As always, my life changes on a day-to-day basis. Sometimes things happen that are so crazy that I almost don't believe it myself. (Two sets of twins?!) but honestly, I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried.
When I drove up to Virginia almost 2 weeks ago (has it been 2 weeks?) I had a few goals in mind. First, I wanted to sell or rent my house in Georgia. Second, I wanted to find a house in Virginia. Third, the babies were getting baptized at my childhood church. And of course I also was planning our big trip to Rhode Island.Jason and I had been struggling with the decision of what to do with our house in Georgia. We listed it for sale during a bad time and then when the market picked up as the weather warmed up, we had been sitting on the market for months. Because of our location and the fact that several thousand new jobs are coming to the area in the next 3 years, we ultimately made the decision to list the house for rent.
Within hours of making the decision, we received a phone call. It was a realtor who had showed our home a few weeks ago. She knew we wanted to sell it, but wanted to see if we were interested in leasing it. You can call this an answer to prayer, call it "luck", or call it fate. But I believe that God was guiding us. Really, isn't it amazing? This realtor didn't even know that we were going to try to rent out our house.
Needless to say, we have another military family moving into our home in just 3 weeks. In just 3 weeks!!! I'm not packed, I'm not ready to move, and I'm not even in Georgia right now.
But wait... it gets better!
We had looked at houses in Virginia for months. We had even signed a contract back in February but it fell through when the seller filed bankruptcy. We were discouraged to say the least! Finally, after days of looking at properties, I was ready to give up. The realtor had one last house for us to look at so I drove and met him there. When I pulled up in the driveway, he got out of his truck and said, "I'm sorry. We are probably wasting our time. This house just had a contract this morning."
I decided to walk through the house anyway since we were already there. It has just come on the market that morning. I could tell right away why it had already gotten an offer. It was beautiful! The house was only 4 years old and in immaculate condition, despite being a foreclosure. It had 5 bedrooms, 3 1/2 baths, and a finished basement that opened out onto a flat 1/3 acre lot. And it was walking distance to my sister-in-law's house. Too good to be true!
I left that house feeling like I should try to put an offer out there, even though I knew (and the realtor told me) that we didn't stand a chance. I called the bank that owned the property since they were requiring pre-approvals for all offers on the house. By the next morning I had submitted a contract. Unfortunately the realtor called me to let me know that multiple contracts had already been submitted. We had already offered $20,000 more than the asking price- which was still less than 1/2 of the value of the home.
I was anxious waiting to hear about the house. Jason reminded me that if it is meant to be, it will be. The realtor shared some information about our situation with the listing agent and they were both praying for us to get the house. We knew that it would be against all odds that our contract would get picked.
I waited on pins and needles all week. Friday came and it was 9pm. I was in Home Depot with my grandmother as she picked out patio furniture. My phone rang. It was the realtor. With my heart pounding furiously, I answered the phone. We got the house!
I have to keep pinching myself because I just can't believe it. After 5 years of living across the country from our family (first in California, then Texas, and then Georgia) we are finally moving back. It's bittersweet though. Jason will not be living with us since he'll be in Iraq. I'll be down the street from my sister-in-law and just an hour from my mom and grandmother. We'll be able to enjoy Washington, DC and the kids will get to live in Virginia- my home. It feels so good and just a little bit scary.
It's been a crazy couple of weeks here. I am having the usual mama drama. My mother is ready for our visit to be over already and the kids and I are getting anxious to get out of here. On Saturday morning we will all leave to drive to Rhode Island. We'll return to VA on June 6th. Then I get up the following morning and drive back to Georgia.
I'm going to have less than a week to pack my entire house. Only 4 days to box up everything we own. The moving truck comes at the end of that week and everything goes into storage in Virginia until we return from our trip to Arizona.
I've been ready to leave Georgia for a long time but now that it's really happening I find myself feeling strange. I'm relieved, yet still anxious. I'm excited, but quite nervous. I'm happy to be moving back to Virginia, but I'm sad to leave behind this part of our lives.
Just yesterday I realized that 4 of my children were born in Georgia and have never lived anywhere but in our home there. They have never moved. This is all new to them. Even Matthew and Joshua don't really remember much about our other moves. Not only are we moving, but we don't have Jason here with us.
Thankfully my sister-in-law is bringing her husband and 13-year old son and will coming to Georgia to help me pack. I'm so glad that I don't have to do that by myself! It's still going to be a huge job, but at least I'll have babysitters and extra hands. I am so blessed to have their help.
Isn't it funny how Nathan and Ryan both seem to make the same faces at the same time? They are a riot. I can't get enough of their dimply smiles!Oh, and I can see that I definitely need to write a post about cloth diapering. I'll get right on that. Just as soon as I can sit still long enough to think!
