.White House Black Shutters.

Welcome to Narragansett Dr.

{try that pronunciation!}

My man took some pictures of our new house today and I would love for you to take a look! There is still plenty of work to be done on the exterior of the home but good news is the interior is brand new and move-in-ready!

 Enjoy our cute house:)

As you just saw, fun projects awaiting us! I cannot believe this gem is ours, AMEN!

P.S. After writing the title for this post I smiled..the wording felt so right and then I remembered the title of a blog I follow: White house, black shutters.

.A Heavy Heart.

Today as the title states, I have a heavy heart but a good heavy heart.

My heart is weighed down and simply bursting with one emotion:

GRATITUDE.

It is hard to find the exact words to express the state Adam and I are in right now and this post is my attempt to communicate it all with you. Let me begin with these three simple remarks:

Life is good. 

God is good. 

God has been good to our family.

Jeremiah 29:11 states, "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord,"plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." This verse has been so dear to my heart and are the very words and promise I cling to when times are hard and even when times are good. Our Heavenly Father spoke these words and made a promise to His children that He has a plan for them, each and every one of them! Adam and I have been through ups and downs in our five years together (two being married) and God has been our rock and has come first in our relationship. We do not always understand God's plan and often question Him and think we can do life better "our way." I can honestly say that my family needs the Lord. We need to daily have faith in His ways and works and know in the end, His plan is not to harm us, but to prosper our lives providing us hope and a future. God has been good to Adam and I in the past two years. He has allowed us to live comfortably and has given us the discipline to be smart with our finances. He has provided two amazing jobs that bring us nothing but joy and encouragement. He has given us a constant yearning to always better ourselves for our spouse and for Him. He is teaching us about contentment and what it truly means. He has taught us to only lean on Him and bring everything to His feet. God is there for us, He is there for you. 

Today I have a heavy heart. It is almost to the point of bursting with gratitude. I am thankful for all God is doing in my heart, in my life, and in my husband's life. Recently, I have shared with you Adam and I have been on searching for the right house to buy. I am thrilled to announce, the Lord provided one for us. I first saw the listing for the home a few months ago and fell in love after seeing pictures and taking the virtual tour. I showed Adam and he too liked it, but felt the price was too high. Adam was right. It was a bit out of our reach. We continued looking around online and found a few houses we wanted to visit. This is the point where we decided to meet with a financial advisor to see if this was even a possibility for our little family of three (counting Colden of course!) Adam and I received good news that YES we can buy a house! We thought long and hard about this decision and prayed daily giving it to the Lord. I sometimes laughed out loud during my prayers because I was picturing God rolling his eyes and saying, "Katie, I know! I've heard this a thousand times already!" You know whats fun, God will listen to us all day long about the same thing over and over again because He longs for us to come to Him and is the one who knows what is best for us and because He loves us. After visiting a few of the homes we liked, we quickly realized how inexperienced we were at understanding homes..what to look for, the questions to ask, etc..and we wished two of our relatives (who happen to be contractors) lived closer to assist us in our search. 

Fast forward two weeks. Adam receives a phone call from his Uncle Greg (one of our relatives we were referring to earlier, the contractor!) and informs Adam he is coming into town that weekend. Did we forget to mention Greg is from DE? Greg was coming to our little town in VA for a family visit the exact weekend Adam and I planned on doing major house hunting. Coincidence? I think not. A God thing? Oh yeah! I contacted our Realtor through email explaining Greg will be in town and will be joining us on our search. I included a list of five homes for us all to visit together. Just for kicks, I added the address of the house I found a few months earlier..the one that was a little bit too much money. I searched online to see if the home was still on the market and that's when I found it--"This home is no longer available and has either been sold or taken off the market." I shrugged a bit but still put the address on the list I sent to our Realtor. Why did I do that? I saw it was no longer on the market and yet I still chose to add it. Flashback five years, I met Adam through a mutual friend and chatted just a few minutes with him. A week after meeting Adam, I was on our mutual friend's facebook page and saw in his friend list the name Adam and thought, "Oh, I wonder if it's that guy." I clicked. Now on Adam's profile I decided to be bold, I added him as a friend with the mindset of "Why not, there's nothing to lose!" {For those of you who do not know me, let me tell ya--this was so not a "Katie" thing to do.} But I did it. The rest..well that's history :) Back to the house hunt. Why did I add that house to the list when it was clearly not for sale. Coincidence? Nope. A God thing? Ding Ding Ding! 

