Gonna eat a lot of peaches.
— "Peaches" by The Presidents of the United States of America
One year ago yesterday my husband and I were hanging out at my Aunt Cathy's house for Labor Day weekend. Her husband was there, and also my mom and stepdad. My aunt has a gorgeous pool, and the kids were loving being on the pizza-shaped floatie.
My husband and I had been considering moving to acreage for years, and I got him seriously on board probably a year or more earlier. We'd been REALLY looking for at least a year and were getting a little discouraged. We weren't sure we'd ever find what we wanted, and we were picky. When we made the big move from our house of 17 years where we brought home each of our babies from the hospital, it was going to have to be THE ONE FOR LIFE. As in, I would happily die in the house, overlooking my kingdom (a few acres).
So the kids are in the pool. My aunt has this house that always smells good, always looks good, is done in lovely warm colors, and it has a nice bar in the basement. We love it. My grandmother had just died the Sunday before, and the funeral had been just a few days earlier.
Then BAM. I check my phone to see that an alert has come in from Zillow for a rockin' dream house in Peculiar, MO, which seemed very far but hey, why not? Now, folks, Zillow is not the most reliable thing on the planet. I wrote our realtor to check to see if the home we were drooling over was for real and was shocked to find out it was. Oh, man, we were ready to see it (you can see it here)!
There was a pool like what the kids were currently swimming in. There was a cool basement bar (we are not big drinkers at all, but how cool for entertaining and homeschooling!). There were 4 acres with the option to buy the other 4 later. There were 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. HUGE kitchen. Garage/shed with 3 garage spaces in addition to the 2 attached to the house. Trees. Pond. Deck. We were in love.
I told the kids that if we got the house I would buy them a pizza-shaped floatie, but I really didn't think it was going to happen. (parents: be careful what you promise your kids because by the time I was able to get one I spent like $30 on eBay)
So the very next day, Labor Day, we went to see the house. We didn't want our realtor to work on a holiday but she insisted we meet. We were the first to see the house, got to meet our future neighbors (love them), and as we pulled up to the house, I saw a fish jump high out of the pond. We did the walk-through, immediately loving everything about it. Pear trees. Room for a huge garden or chickens or goats or anything we wanted. Dogs, cats, bunnies, all of it.
As we left the house (more people were coming in to see it so it was going to start getting crowded), we stood by a tree in the front yard with our realtor, the amazing Jacqueline Elbert. She suggested we pray. We held hands and prayed and we call it our Prayer Tree now. Joel parks his car under it.
We drove away knowing we BOTH wanted it. We were both in love and we knew the kids would FREAK OUT. I prayed and was excited but I honestly was not hopeful. It was a lot of money, way more than our budget, but it was screaming our names.
We called a loan officer on the way home (30 minutes from our current home). We started negotiations immediately. There were too many offers and the seller was overwhelmed and needed to consider everything.
Two days later at homeschool co-op, I asked my Creative Writing class to pray for us. These kids are the best! Most of them have now been swimming at our pool and those who have not yet are always invited. Their prayers got us here!
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| Yesterday we found this little guy in our pool skimmer. We've also found frogs and snakes and plenty of brown recluses and other fun things. We love it. |
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| So one of my kids found this in the toilet this morning AFTER they went to the bathroom. We love our froggy friends and the kitty we feed every night that won't let us touch it just yet. |
Happy ending? Yes. The day after we closed on our old house, we were able to put an offer in on the other 4 acres, so we now have all 8 acres that originally were with the house, and we are fully in love. We are even friends with the previous owner, and she is such an incredible woman that God had us meet! We love the neighbors, I love walking the neighborhood and hearing nature and smelling flowers and burn piles (yes, I love the smell of a good set of burning leaves because it reminds me of my grandma).
Sometimes something just CLICKS. You want it and you want it and it seems like it will never arrive. You try to be patient and you pray and you live your life and THEN IT HAPPENS. And you will feel so elated and grateful and just peaceful and happy. It's a great feeling, and I've experienced it in my life more than I deserved to (marrying Aron, giving birth to each of my children, realizing my writing dreams).
I know a lot of people who are looking for their country dream as well. I will pray for you that you find exactly what you are looking for (in your price range!).
ALSO, 12 years ago today I started homeschooling my oldest child, Joel. He was 5 and I was too excited to wait until the next day, so we whipped out a cheap Sam's Club workbook and sat down on the grass in the backyard with Michael and Callie nearby and started one of the best things I've ever done with my life.
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| IKEA Merriam September 1 ... killing time in between a gorgeous wedding at Cure of Ars, where we were married almost 20 years ago, and the reception. A day to remember! |
