It's a Miracle!

We got an offer on our condo last Sunday.

Ben and I couldn't believe it.  We thought we would never get out of here.  Our realtor told us we better start getting serious about looking for a new house.  I thought, "This is the place in this process I've been waiting to get to for sooooo long."  Then we prayed lots of prayers of thanksgiving.  They were more like shouts and leaps in the kitchen, actually, but I'm guessing God was pleased just the same.

Then I started to worry.  "What if we can't find the right house?  How will we know what school is best for Amelia?  What will our neighborhood be like?  What if our neighbor doesn't take care of his lawn/has a mean dog/parks lots of cars in the driveway/has loud parties?"  This worry overtook my joy.

Then we got some news.  The buyer is a veteran and he wants to take out a VA loan to buy our place.  But our condos aren't VA approved.  This is a problem.  Maybe even a deal breaker.

I see the dream of new home ownership quickly start to fade.  It doesn't look good for this VA loan.  Our realtor starts the process of figuring out how to get our condo home association VA approved.  This could take days/weeks/months/never happen in a million years.

We stop looking for houses.  As my mom said, the "carrot was dangled right in front of our faces" and there was nothing we could do about it.  We waited for news.  All week.

Finally on Friday, I started to forget and relax.  I wasn't checking my phone and email every 30 minutes to see if there were any updates.  When I got home from work, our realtor called.

"He's going conventional," she says.  "He wants to get a VA loan, but he can do conventional.  Things will move quickly now.  Get out there and find some houses."

More dancing in the kitchen ensues.

So what have I learned so far in this experience?  Appreciate and enjoy every moment of the good.  This is not the time to fret over all of the things that could go wrong while looking for and purchasing a new home.  This is a time to be thankful and rejoice because we are most likely getting the !#$% out of here.  We're not out of the woods yet, but things are definitely looking up.  We are going to an Open House today, and will get really serious next Saturday for sure.  This is happening, people.  We may be setting up our Christmas tree this year in our next home.  Thank you, God.

HOLLA -

p.s. - Happy Birthday today to my wonderful husband, Ben.  More on his big day later....