Get a Move On

We have been in the process of selling our home for what seems like forever, although it has actually been less than two months. Everyone warned me that it was a massive undertaking, and with four kids in tow the craziness factor grew exponentially! I only recently realized how much I have missed writing during this whole ordeal. All of my spare time has been taken up by phone calls to banks, lenders, contractors, realtors... so instead of reaping the therapeutic benefits of writing during my down time, I have been on the phone. The. very. last. thing. that I want to spend my time doing.

To put it mildly, it's made me a tad touchy. I've been using up all my "nice" on strangers, and my kids have been getting the brunt of my frustration. I've felt it coming to a head for the last week, as all of the pieces of the puzzle have to fall into place in perfect precision. But as they say, it's always darkest before the dawn... and I think I can make out a faint light at the end of the tunnel.

Although the ups and downs have been hard on me, it is all leading toward something amazing... a new home! We are so blessed with the space we have lived in for the last six years, but the family of three that we were when we moved in could not have imagined the needs of the family of six we have become, much less a family of six that schools at home!

I have felt God's hand in this entire process, even as I fluctuate from ecstatic to frantic over the course of a single day. He is always constant and in charge. And he has taught me a lot, more than I can even begin to describe.

The first week that our home was on the market, we had at least a showing a day, and we were incredibly hopeful. We stayed with my parents so that our house could be presentable at a moment's notice. Then after the first week, we went a long.... slow... five days without a showing. It was excruciating. We decided to go back home on a Wednesday, thinking that if things were this slow we wouldn't have too much trouble getting out for a smattering of showings. So we packed up our things and planned to meet Paul at our house after work. Then we got the first message: Showing at 3:00. Yes! Things are rolling again!

An hour later: Showing at 7:30

And then: Showing at 4:15

Three showings in one day! We changed our plans to head to a park for a picnic and bike ride while we waited out the showings. But before the last showing even began, we got a call from our realtor. Two offers! On the same day! We toasted with our hard root beer and I felt a weight lift off of my shoulders.

Thursday morning we accepted one of the offers, exactly two weeks after we listed our house. And that evening we found Our New Home. I can't wait to share it with you, it is perfect for us. I fell in love with it instantly, even though the kitchen is a bit of a mess. The layout is perfection, the neighborhood is quiet, the backyard is divine. We went to see it again on Saturday and wrote up an offer. After five (FIVE!!) days of back-and-forth, we agreed on a price and I finally let myself begin to dream of our family in that space.

Even with both houses accounted for, the hard work has not let up. We need to do several major repairs on our home before closing, and why oh why is it so hard to get a straight answer from a sewer repairman? There have been pages and pages of legal documents to sign, and of course our scanner went kaput today as I tried to scan and email a 20 page document one...page...at....a...time. So after spending all morning on the phone, I drove 13 miles with four kids in tow to drop it off because it had to be in today or else! Actually they were extremely kind and accommodating. But a deadline is a deadline, I get it.

So now, I think I can take a breath. We nearly have the contractors lined up, our paperwork is mostly in order, and we have had our new house inspected, with no major red flags. There will still be crazy days to come, but I think I can manage it. And every day brings us closer to our new home!

Our family makes a house a home