The House, Part 1

If you came here looking for my WW post, it's at my photoblog. Thanks!

You may be thinking that this is about our grand house hunting/buying adventure this year. But it's not. I think I've made reference to our old, small house a couple times here and have always thought that I'd like to compile the story that goes along with that house. But it's long. So it will come in parts. The story, not the house.

Many, many years ago, back in nineteen hundred and ninety-four, we sold our little 900-some square foot home so we could move to something a little bigger, seeing how there was hubs, me, and little bitty ClayGuy (we didn't know he was ClayGuy back then, though - he was only 5 months old. He'd likely have choked on it, had we given him clay). And our dog, Cody. And the cats, Sam & Hobbes.

Thus began the process of Finding the Right House (FRH). I wasn't a stay-at-home-mom at this point, so both hubs & I were running around at lunch time for FRH. I had certain expectations - it must be OLD, the older the better. After all, the old houses had character. They were interesting and unique. Not just a boring cookie-cutter home. Plus I grew up in the older part of town, so they really had a special place in my heart. We also wanted to be closer to my sister and her husband, who were living in an older part of town.

As I look back at FRH, I don't recall hubs having any particular input to my OLD HOUSE expectations. I think this was pretty much my own deal and I just ran with it. Being the kind, loving, and sweet hubby that he is, he wanted his wife to be happy, so I think he joined in for the ride.

When we started this process, we prayed diligently every day. We had a mental, not-on-paper list of what we did and didn't want in our new home. Somewhere along the way, we were derailed.

We came upon a house just three blocks from my sister and husband. It was charming, quaint, cute, and full of old house character. It had a beautiful wood stove right in the center of the biggest wall in the living room. The stove sat upon a beautiful tile platform. I had always wanted a wood stove. How romantic. There was hardwood on the kitchen and bedroom floors. It had an L-shaped porch on front. The people who owned it had it decorated ever so sweetly. I fell in love with it. Not so sure about hubby.

{Side note: the housing market was hopping in those days. Houses could sell very fast, have competing offers, and you really couldn't "just take your time" if you liked something.}

Our interest rate had been locked in, but wasn't going to last much longer, so hubby was getting a little antsy to find something. Since we were living with my sister and husband at the time (with our baby, dog, and two cats), it was getting a little cozy, plus I really wanted to buy a house, move in, get settled, and all that goes along with that.

So by now, our judgment was a little clouded. We may not have been praying regularly at this point, either. We made an offer on the house. It was accepted. It would seem that everything was moving right along, according to plan.

Stay tuned for part 2