The weekend finally came that Greg was with us. Adam, Greg, our Realtor, and myself all set out together to see the homes on the list I had picked. After seeing three homes, our Realtor informed me one of the homes on the list I sent had been sold. I told her I was not surprised and said, "I just felt like adding it but I figured." So the four of us were on our way to see house number four and as we pulled up, my jaw dropped. It was the house..the one I saw months earlier..the one that said it was off market..the one I thought our Realtor was talking about..it was the house! In confusion, I spoke with our Realtor and explained how I thought this was the house sold since all of the listings said off market. She explained after making a phone call the day before, on March 31st, she found out this house was just put back on the market that morning! Coincidence? No way!! A God thing? HECK YES! :)

It gets better. Adam and I had a "limit" that we refused to pay any higher and we both knew this house, ya know the house, was not close to our limit. After getting the tour, we fell in love. Greg gave us his blessing and explained that everything in the home looked great. We put an offer in the next day. The seller countered with a price and we made a second offer. We received the final price from the seller and it was $3000 over our limit. After praying about it and speaking with our loved ones, we realized this house would be a huge source of happiness for us and $3000 was worth paying for! Adam and I accepted their offer and signed the contract! The home inspector went through the home yesterday and met with the two of us as well as our Realtor. We received more good news about the house and decided we are not walking away--this was OUR HOUSE! Our closing date is set for May 11th and we are grateful (and really really really really excited!) The Lord's hand was in this process and in the end, He revealed a little bit more of His plan for our lives. This entire process has been relaxing, stress-free, and FUN! Hopefully Adam and I will get into the home this weekend to take photos to share with you :) 

Just as I wrote in the beginning of this (very long) post:

Today as the title states, I have a heavy heart.

My heart is weighed down and simply bursting with one emotion:

GRATITUDE.

Life is good. 

God is good. 

God has been good to our family.

Thank you all for taking this journey with me and for sharing words of wisdom on the matter. I am also grateful for you and hope you all have a wonderful, wonderful weekend filled with many smiles.

P.S. This is my 100th post, how fitting! :)

.Dah Duh Duh Duh Dun Inspector Gadget.

Any idea what I am about to post from the title? 

I'll give you a few more seconds to ::ponder:: 

Ready? 

Today at 5:30pm Adam and I will be meeting with our Home Inspector to inspect a house--

a house that could become OUR HOME! 

The Lord is good to me {and my little family} and so I thank the Lord,

for giving me the things I need,

the sun and rain and an apple seed,

The Lord is good to me!

.Sorry about the Delay.

Today was the day for my big giveaway post.

Where is it? 

To tell ya the truth, I have not written the post yet and did not take any of the photos I was planning. 

Why Katie? 

Great question everyone. Let me answer by simply showing you a picture:

What does this mean?

All I'm saying is there may have been a particular young lady and her husband who put an offer on this little baby today!

And..what happened?

EVERYONE CROSS YOUR FINGERS FOR US! We are currently playing the waiting game, so exciting!

:)

So my friends, I hope you forgive me on my giveaway post.

It is coming soon, that's a PROMISE!

.Are we C R A Z Y.

Here are some "stats" to help you answer the above question:

Adam: Age 25

Katie: Age 24

Married: Almost 2 Years

Pets: 1 Dog

Kids: 0

Properties Owned: 0

Current Residence: 1 Rental Property

Questioning Status: Should we BUY A HOUSE?

Experience in this department: 0, Zilch, Nada!

C R A Z Y ? {I think so!}

Adam and I recently met with a good friend who is a financial advisor. We found out some really good (well GREAT) news--WE CAN BUY A HOUSE! It certainly will not be our dream house BUT it can be a house..a house we will actually own! This thought alone gives us butterflies in our stomachs and headaches all at the same time. 

We have so many thoughts..

