Fallen hard

Halfway through my cards, I ran out of letters and photos so to the computer I came, to restock and GET THEM DONE! Argh.

But...since I am here...I might as well write the latest and greatest on this here little blog 'o mine. Yesterday was Matt's first day of work at his new job-and he said he enjoyed it. That is about all he said as we had an appointment to look at that house I was writing about. At 4:30-the very time he got home! Thankfully, it is not two minutes drive from here, so we still made it. But it certainly didn't allow for any time to talk about his day.

And AFTER we saw the house (and left at 7:00), fixed a late supper, and put the kids to bed, the house was the main topic of conversation. Matt has fallen for it. HARD. I could hardly keep him from floating up on cloud nine out there! It is precisely what he has always wanted-and what I have always wanted for him. The location is perfect and the property is gorgeous. It is 20 acres...mostly of pasture, but with woods as well. It has a creek running through it, an apple orchard, perennial gardens, and a variety of gorgeous trees like a 'yui' tree (I had never heard of that before...), an elm and a CEDAR! It is back off the road a bit, and on a slow going road at that. It has two barns-one two story. And also a chicken coop. I suppose, I might have fallen for it too.

The house is very well maintained, with a good roof and a good foundation. Hardwood floors, one and a half baths...It even has a mudroom with a woodstove (something I have always wanted) and a wrap around porch (another dream of mine.) For a VERY old farmhouse, it has been kept up almost immaculately.

Now comes the sacrifice. It is SMALL, SMALL, SMALL. Quaint. Cute. But small. The living room is small and closed up. The kitchen has NO counter space-and that is no exaggeration. The only counterspace is enough for a dish dryer. That's it! And there is no dishwasher. :-( And there is no place to store food! And the worst of all...

No dining room. That has always been a necessity for me. A REQUIREMENT for a home. I am greatly disturbed by this. UGH ! WHY DOESN'T IT HAVE A DINING ROOM?!?!? I can sacrifice a homeschool room, a craft room, a family room. We can make due without those things-but a DINING ROOM?

But despite those things-it IS perfect and wonderful and great. And the guy who owns it was pleased with us, and gave the impression that he wanted us in there. I asked him if he would go down on his price, because we couldn't afford it-and this is what he said. "Go to the bank. See how much you can afford. Get back to me. We'll work on it-I am not worried about it at all." That seems positive to me. So-we shall see.

One thing I told Matt, was to get a higher mortgage rate so that will allow us with some extra funds to build on in the next year...add counterspace to the kitchen, a pantry and a dining room. If we can afford both the property and the add on...it MUST be meant to be.

Here is what I am thinking. I got spoiled with this old mansion of a house-and all the extra room. And that is to my detriment. Now I need to remember that having any home at all is a blessing...and not to be greedy. After all-NOTHING in life comes without some sort of sacrifice. My goodness. I can't have it ALL at 24 years old. Right? Of COURSE right! And everything else is so far beyond what we could have ever even dreamed of.

We are going to the bank today to talk numbers. By the end of the week we will have a pretty good idea, if not KNOW what the future holds on this house. If you will, please pray for us. That we have wisdom beyond our years in making these decisions, that the Lord will close doors that are to be closed, and open (wide!) doors that He wants us to walk through...and that through it all, we have peace and contentedness.

Thanks so much.