A Place to Call Home

Written in June 2013....

I bought my first house about 6 years ago….my landlord decided to sell the place I was living in and I decided it was time to jump into the real estate world.  When I first saw what was in my price range, I contemplated running the other direction, but my realtor finally took me to the place that I would learn to call home.  My 2 bedroom, 1.5 half bath townhouse was the perfect starter home for me and the cat. 

Over the last few years, neighbors have come and gone, but I’ve always consistently been surrounded by young people that are in similar places in life….we all work, some are in school, one family has a son, but overall, we just mesh well.  There are very few things that I don’t love about this place, but two huge ones are the parking/stair situation and the lack of storage!!!  When the Christmas tree box is right beside the shoe collection, it starts to get frustrating quickly. 

Somewhere along the way, I got a roommate.  She showed up one day and never left….and with her came her belongings (aka her hoard) and made space even more limited.  I love her and all, but my sister has a lot of stuff!!!!

And then there was an incident last Fall/Winter that resulted in me adopting another cat….it totally happened by accident, but let me just tell you….those sad eyes that Puss in Boots sports on Shrek, are alive and well in Ms Joey.  I just could not leave her in the cage….no matter how hard I tried.  With her came a second litter box and her assortment of mice; taking up even more space.

So, by the time I got married, there was no room, yet a big person and a part-time little person and their stuff needed to move in.  I kept telling myself we could make the miracle happen, but let’s be honest folks…..epic failure. 

This is where the biggest mistake happened…..Keith and I started browsing the real estate sites.  It was Russian roulette, but we continued to play the horrid game.  Then one morning over coffee and scones, it happened….we opened Homes and Land magazine, saw a house and went on a Sunday drive to see it.  We left the development that day, knowing we were going to live there (not in that house, but in the area.)

We stalked neighbors in the development to ask questions, looked at websites, called companies for initial meetings and before I knew it, we were listing the townhouse with my original realtor and meeting with banks.  In between there was massive cleaning, stocking a 10x20 storage unit, yard work and 101 other events that I have blocked out to preserve my sanity.  One day, we got a wild hair,as my grandfather called it, and reserved a plot…..we agreed it was where we both wanted to build and when Keith and I agree on something so easily, we have to snatch it up lol.

On the afternoon of Monday, June 24^th our townhouse went on the market.  On Tuesday, we were informed of emails showing interest, by Wednesday, we had an offer.   The offer is one we didn’t think twice about accepting….now we just need 101 things to fall into place perfectly….needless to say, I’m holding my breath, hoping and praying yet preparing myself for this to crumble.  (This realist lives by the line, Hope and Pray for the Best but Prepare for the Worst.)

So now we wait…we wait for our home to be sold so we can put money down on building a new home.  We worry about living in a shoe box trailer for 4-6+ months, we stress and worry some more.  And we dream about the new gorgeous home that we have picked out in a neighborhood that we really like.  We hope and chat about something we want so badly, but something that scares us at the same time. 

Hopefully this will be the home, where we raise Perry, where we decorate a nursery, where we spend some of the first years of our marriage together…..I refuse to let myself fall too far in love with the idea, but it’s hard.  It just feels right….and if it in the plans that God has for us, it will be our home.  If not, we will dust our disappointed selves off and move on….but it won’t be easy. 

So all this rambling basically comes down to this: The months ahead of us are going to be a bumpy ride.  We’re ready for the ride, as long as in the end, it takes us to our home, wherever that may be….