If you follow me on Twitter {@nnb1975} then you know mostly about how we selected our new home in Atlanta. Well, here's the ENTIRE story from start to finish ....
Y'all remember when we surprised my sister over New Years? Well, while we were there, we were bored one afternoon. We decided to go look at the vacant houses in her neighborhood to get ideas of the house we wanted to build in Florida. They do not build many 2 story houses in Florida, but I was mainly looking for trim and decor ideas, etc ... that kind of thing.
We walked thru several houses and I said to Big Daddy "If we ever moved here, THIS is my dream house" and that was it, appropriately named "The Green House". I casually walked thru the house, just one time and instantly fell in love. My sister wanted us to call and find out how much it was listed for because she was just curious. We called the realtor and she told us "That house is sold. It's closing January 21" and that was it ... although she did get us to try and make an offer on one of the other houses, just like all of my realtor friends here, she is ALWAYS on, ready to make a SALE!
Well, fast forward to end of February when we decided we would most likely be making the move to Atlanta. SO MANY things had to fall in place. Seriously fall into place. I was on my knees praying that God would protect us. I prayed for His complete and total protection over our hearts, our minds, and our finances. Big Daddy left his job on Feb 21 with absolutely NO idea when he would get paid next, his last real paycheck was Feb 15 ~ to date, we have not had to take ONE penny out of savings. I don't know HOW, but we haven't.
SO, back to the house ~ I asked our realtor to send me a list of houses that were still available in my sister's neighborhood and she did. I scanned the list, twice, and saw the Lot # of my dream house. Surely this was wrong ..... I called her and asked her about it. Nope, it wasn't a mistake. That house was indeed still available. It never closed.
I reminded Big Daddy of the house, as we had both kind of agreed on another one that was 'the house'. He was thrilled because he too loved it. Of course, the listing agent said there was a couple looking at houses that weekend and THAT one was at the top of their list. FIGURES! I prayed that if the house was meant to be ours, God would make sure it didn't sell. Honestly, at this point, I didn't even know how much it cost!
So fast forward to Monday AM ~ the house is STILL available. The couple made an offer on a different one. Big Daddy is in Atlanta and goes last Monday afternoon to look at all the houses. My Dad shows up, my Mom shows up and my sister and nieces show up. They are 'talking' me through the houses over the phone and texting me pictures. I begged Big Daddy to please go back to the 'green' house. That was THE one. BUT then everyone would go look at the other houses and get me confused. I was literally SCREAMING in the phone -- acting like QUITE the diva -- because I just KNEW we were supposed to buy THAT house. The green one.
Big Daddy wanted to sleep on it, and he and I wanted to talk about what kind of offer we wanted to make. I prayed going to bed and waking up. Asking to be led in the right direction, again, protecting us from making the wrong decision, and really asking for SPECIFIC things because I felt like I was too excited, I would miss a little red flag. I asked God to make the loan process difficult, make the house selection difficult, whatever - something BIG. But all HE did was give us confirmation that we are supposed to go to Atlanta. The house originally was not in our budget and I REFUSED to budge even $1000 on it. Don't get me wrong, this is a big house, but the market is perfect for buyers and the builder NEEDS to get rid of these houses. SO ... we decided to make a nutso offer. What was there to lose, right?Unfortunately, I am one of those people that asks God for LOTS of signs -- I do it to all my friends too, for reassurance. My specific prayer, on Tuesday night, was this: "Lord, thank you for your provision and your guidance. As Big Daddy and I make this offer on this home, Lord, I pray that the builder will accept our offer and will not counter. Father, if this is not your will, I ask that you blatantly make it clear because my mind is clouded with excitement ... If they counter even by $1,000, God, I will take and accept this as your "no" ... so that was it.
Fast forward a WEEK! A WHOLE WEEK! I honestly didn't think about it that much. I just kept a positive attitude and BELIEVED. Big Daddy and I were shopping - at W@l-Mart of all places - and my cell phone rings. It's our agent. She called to tell me she was sorry she was JUST getting back to us, but they had received the acceptance late the night before and she just found out. I said "WHAT?" and she said "Yes, the acceptance, it was just emailed late last night" and I asked "What was the counter?" and she said ...
"There isn't one -- they accepted it as is"
I kid you not.
Y'all - I freaked OUT! I looked at Big Daddy ...and was SO thankful he was there with me, so we could share TOGETHER. I just looked at him and mouthed "We got the house!" and of course, he said "HUHN?" and so I screamed "WE GOT THE HOUSE!!!!" and we high-fived ... because that's what we do.
I thanked God all the way home. Just thanked Him for being so faithful to us and my crazy desires. I knew it wasn't impossible, but I knew I was SO excited, that I would miss something. I needed my red flag or interruption to be BIG. OBVIOUS. Well, God made it TOTALLY clear to me that HE HAS THIS!!
So that's it! Oh, I even prayed about our loan ...for God to make it DIFFICULT and hard to get {because HELLO, I work in this industry and know it is NOT like it used to be} and well, we were approved in RECORD time. Crazy. Just crazy {but thank you, Jesus}.
My life has DEFINED busy for the past month or so ... I MEAN, REALLY busy.
Here's an example:
Feb 26-28 ~ New Orleans trip
Mar 6-7 ~ sing at church and co-host wedding shower
Mar 13-14 ~ ALL weekend long out of town
Mar 19-21 ~ WEDDING
Mar 27-28 ~ out of town cheer competition
Apr 3-4 ~ Easter
Apr 10-11 ~ out of town cheer competition {last one} and start of Spring Break!!