How long do we plan to stay in VA?

Will Adam's business be around in 5, 10 years?

Do I want to finally become a teacher or keep the job I have now?

How far do we want to commute to work?

Is it better for our monthly payments to go towards an investment vs. our landlord's pocket?

Should we start a family first or buy a house first?

What's more important to us..the property the house is situated on or the quality of the interior of the home?

Mountain view vs. wooded setting vs. 1950's neighborhood?

Lynchburg or Forest VA?

Can we even pay for the down payment?

How would we furnish an entire house?

Should we only look at houses with a fenced in yard or is this something we can afford to install ourselves?

Is it smarter to buy a cheap, fixer-upper or spend the money we would potentially put towards renovations on a home completely move-in-ready?

Bi-level or ranch?

Country living or downtown city area?

What counties have better public school systems?

Do we want to send our kids to private or public?

How close is "too close" to my in-laws?

Should we really give up our amazing rental..our first home together..with so many of our precious memories?

Are we too young to be responsible for a house?

How can we better educate ourselves on the taxes owning a house would require..and the insurance we would need?!

Is it wiser to continue renting and keep saving saving saving?

If we buy a "starter home"...can we sell it in 5 years or get stuck?

Do we have enough money to replace a roof and all windows of a house?

Can we fit a second dog in this home as well as a baby?

Are we C R A Z Y ?

YES I THINK WE ARE. 

Friends, this list was typed out in less than 5 minutes. Do I have more questions, concerns, and thoughts--HECK YES! Did I want to bore you with every single one of those--NO WAY! I will simply state that the current "If, And, or But" list in my head goes "To infinity and BEYOND!"

 It is impossible to have answers to all of these questions. One thing Adam and I know for sure is to bring everything to the Lord. We need to pray about a house. That's it. God always sends us an answer..sometimes it is almost immediate, other times it takes years. Adam and I have to be patient and pray and keep God the number one priority in our home. We know the market for buying homes is awesome right now..we know..is it the right time for us? Only God knows. We look at our parents as examples and see my folks rented for 10 years before purchasing their first home..the home they still live in today. How did they know this would be the location they would have their children raised in and be content in as they grow older? I think it was a leap of faith. Can anyone really know a house is the perfect match for them in the perfect town/county/state to live and grow old in together? Maybe. Do I have that answer at the age of 24--NOT EVEN CLOSE! Faith. Prayer. It will happen..all in God's timing. Is it sometimes hard to wait for His timing--YES! We are human, it's only natural. Marriage is such a unique bond as well and there is never a dull moment! Adam has his "likes" and "dislikes" about a home and I have mine. Luckily for us, most of ours match but not all. Who should give in on their wants? When should you stand firm on your opinion? Friends, all I can say is I am so thankful to have God in my life and in my husband's life to help us with these decisions. Adam and I have had a really fun time checking out the local listings on Zillow, Trulia, Craigslist, and Yahoo--it really has been a WOOHOO experience :) Will this process always be fun?--PROBABLY NOT. It's a scary thing and the BIGGEST commitment Adam and I will make together..well, besides the whole marriage thing even though that decision was the easiest in the world to make! 

I hope you do not mind my ramblings. I am on cup #2 of my delicious Eight O'Clock Hazelnut coffee and with every sip, I feel my mind racing faster and my fingers typing more rapidly. As I look up from my laptop, I see my dog sleeping curled up in a ball on the couch and I see two of the most sweetest girls sound sleeping all cuddled with blankets and pillows on an air mattress I have in my living room. My life at this very moment is peaceful and I am truly blessed. Am I just minutes away from checking out more houses online?--OH YES! And I am happy to report it's with a big smile on my face.

Now comes the part where I need you..yes, you, the one reading these very words. I am curious to know if you are currently in my shoes with the whole "should we buy a house?" and what some of your thoughts are on the matter. I would also LOVE to hear from those of you who have purchased a home..or two, or three! Any advice you can give Adam and I? Encouragement is always welcomed with open arms ;) If you have any input to give, I would love to read it. Your comments are so dear to me and I look forward to each and every one.

I will leave you with this question to ponder..

Are we C R A Z Y ?