Maia to see the Orthopedic Surgeon in Springfield. They say he's highly sought after, but that doesn't mean I'm not a little nervous. Actually, I'm very nervous. I already know that Maia has to have x-rays and that is just not something I want to make her do, but I have to. It's going to be a hard day. :o( I hope she doesn't remember it.

Now, let's go celebrate! And I am! Tonight I'm getting a pedicure, going shopping with a friend and out to eat for 'ritas. I am so so so so excited.

WE SOLD OUR HOUSE!!!!