As a child I used to pour over books that my dad had of floor plans for houses, and I would imagine where my room would be. I would draw dream houses which most often had a pool and secret loft where I could play. I was the only daughter who would get excited to walk through open houses on Sundays with my family.
Today, I love driving through neighborhoods at night and watching people living their lives through the lit up windows. I grab the real estate paper just for fun and I always look to see what houses are for sale.
We have been blessed to find the perfect places to live for the past 2.5 years of our marriage. And leasing has been just what we have needed at the time. But I've always wished in the back of my mind, that we would own a house someday....
We have been renting a home for the past year, and it truly has been perfect. We have hosted parties, had family over, and enjoyed visits from friends. But after a year of living here, I started to look at homes for sale, I couldn't help it! Little did I know that on Halloween, I would get a call from our landlord to say that she needed to move back in on February 1st.
All of a sudden, things became a little crazy. Okay, a lot crazy.
All day and night, I was searching for the perfect house. I would scour the internet, talk to anyone who would listen and drive up and down neighborhood streets in search of a 'for sale' sign on the lawn. Evenings and weekends were full of viewings and open houses. My cell phone buzzed with realtors and home owners calling me. And all I wanted was one thing: to move by Christmas.
I know it sounds silly, but once I knew that we would have to move, I didn't want to take out the decorations or do any of the usual baking and hosting that comes with the season. My heart wanted to be in the place we would call home.
And for weeks, things were not looking good: prices were too high, the houses were too small, too old, too ugly! There would be no garage or no basement...or in some cases, no bedroom walls (yes I'm serious).
And near the end of November I was starting to lose hope. We had visited every house in our price range and it was a waiting game. Would someone put their house up for sale, right before Christmas?
On November 29th, I woke up and I checked all of my real estate websites, like I would every morning in the hope that a new home would pop up. And on Kijiji of all places (Canadian Craigslist) there it was, right before my eyes: THE PERFECT HOME. So I emailed the seller and then went nuts waiting for Matthew to wake up so I could show him. I emailed my in-laws, and my sisters and looked at the pictures over and over and over....it almost felt too good to be true. Thankfully I wasn't delusional, when Matthew saw the pictures, he loved it too. And as we waited for the seller to contact us, one very interesting update appeared on the listing: Immediate Possession. I about fell out of my chair when I discovered it at work. Wow.
So long story short: We walked through the house that day, put in an offer two hours later, had it accepted by midnight, met the seller, found a lawyer, hired an inspector, got a mortgage, and today...TODAY we get the keys!
And the amazing part of this story is that the perfect home came along, just in time.. and God who listened to the wishes in our hearts....fulfilled every last one. I can't stop saying 'thank you'. From the brand new kitchen to the two car garage and lovely neighborhood, this house feels like home and warms my heart from the inside out.
I can't wait to share more Married with Kitchen adventures from our new home.
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