SO, you see, I have/had SOME sort of commitment every single weekend. I am NOT complaining, DON'T GET ME WRONG, I LOVE being busy - just so limited on what I can do due! Add in full time job, 2 kids w/extra curricular activities, a very busy traveling husband, and wooowee, I am a TIRED girl!
I'm also a social butterfly and like to throw in a weekday night of seeing a friend or staying to watch Princess's entire cheer practice. I wouldn't change my life for ANYTHING, but NOW we've added in our big MOVE!!
We're MOVING ~ TO ATLANTA!!
SO SO excited. We have found an amazing home and we close towards the end of April. We will not move in until June, once the kids get out of school, but we are really looking forward to being close to our family. I am talking CLOSE.
I finally get to SEE the house when we go up in April. I have only seen it one time and that was when we visited Atlanta over New Years, was bored, and we decided to go look at houses in the neighborhood -- MY SISTER'S NEIGHBORHOOD. I wanted to get ideas for the house we were going to BUILD here in Tampa. God had entirely different plans for us -- but that's a WHOLE 'nother blog post!
I've made a conscious effort to get back into blogging, more than just ONCE/WEEK ~ I've GOT so many things to 'talk' about and can't wait to share it with you ALL!
Princess has had her same bedroom setup for almost 5 yrs now! She decided this year for her birthday, she wanted to redo her bedroom, so I'm going to oblige her, plus those that know me, know I am the world's BEST painter, so it should be a BREEZE! HA HA!!
Most everything is 'inspired' by Pottery Barn Teen. Yes, I said TEEN. We fell in LOVE w/the bloom bedding and that inspired the rest of the room! We'll paint her furniture the perfect minty/shabby chic green, purple walls, BIG WHITE frames w/her favorite pictures all made black & white, a BIG funky mirror on the wall, a huge shabby rug, paint her current chandelier a funky green, and then I'll use the same lamp bases she already has and just try and recreate the Pottery Barn ones on a budget!!
Oh, but it won't be going in our current house ..... WE'RE MOVING!
More details to come ....
Sometimes things happen that really shake me to the core. Make me step back and re-evaluate my life, those around me, etc ... I'm sure that happens to everyone, right?
Recently a woman that I know, her daughter cheers w/my daughter, was diagnosed with lung cancer. I never got the chance to talk to her about it, but I did tell her best friend to let her know I was praying for her and her family. See, my Dad is a cancer survivor - MANY times over - and I wanted to pray with her and tell her my Dad's story.
Unfortunately, I never got that chance. I got the phone call on Thursday that she had passed away. I was on my way to the Taylor Swift concert w/Princess and I drove in complete and utter silence. Just in shock. She had a blood clot in her heart and from what I understand, it was a near instant death. I don't believe ANYONE was expecting it and actually, she was just gearing up for treatment.
I just wonder - did God know the treatments weren't going to work and he took her quickly to not put her through the pain. Not only her, but her loved ones watching her go through it - because TRUST ME - it is not anything I would wish on anyone. Watching someone battle cancer is difficult and any end result is a joyous celebration, whether they beat it or not. You are happy because they beat it or you are happy the Lord took them home so they do not have to suffer anymore.
My heart breaks for Trenda's family ~ she loved Jesus and was an amazing example of a Godly woman. I KNOW, without a shadow of a doubt, that she is laughing and smiling in heaven. She was 37 yrs old and lost her Daddy this past summer. I read her obituary yesterday morning and it was the most beautifully written obituary I think I've ever read!
SO - I say all that to say this - this sudden loss has me reflecting {again} on my life. The little things I worry about, really, are so insignificant. I need to be the best wife, Mommy, daughter, sister, friend that I can be. I am one of those people that tells their friends "Love you" when we leave or hang up, because I can sure tell you, in an instant it can all be gone. I want to make a mark, I want to leave a lasting impression of my life here. I need to QUIT CARING what people think about me and just do what I want to do and what the Lord leads me to do. Period.
If you're the praying kind, please lift up Trenda Gude's family in prayer - they are sure going to need it. It is going to be a tough road, but I know God's peace that surpasses ALL understanding will surround them.
We've had some exciting things happen in our house the past week {or so}.
Big Daddy left his job of 4.5 yrs at the radio station to finally pursue his passion! He is now Director of Programming for a network called The Country Network. You can find it at www.tcncountry.com and if I have any followers that live in the Montgomery/Troy, AL area, it can be found on Channel 48. They are working HARD at getting national distribution and it won't be long. We have total faith in God that He has led us to this and will bring us through it and make it work.
With that being said ~ I've placed myself on a shopping ban for the ENTIRE month of March. I'm talking nothing but essentials. I have SO much and feel guilty for having so much, honestly. SO, I'm cleaning out my closet and the kids closets and donating, giving to friends, etc and NOT replacing. I'm terrible about going to Wal-Mart or Target and grabbing a few extra things that I really just don't need. I don't have room for all the clothes I own. Princess has more clothes than she can wear and Wild Child is content playing games on his xBox, so why go add more junk to the pile!? Right?
I even have an accountability partner ~ so we're doing this TOGETHER! RIGHT, PIPM?
I do have more news, but I'm not at liberty to share QUITE yet. I'm not pregnant, nothing like that - but until everything is SIGNED, SEALED, and DELIVERED, I don't want to share quite yet on the blog!
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