A house . . .

and not just any house -- THE HOUSE!! I have found THE HOUSE that is mine. I am so giddy about it, it's not even funny!! Sometime I'll have to share the whole house story, but I'm not going to try to do that now. I might just end up typing it all out, though.

Anyway, Sunday night at our Encounter service, I was praying and I just told God that I HAD to know he was still with me in all of this . . . ok, I just realized I have already blogged that.

Anyway, we went to look at houses on Tuesday -- 6 of them. The first one was ok. . the second one was a definate cowboy house, but not my house. Poor Payton was devastated that we weren't moving in there. Just no way! The third house was a brand new house that was really nice. The fourth house was THE HOUSE!!! I mean, THE HOUSE. I'll get back to it in a minute. We went to the fifth house and it was not really all that impressive. The 6th house we didn't get to see until Wednesday, but it was really nice, just not THE HOUSE!!!

So, we decided to make an offer at $110K (gosh, seems like so much money). They're asking $135K, but $115K is the max we can afford. They came down to $130K. So, we're still $15K short, but I know that my God who owns the WHOLE UNIVERSE is bigger than $15,000!!!

I know it's my house. I'm so excited about it!! It's not that I had to have a $135K house. I looked at a few houses over $130K and they were all very very nice houses, but they just don't compare to this house!!

It's 3 bedrooms, 2 bath, 1 living area. It has 1749 sq. ft, which is comparable to what we're in now. It has a real dining room (something I don't really have now) with a window that looks out into the back yard. Beautiful St. Augustine grass. It has a beautiful entry way. It has curved corners, which I don't really like, but when I walked in the house, I said, "Oh, it has curved corners. I love that!" I had to do a double-take on myself!! I like them in that house!!! So, you might be wondering where my scrapbook room is going to be . . . well, I'm glad you asked!! There is a coat closet in the living room that has double opening doors on it. I like to scrapbook in the living room because that's normally where everyone is and the noise of the tv. So, just put me a table in there and I'm set! Plus, you close the doors and nobody sees the mess!! :)

The deeper issue on the house is that I've never believed I would really ever live in a nice house like this. I've always felt like I would live in $75K houses for the rest of my life. With that said, I have nothing againse $75K houses -- nothing at all. I just didn't have any hope of moving past that. . . even in to my "elder years". I've always thought I would live in a house that needed something fixed on it (major - like the foundation) or needed updating that we said we would do when we bought it, but never would do. Anyway, those that know me know what I mean. . .

I had been looking at this house online for a few weeks, but I didn't even want to bring it up because I knew Aaron wouldn't go look at it because it was too much money. That is another thing God is doing. I never believed that Aaron would buy me a house that nice -- because we didn't NEED it. I do know that Aaron loves me with everything in him, but I just never believed he would do something like that for me and I'm not really sure where that comes from. . .

Anyways, we both know it's THE HOUSE. When I walked in, I knew it was home. I even told Aaron that I would give up scrapbooking for 5 years if it meant I got the house. I would sell every scrapbooking thing I have if I could just get the house. For those of you who know me -- that's some serious talk!! But, I would do it in a heartbeat.

I want a house where I LOVE to drive in the driveway and say, "Yes, this is my house." I want a house where I don't have to tell people we're in the middle of a pasture and it looks like a barn. I want to be in a house where I can stay for more than 2 years. I want a house where my kids can play with the neighbors kids. I want a house where my kids can ride their bikes on a real road and have to watch out for cars! I want to live in a house where I am just at home. I want to be giddy about being at home. I think that's it -- I've been a stay at home mom for 5 years and never really enjoyed being at home. This home, I could be happy to be home in. And, I don't have to do a thing to it. Every house I've ever lived in, I've immediately thought of what colors I could paint and where. Not in this house. I don't think there'll be much painting in it for me. There is one pink room that Evan has claimed that might need some paint, but not more than that. I want a house where we can enjoy being at home without the floor squeaking or mice!!! ;) I want a house where I can have a real wood fence -- did you hear that? Not a chain-link fence -- a real wooden fence and one that doesn't need fixed.

Now, don't hear me complaining about the house I'm in or the houses I've lived in. I'm not complaining at all. I'm just saying that I know God wants to bless me with this house. I'm believing we're going to be moving in just a few short weeks into that house. I am believing that my mail isn't going to have to be forwarded to one place and then another. I'm believing it can go straight there -- even before we close.

Here's the thing: I'm really in the best position. There are 2 other houses that are very nice -- very nice. One is brand new and the other is a little older, but 4 bedrooms. Those houses are in our price range and they are really nice and I could live there. But, I don't believe I'm going to live there. I'm going to live in THE HOUSE -- Somehow God is going to do this -- just for me.

Ok . . well, I could go on and on about how much I love this house, but I won't. Did I say that I love the house?