Homeowners!!

It is finally all done!
We have a house!
We're homeowners.
It's ours.
It's not in dispute.
There's no hesitation.
No "long story."
It's just ours now.
Ours.
Well, ours and our bank's.
Whew.

Josh and I were so excited when our offer was accepted on May 16th. We were still excited as we planned for our June 16th closing. We started doubting when June ended without a date. We flirted with other houses after we missed the July 10th closing. By the time we had to move out of our house, we were dating other houses. We've spent so much time trying not to get emotionally attached, not to get our hopes up, that it's been harder for me to enjoy the triumphs this week.

Until today, when we officially took posession. Now we can scrub, paint, trim, and decorate to our heart's content. We can schedule activities and plan the move. And that is such a good thing. Thank God.

Closing!?

As of 7:49pm Monday night, we're actually scheduled to close on our new house Wednesday! Hallelujah! It's hard to believe. Really. As my sister-in-law said, we're "cautiously optimistic." I don't think I'll start celebrating till we can walk through the front door and get to work (cleaning, painting, moving, and cleaning some more), but our realtor's confidence is starting to rub off on me, and it feels good.

Another First

With July's heat in full-swing, we've been spending as much time as possible in the water. In my opinion, nothing feels better in the summer than a good swim. Last weekend, that was at the YMCA, where Noah accomplished another first: his first...(drumroll)

BOO-BOO! Oddly enough, the actual event went unnoticed. It wasn't till we got home that Mommy saw the scrape. And thankfully, Noah never found it (hence the in-tact scar). But just the same, I had to take a picture of what will assuredly be the first of many.

(I must add that while he never saw the boo-boo, he had such an adventure at the pool that he was out by the time we got home. Isn't he ADORABLE!?)

Moving Days

Wednesday, the movers carried out all of our furniture (and maybe a baby). Thursday, we moved the rest of the boxes (and a baby). Friday, we wrapped up loose ends and handed over the keys (but not the baby). Saturday, we rested.

A few highlights:

-- We seriously overestimated how much storage space we would need. We'd already filled a 10x15 unit to stage our house. We'd reserved two 10x20s for the rest. When we arrived at StorPlace, the manager (such a sweet, grandmotherly lady that it's hard to imagine how someone convinced her to oversee a sea of garages) offered us a 10x30. The movers unloaded the truck into the 10x30 and had half the space leftover. We thought about just camping out in the other half, but instead decided to have them empty our original 10x15 into the rest of the 10x30. The end result: our entire household fit into one unit. Our stuff is now completely inaccessible, but we're saving money!

-- With all of the sorting, packing, loading, and cleaning that had to get done over the past two months, we would never have finished without the help of generous friends, some of whom wound up at just the right time and place to make it happen: 1) my brother and sister-in-law who helped stage, pack, and unload our stuff while also watching Noah AND letting us move in with them, 2) a close friend who watched Noah all day Wednesday, 3) a new church friend who watched Noah Thursday morning, 4) our next-door neighbor who watched Noah Thursday evening, (do I detect a theme here?) and 5) our cleaning team who randomly showed up two hours before the walk-through to clean the house. We could not have done it without you! Thank you!

Josh's addendum: So now all our worldly possessions have been reduced to: 4 rubbermaid containers, one rack of hanging clothes, and a large suitcase. (Well, Carolyn's shoes took another small suitcase, but we're not counting that one.) Makes you wonder why you need that 10x30 storage unit afterall... assuming you can live with friends and family the rest of your life! :)

A Short-Sale Primer

For those of you uninitiated into the drama called a "short sale," I thought a little primer might save you from some of the headaches we've experienced over the past two months:

1. Short sale = home owner wants to sell the house to a buyer for less than he owes the bank (because he can't find a buyer to pay more and he has to sell)
2. Short sale contract - must be approved in writing by seller and the seller's bank (usually takes about 3 months)
3. Foreclosure auction - what happens when the foreclosure dept at the seller's bank doesn't realize there's a short sale in the works; the bank offers the house for sale on the courthouse steps for the amount owed by the seller plus fees; must be published in local newspaper for 3 weeks prior to auction; if no one buys the home at auction, the bank puts it for sale on the market (w/a realtor); can be postponed by the bank's short-sale dept if they are reached in time
4. Liens - a seller headed for foreclosure often has other bills he wasn't able to pay so there may be "liens" against the property besides just the primary mortgage; this is why you probably want a lawyer to help you navigate the short sale and avoid future liability

In our situation, we signed a contract with the sellers in May, but we still haven't received a response from their bank. That's supposed to come soon, but until we have their approval, we can't buy it. Hence the househunting, homelessness, and disorientation...

My Southern Boy

First Noah's favorite food was yams. Now it's country breakfast. It's actually called that on the label. "Country Breakfast." He won't eat 4oz of fruit, but he'll eat a platter from Cracker Barrel stuffed into a jar. Ham, eggs, oats, apples. It would sound good to me if it weren't pureed into a room-temp, canned smoothie. But then again, it's high in protein, low in sugar, and just 50 cents/meal, so I'm not complaining.

Homeless

We're moving out of our house Thursday. Our stuff will go in storage. We will go to my brother's. And then we'll wait and pray for a house (as will my brother).

Once we had a contract on a new house, it seemed such a big goal to sell our old house that we never considered asking for more time in it. We were elated our old house sold so quickly. Six days! It was a miracle.

Now that miracle will be someone else's house on Friday, and I don't know where to forward our mail. Or our calls. Or our magazines or bills or Netflix movies.

We are so blessed. I can't say I'm worried. I'm really not stressed either. I just feel adrift. I can't plan events, invite people over, commit to new activities -- not until we know where we'll be living. It feels like events are floating out in the future without a context - without a house to ground them. And it saps my productivity. Out-of-town trips felt different, because we knew our home still existed and we could come back to its comforts anytime. Now, the comforts of our home will be locked in a cinder block 10x20' cell, which makes them slightly less comforting.

But it is an adventure. I didn't know how I'd react to these circumstances. Now I know. And someday this will all make for a great (or very boring) story. In the meantime, I'm praying that we'll land in the right spot at the right time, the home that will bring us closer to each other and to God. And that we'll land there in the next two weeks.