On The Hunt

Eleven weeks and counting until Due Day!  Eight weeks and counting until we are homeless! Well, hopefully not! Hopefully those three weeks in between two major dates are going to be consisting of moving and getting nestled into our new home before the addition of Rhodes!

For the past month or so, Todd and I had our hearts set on a house in Crestline. It was so cute! Updated, hardwood floors, fireplace, neighbors we were already friends with, and to top it off, a finished basement to be used as a guest suite, playroom, or Todd's "man cave". We thought that it would work out great, but we found out last week that it wasn't going to work. We were sad, but had to move on and figured that there was a reason why this house didn't work out, and that reason would soon be shown to us! We have a fantastic realtor that we have faith in to bring us our first home!

We met with the realtor on Saturday, December 3. There was a "blue house" as we called it, that we both really liked by looking online! That is one of those houses that you cant judge from pretty online pictures! The house itself was beautiful, old craftsman style with huge windows and big moldings everywhere! If only the house was in a different location! There was a railroad track basically going through the front yard, and the neighbors had an old bathtub and wood scraps (trash) laying in the backyard. Eye sore! So, we asked her about another house and if we could go see it. Off we went. The 2nd house was TINY. Todd liked it, and I don't know why. Yes, the neighborhood was nice, but the house had 3 bedrooms, each that were the size of a closet. Nothing more than a bed would fit into them, and a small bed at that! It had zero closet space, no backyard, and an old outdated kitchen. I nixed that immediately. I was not going to move out of a loft that we have outgrown and into a house that was even smaller.

We were about to give up for the day when Todd asked Karen, the realtor, about another house she had sent a picture to him in email. Karen's response was that she refused to show us the house unless we were absolutely willing to pay that price. Why? She knew we would fall in love with it. Well, stubborn as we are, we wanted to "at least drive by". Driving onto the street, it began to feel "homey". It was located on the back side of a circle and to say a quite street seems to be an understatement. We couldn't get into the house because Karen didn't have a key, but we walked around looking into every window. Todd and I sat in the front yard, full of leaves, and talked about how nice it was to be sitting there on this warm day. Never once did a car drive by, there was no railroad tracks, and no noise from any nearby traffic. Neighbors were out bagging leaves, and sitting on their front porches. An old man, with his cane, was out for his leisurely stroll. I began to picture little Rhodes toddling through the leaves in the front yard, or learning to ride his bike on this empty street. All of these great feelings, and we hadn't even been inside the house yet. Karen told us she would go back to the office and get a key, and call us to come back and meet her later that afternoon.

About an hour or two later, we pulled into the driveway of the house to meet Karen inside. Walking through the front door, there was hardwood floors, a sunken formal living and dining room, a hallway leading to the bedrooms, and doorways into the kitchen, eating, and den. The kitchen had more cabinets than I would ever know what to do with, it was completely updated, and was open to an eating area and a den. The eating area was as large as the formal dining and had a wall of french doors and windows that opened onto the outdoor patio and backyard. The den, also lined with french doors and windows, held a fireplace, tons of closet spaces, and a laundry room! The other end of the house had 2 bedrooms, a bath, and a Master Suite, complete with an "Oprah closet" as Karen called it.

Todd and I were sold. Karen was right, we would fall in love with this house immediately. We talked about how we felt at home from the moment we pulled in the driveway. We both could see Rhodes crawling around with this little trucks and toys in the den. I could picture myself standing in the kitchen, cooking dinner, watching Rhodes play in the den with Todd, as he would be watching football on the TV above the fireplace. Only problem, the price is at the tip tip top of our budget!

We have discussed money and can do it with lots of budgeting, and so we put in our application for the house on Sunday night. For anyone reading this, as you can tell, we love this house. We already feel it is our home, and we ask for prayers that this house can truly be our family's first home. I hope that this house is the reason for the first house not working out, and I really hope that Todd and I don't have to lose another house that we have our hearts set on!