We've never planned to move anytime soon. We thought maybe we'd buy a piece of land nearby and build a house someday, even though building from scratch did overwhelm me. We didn't plan to do that till our son was in high school though, so we were thinking about four years or so before we'd start.
I love to look through real estate listings, I've done it for years just because it's fun. But the thought of moving has always made my stomach turn. I had zero desire. I LOVE our house and nothing I saw even compared to ours anyway.
We have always had a mental list of what we would include in a "forever house" though. It included no stairs (at least just to a basement) and less rooms we don't use -- no living room or dining room, but a BIG family room and kitchen, where we spend most of our time.
But again...if I ever even thought of moving it would make me sick to my stomach. A friend was in the process of moving a few months ago and I told her many times I didn't know how she did it. Leaving a house you loved for one, but just the process of packing up your whole life as well.
But then...something I can't explain happened. I walked through a house and thought...I could live here. It completely shocked me. From the moment we walked in (and it was just studs yat that point), I knew it was going to be our house. I called a best friend after walking through, visited another to tell her and texted my sister. I walked through the walls taking video and sent them to my best blog friends. I was so surprised there was a house we both loved that wasn't our own, and it wasn't even close to done! I honestly wasn't sure what the heck was happening -- it was not a feeling I was familiar with.
There's a neighborhood nearby that we've always been curious about -- and occasionally my husband would say "Let's go look through the houses" when they were building. And I'd be all hurt and sad that he would even consider leaving our house. He wasn't ever saying let's move, he was just curious. (He likes to remind me of that now.) 😂 But I dug my feet in. Nope. Not even gonna look!
And then one day...curiosity won out and we walked through a house that wasn't even mid-construction. Purely for fun. It didn't even have drywall, just wood studs and a plywood floor. And I immediately, completely, fell in love. It instantly felt like our house. I can't explain it, other than it felt perfect for us and for the first time in more than 13 years, I could imagine living somewhere else than our home.
It is my dream house. THIS is our dream house too, but the new one is everything I've wanted but didn't think would happen just yet. ;) Master on the main level. There is still an upstairs (our boy is thrilled about that), but the upstairs is small and just two bedrooms and a bath. A front porch!! (I could pee my pants.) There are tall ceilings in the back of the house where we'll spend most of our time and no dining room or formal living room to be seen. ;) Just a big family space with an eat in kitchen. LOTS of windows. Oh the windows. 😍 The lot is big -- we'll have a much bigger yard and I'm so excited about that.
We started to think about actually moving...but how could we let our house go? I didn't know how it would be possible. We took a minute and paused our excitement and thought hard about leaving this house. I truly didn't know if I could walk away and not ever be able to see it again. Leaving this house forever was not an option, and as I write this, brings me to tears.
We were stuck in this weird space of being excited about a potential house for the first time (since we moved here) and not knowing how we'd ever leave this one. And that's when this story gets super fun!
My best friend and I were sitting around one night talking about where my husband and I were at, and she threw out the words "We'd buy your house." I laughed it off and said wouldn't that be funny? And we went on with our evening. But about a week later we were sitting down again and she said they had talked about it and wanted our house -- and asked if we decided to sell that we offer it to them first.
We said it wouldn't be an option because we didn't want to even have the potential to lose our friendship over something like us moving. It wasn't worth it and selling is tricky business. But over time we talked it over, figured out a reasonable price, and they agreed. This changed everything -- the thought that we could still visit our old home meant the world to me. To walk through it again and see it being loved by people we love...it overwhelms me.
The rest of the story is a boring one with finances, lenders, working with the builder, inspections, signing one million documents, all that good stuff. It happened in a short amount of time. I wasn't going to say anything here until we close in August because I don't want to jinx anything. There are so many things that still have to work out perfectly in order for this to go off without a hitch. But we are SO excited, I just couldn't wait to tell you. I have a feeling of peace about it all, even though the past month I've been the most stressed I've ever been in my life. ;) OH and our house is full of boxes, so it's going to be hard to not share that with you.
I know many of you are thinking what we were...how can we leave this house? After all I've put into it? All the projects I've done? The bathroom?? The patio???
I have had emotional moments and I know I'll have more, but I've had a sense of peace about the whole thing that I really can't express well. This precious, wonderful house...I would have stayed here forever if nothing worked out and would have been over the moon to do so. This house is our heart but hearts can expand...we now have a new love as well. 💗
And no worries -- I will have TONS and tons of projects in the new house. I keep telling myself I'm going to take some time off from tools for awhile after we move in, but I have a looooong list of things I can't wait to tackle, so we'll see what happens.
I think about the house we are moving in to and instantly start crying...because of joy, not sadness. If you had asked me 20 years ago if I would have the privilege to live in both this house and the new one I would have said you were crazy. Better than I deserve. Blessed beyond measure.
We are so thankful and beyond excited. I'll share more details with you this week! I have so much to show you and tell you...it's been SO HARD not to share all this. But yeah...we're building a new house and my best friend is buying ours!
Isn't it crazy?? Crazy wonderful. I can't wait to take you along for the ride my friends.
from
http://www.thriftydecorchick.com/2017/07/big-huge-exciting-news.html
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