Back Again

Well, I’m back.  Again.  I hate saying that, because it makes me feel as if I have somehow failed.  That somehow I failed to be Wonder Woman all summer and keep my blog current while maintaining the craziest schedule possible.  But enough of my personal issues… :)

Here are some things that have happened this summer, just to catch you all up to speed:

1.  Our House in Indiana finally sold!  Woohoo!  This was an answer to prayer, and after many delays in paperwork (on the buyer’s end) we closed on Friday, June 22.  It was a great relief to finally have the whole thing settled.

2.  The same day that we finalized our closing, we received word that our offer had been accepted on a house in Mississippi.  We were in North Carolina that week, so we had to make tracks for MS in order to sign all the official papers.  The house we purchased was a foreclosure, and we made a low-ball offer, which the realtor fully expected to be countered.  However, the Lord allowed them to accept our offer outright, giving us a really good deal.

3.  The house had been vacant for two years, and the resulting disrepair was obvious.  The bank made a list of repairs that had to be done immediately, so as soon as we closed on the house, we got busy.  That is the real reason that I haven’t posted in so long.  We have worked sun-up to sun-down and beyond for weeks, trying to get the repairs done within the allotted time frame.  While there are still some things to be done, the great majority of the fixing up is completed (sigh of relief). 

4.  Josiah celebrated his eleventh birthday at the beginning of the month.  Paul was in Utah for a meeting at the time, and since we were bogged down in house repairs, it wasn’t much of a party.  He was his characteristically sweet self about it, and we ended up making a batch of his special cookies together.  That really thrilled him!

5.  School is in session again.  We are in our third week, and everyone is doing well so far.  Esther begs me every day to do extra work.  I can’t figure out how to get the older kids to do that…

6.  We moved into the house a week ago, due to the fact that the parts for our trailer repair finally arrived at the service place.  It was a bit overwhelming, since we were also moving all of our things out of storage and into the house.  I felt as if I was moving from two different places at the same time.  I guess I was, come to think about it!

Well, I am absolutely loving our new home – all 2300+ square feet of it!  Paul and I had prayed for a place that would meet our needs.  Sometimes the Lord just meets your needs, and at other times, He abundantly blesses you with not just the things you needed, but the things you wanted as well.  That is the perfect description of our house.  We needed at least 3 bedrooms, but I wanted a schoolroom, and a guest room for when we have company (hint, hint).  We could function with one bathroom, but it would be nice to have two.  I wanted a laundry room, and maybe a place to scrapbook, and a place for Paul to study.  Of course, we had to have a place to park the trailer, and not too far from the church, nice neighborhood, close to shopping, etc…  Obviously, it would have to be a steal of a deal, too.  You know how it goes when you are dreaming, right?

Anyway, Paul was in Utah, and I decided to look at a few houses.  I had scoped out about three hundred houses online in my quest, but usually for one reason or another, they didn’t make the grade, although I wasn’t being picky.  I was just looking for the basics that we needed.   After looking at one very dismal dwelling, I went home, only to be called by the realtor the next day.  He asked if I had looked at a particular house.  He gave me the MLS#, and as I pulled it up on the computer, I recognized it instantly.  I told him I had seen it, and he asked why I hadn’t asked to be shown the house.  Very frankly, I told him it was because it was out of our price range.  He told me that they would probably accept 10% less that what it was listed for, so I made an appointment to see the house that morning.  The house was amazing.  Yes, it needed some work, but it had everything that we needed  and wanted.  I texted Paul and told him, “I have found THE house!” 

Of course, you are already ahead of me… we offered 20% under the asking price, and were accepted.  The realtor was stunned.  I told him that we had been praying about a house for months, and that God would give us the house if it was His will for us.  So, this is what we ended up with – 4 bedrooms, a schoolroom, an eat-in kitchen, a dining room (which we will use as a music  room, since we can eat in the kitchen), two bathrooms, a laundry room that has a built-in desk and custom shelves (that will be my scraproom, too), a sunroom, an attached garage, one very nice workshop, and a lawn-mower shed.  There is a double-wide driveway, so we can park our trailer, and we are only 4 miles from church.  the interstate is less than five minutes, and CVS, Walgreens, Walmart, and Kroger, as well as dozens of other stores, are all within 5 minutes of our house.  All of this for an amazing price!  The Lord is so good!  He really does bless us exceeding abundantly above all we can ask or think!

By the way – I have lots of pictures of the renovation process.  Those will be coming up later.

Here is a picture of the outside.  Inside pics will come a bit later.  Stay posted for the latest details! :)

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