The Rest of the Story

I know there were a lot of questions raised when we decided to sell our house. To explain everything, I need to start at the very beginning.  When Chris & I got married, our intentions were to move to the beach. A year after getting married, we had already bought our first house, I started grad school and I was pregnant with Landon so those plans went on hold.  Shortly after Landon was born, I finished grad school and Chris said, out of the blue, that he was ready to move.  It was crazy how everything worked out.  I literally graduated one week, applied and got a job in the next two weeks.  Unfortunately, where I interviewed and got the job was not at the beach, but when you're 24 years old, you can't be picky in my profession..especially with no experience.  Our goal was to move to Johnston County and get five years under my belt before we started looking towards the beach again.  Well, 7 years later, we've had 3 more children, Chris has finished grad school and we've bought two more houses.

Everything was going great, other than the fact that Chris works like crazy and we started feeling like we were "tag team" parenting more than parenting together.  So, one week during my maternity leave, all of a sudden, a job pops up in Wrightsville Beach.  On a whim, I decided to apply for it.  Chris & I were talking later on in the week and decided that if in fact we did want to move, we needed to sell our house as soon as possible.  That way, if I did get a job, I'd be able to leave at any moment rather than worrying about paying rent at the new location and a mortgage at our old house.  So, in June, I contacted a realtor.  She's awesome by the way for anyone looking to buy or sell in Johnston or Wake County.  She has a stager who came to look at the house and give us ideas on things to move around or change to look good for showings. She had a professional photographer who took the pictures to go in our glossy brochures for showings.  Then, finally after a couple of weeks, we came home and the sign was in our yard.  We immediately started getting showings.  Two and a half weeks later, we received an offer and we're closing in August.  In the meantime, I got a call for an interview.  I interviewed and things went great.  Less than a week later, I have a job offer.  I can't believe how well things have worked out.  It's true that when God puts a plan into place, things fall in line so nicely! Now, I'm not going to say I haven't stressed out and had complete meltdowns because we're basically "homeless" for a month, but God has continually shown me signs that this is meant to be and it's all in HIS time and HIS plan.  We are so excited for this next chapter in our lives!

Mouse

Lily is the first of our kids to have an imaginary friend.  It took us a little while to realize who she was talking to because she's always been one to ramble on to herself under her breath.  One day, Chris realized she kept saying Mouse when she talked and she was telling him to do things. I am a little worried because a lot of the time, she's being bossy and saying things that I know she hears us say to her or the boys.  She'll say, "Mouse, you better listen to me or you'll get in time out" and things like that.  She also seems to work through some of her fears with Mouse.  I'll hear her saying, "Mouse, are you scared of the fireworks?  I'm not, are you?"  It's the sweetest thing and I have been able to get a few pictures of her playing with Mouse.

Teaching Mouse how to use the stapler

"Do what I do Mouse" (jumping as far as you can)

She wanted a picture of her and Mouse.."He's right here beside me Momma"

Moving On...

Well, we did it!  We officially sold our home in 2.5 weeks.  To say we were shocked would be an understatement.  We basically put our house on the market just to see what would happen.  Much to our surprise and happiness, it sold almost immediately.  Now, the home we've known longer than any other (3 years, 3 months) will be a home of our family's past.  For the first time that we've moved, I'm actually feeling a little bit of sadness.  This is the first home that Lily and Hattie both knew.  It's also the house that holds the room that was fixed for Hattie that she never even had a chance to sleep in.  We searched for 3 years for the perfect house until we found this one.  Needless to say, we won't be going right out and buying another one.  In the meantime, we'll rent until we find where we want to settle down again.  This time, hopefully permanently.  In the 10 years Chris & I have been married, we've lived in 5 homes, 3 of which we have owned.  Landon is only 8 and he's lived in 4 homes.  Nixon is 5 and he's lived in 3 homes.  I guess you could say at least they're used to change and they are able to adjust to new things well.  In reality, we move move than a military family and at least they receive benefits!  Goodbye old home..hello new!

This was right after we moved in..long enough that Chris had finished off the flower beds, adding the brick border.

Our first Christmas and our first snow in our house...also the first month as a family of five.

Our last month here and our one and only picture at our house as a family of six.