Sitting And Waiting...Still

Work has been keeping me busy and distracted from the house. So far all the repairs that needed to be done are done and the appraisal was taken care of as well. Now we're even further along in the "sitting and waiting" phase of purchasing our house.

Hubby is just dying to get into that house. He keeps saying, "How is it that it's going to take a whole month now?" He calls up our realtor almost every day to make sure there isn't anything else we need to do.

For now, all we can do is just thank the Lord that we are capable of doing what we are trying to do and start a new chapter in our lives.

Maze Runner

If you ever get the chance to, go see Maze Runner in theaters. It was amazing! If you like an intense movie that keeps you interested the whole time then this is the movie for you.

After seeing the movie I'm definitely going to check out the book series and read it. I'm excited for the second movie to come out.

Barnheart

I want to share an excerpt of a novel I read that screams what I'm feeling lately since we are in the process of buying our house. It is called Barnheart by Jenna Woginrich. I loved it and I ended up buying two other books from her. Even though I feel the author doesn't think all the way through and isn't quite prepared as she should be (but that is how I do things myself so I'm not hating by any means, her way of doing things is just the opposite of my personality) but I have to say she has guts and is not afraid to tackle a challenge. I find this encouraging.

Certain people, myself included, are afflicted by a condition that's difficult to describe. It's not recognized by physicians or psychoanalysts (yet), but it's really only a matter of time before it's a household diagnosis. It's a sharp, targeted depression, a sudden overcast feeling that hits you while you're at work or standing in the grocery-store checkout line. It's a dreamers disease, a mix of hope, determination, and grit. It' attacks those of us who wish to God we were outside with our flocks, feed bags, or harnesses instead of sitting in front of a computer screen...

The symptoms are mild at first. You start reading online homesteading forums and shopping at cheese-making supply sites on your lunch break. You go home after work and instead of turning on the television, you bake a pie and study chicken-coop building plans. Then somehow,somewhere along the way you realize that you're happiest when you're weeding the garden or collecting eggs from the henhouse...

This condition is roughly defined  as the state of knowing unequivocally that you want to be a farmer but, due to personal circumstances, cannot be one just yet. So there you are, heartsick and confused in the passing lane, wondering why you can't stop thinking about heritage-breed livestock and electric fences...You have what I have. You are suffering from Barnheart.

When your mind wanders like this and your heart feels heavy, do not lose the faith, and do not fret about your current circumstances. Everything changes. If you need to stand in the slanting light of an old barn to lift your spirits, go for it. Perhaps someday you'll do this every day. For some, this is surely the only cure. I may be such a case.
        We'll get there. In the meantime, let us just take comfort in knowing we're not alone. And maybe take turns standing up and admitting we have a problem.
    Hello. My name is Jenna. And I have Barnheart.

We Kind of Have A House

The first house didn't take and neither did our second favorite (my personal favorite) house either. But when our realtor showed us a house close to Weatherford while we were waiting to hear about the first house offer, Jay and I knew this house was going to be next. It roughly take 25-30 minutes for the both of us to get to work, it's in a nice country neighborhood with cows, horses, and chickens in people's yards (that's a good sign for me), and it has a big spacious backyard for us to start on our mini farm that we've been wanting to start. Not to mention it's a lot closer to our price range than the first two houses.

So once the second house didn't take our offer we moved on to this house and the sellers accepted our offer. Yay! BUT we only have a foot in the door. Now we're going through inspections and appraisals and so forth. The closing date is the end of October. So we're looking at a month and a half. Great...It's a matter of waiting and that's not something Jay and I like to do.

In the meantime, we're working together to see what changes we want to make once (and I say ONCE) the house is ours. The backyard is needing some attention (and in the next few weeks I'll explain further on that) and we will eventually want to replace the appliances in the kitchen. Thankfully, compared to house #2 it doesn't need much work but we want to add in a little bit of us in it. Jay's main project is to expand the garage and make a part of it his shop for his Bronco, and possible this will add more space to the back bedroom behind the garage as well. He also has a project in mind for the backyard that he's not ready to tell me yet.

So yeah...I can breath for a minute but the anxiety is still there. My prayer is that everything goes as smoothly as possible and as quickly as possible.

Projects That Actually Get Done

Do you ever have that problem when you want to start a project but you never get to it and blame it on work or just life in general? Well this chick finally got to that said project and FINISHED it.

My jewelry armoire was given to my by my grandmother roughly five years ago. It's starting to fall apart and just plain old.

 

I've lost the photo that showed what the armoire originally looked like but you can kind of  see in the photo above. Chloe thought she was helping me out too.

 

Here is what it looks like now. I'm so pleased with its new look.

 

I had some leftover paint from when we painted our living room wall, so I used that and I grabbed some gold paint from Hobby Lobby.

 

I started pulling the pieces apart and sanding them down. Then I would paint a coat or two. Once the pieces were dry I would take a sand paper piece and start rubbing off some of the paint to give it a weathered rustic look.

 

I am very pleased how it worked out.

It's Begining To Look A Lot Like Autumn

Today, it is 'sprinkling' outside.

It's roughly 70 degrees and slightly windy.

I decided it was time and I caved for a pumpkin spiced iced coffee. Sooo goooodddd.

And then I bought these little darlings.

 

It's definitely starting to look (and feel) like Autumn.

First Offer

We made our first official offer to our first house yesterday!

My stomach has been doing flip flops all weekend just thinking about it. Friday afternoon we met with our lovely realtor and she guided us through the process, and paper work, of making offers and was patient with us as she explained how it all works.

Just listening to her made me fidgety. If you haven't figured it out already I'm a very impatient person. I hate waiting but as my mother in law would say, "The majority of your life is about waiting".

I just want the thumbs up on a house so I can start decorating it and make our personal touches on it. Last night Jay and I went grocery shopping at our beloved Central Market and they have put pumpkins out on display. Oh man, I was already imagining pumpkins lit and lined up on my drive way at my new home...but I dont' have a house!

Before the day was over, we got an email from our realtor say that the seller countered (which is typical in an offering war) so we countered back. We haven't heard anything yet but we are praying that soon we will come to an agreement.

I recently remembered one my favorite bloggers, Jordan Reid of Ramshackle Glam, went through her first experience of buying a house and I went through her archives (like a creeper) and read through it all.

For anyone else going through this kind of experience for the first time here's the link. For me, it's been very helpful and has made me feel better seeing how she was struggling also (not that I enjoy your struggles Jordan).

Progress

I've been so busy with this week from work, looking at houses, and preparing to make offers.

We are officially godparents. We were able to see Raevyn and attend her baby dedication.

 

I was super happy to see my niece, Taylor, since the last time we saw her was Thanksgiving, I believe.

 

 

She's getting so big it kills me.

 

Yesterday we got with our realtor and starting on the offers on our top three houses. Hopefully soon we will be making progress on the house hunting.