We're Home Owners!! (Again :)

Never say never.

After losing ten years worth of equity when we sold our house in Phoenix, I wasn't sure we'd ever own a house again. It was one of the hardest things I've ever grappled with in my life. Yes, failed adoptions, miscarriages, infertility were all hard things. I'm not proud to say that loosing such a superficial thing like money was such a blow to my self-worth. But it was.

Two years ago we moved into a fixer-upper rent house In Little Rock. Recently we had discussed renewing the lease to save more money for a down payment, but our house was burglarized in November and that changed everything (did I mention that Hubby's truck was stolen in February 2010?!)

We spent Thanksgiving with my parents; my dad had just been diagnosed with cancer. They surprised us by giving us some money (OK, a lot of money!!) to help us get into a house of our own.

The very next week a friend at FamilyLife (Julie Denker) called me to say the house next door to her (a mile from us now) would probably be for sale....the wife died, the husband had dementia. I liked the neighborhood, so without even seeing the house I called the son, Steve, who lives a block from his parents, even though I thought it would be a shot in the dark.

The next day I drove by the house. Oh man. I was in love. I hadn’t seen the inside yet, but it seemed perfect. Two story, all brick, flat lot, on a cul-de-sac, in a neighborhood we like – the combination is a statistical improbability for Little Rock real estate!

But when we started talking price, the home was on the upper end of what we could afford. We sought advice and prayed. My dad advised us to write a letter stating all the reasons we felt like they should sell the house to us at a price we could afford. He also encouraged us to include an earnest money check and see what happens.

Hubby delivered the note and check in person, on Christmas eve, just before we all headed out of town. Steve was ready to sell but was skeptical that his two brothers, who lived out of town, would bite.

Within hours, Steve called to say Merry Christmas! They accepted our offer!! Wahoo!!!!

So, all paperwork was final three weeks ago. We have been cleaning and painting like mad.  We are moving Saturday.  It has been a C-razy month.

Here's a picture:
(I'll post more later, promise.  Can't wait to show you the kitchen!!!)