A House!!!

God certainly is good. He knows exactly what you need and will give it to you exactly when you need it.....sometimes in the way that you never expected. AS all of you know - D and I have been looking for a house to purchase. After what seems like forever and several, several offers with no takers - we decided to start looking for a house to rent. It wasn't the ideal situation, but we figured that it would give us some time to save some more, while also building up stuff we would need for a house anyways (nicer furniture, washer/dryer....etc). It would also give our family a place where we can feel settled, and the kids can have a backyard to run around in.

Anywho - we found an ad on Craigslist this past Friday. WE called the landlord, Jack, who told us to check out the house, walk around the property, look in the windows (no one was living there) and if we wanted to see the inside, he could make arrangements to do so. WE did just that, saw the inside on Saturday evening and fell in love with it. We ended up giving him the deposit/first month's rent right there. He handed over the keys and said we could move in anytime! So we're now packing up the entire apartment and starting to move on Thursday. Darrin has 6 days off - so we figure that we'll take advantage of this time he's available! However, moving so quickly also means that I have to try to pack up the entire aparment, in 4 days, with a toddler and a newborn. We're making good progress but it's definitely overwhelming at times!

A little about the house: It's in Brea, so we don't have to leave this city that we really love. It has 3 bedrooms, 2 baths (a hall bathroom and a bathroom in the master bedroom) and is a little less than 1200 sq ft. It sits on a cul-de-sac with very nice neighbors. Everyone has been there for a long time (we're talking some have been there for 50-60 years) and they all kind of look out for each other. When we pulled up on Friday night there were kids playing in the street. Ahhh... we loved that. Laundry hook ups are in the 2 car garage (YAY.... I cannot WAIT to be able to throw in a load of laundry whenever I want!). It has an adorable little backyard that they just re-sodded. It also has a little cement mini-sidewalk around the grass in the backyard. Darrin and I said we could see Rylee riding her tricycle around it. The kitchen...however, isn't so pleasant. It's quite old, with ..frankly...ugly dark-stained cabinets. It also doesn't have a dishwasher (what did I just get myself into??!!). But.... oh well. The landlords said that they have been wanting to remodel the kitchen but just didn't have the money at the time. So they're planning on totally remodeling it before the end of the year. Of course, I'm taking the promise with a grain of salt. I know their intentions are good but as we all know, sometimes life can get in the way and projects you wanted to do get put on the back burner. So we'll see when or if the kitchen makeover happens. We'll figure out how to make the kitchen our own and it's not the end of the world not to have a dishwasher (although I'm sure, at times, that it'll feel like it is). Just know that if you come to visit - we'll probably use paper plates!! :) Overall though...we just love it. We walked in and both said we just felt like we were home. We brought Rylee over the other day and she went crazy. She ran around everywhere, jumping up and down and playing with everything in the backyard.

A little about the landlords -- Jack and Patty have been married for 50 years and met in jr high. This house was their very first house. Jack was in the Navy and did 3 tours of Vietnam. He was pretty excited to hear that Darrin is a former Marine and now in law enforcement. Jack and Patty used to have horses and just love animals. So much so that they aren't even charging us an extra deposit for our dog. Jack said that he firmly believes every child should be raised around animals. So he won't charge extra for a dog, but it's understood that if the dog destroys anything, it's our job to fix it. Pretty fair. Both of them are VERY laid back and friendly. We think they would fit into our family quite well! :)

We're just so happy. If you want our new address- shoot me an e-mail. I won't be posting it on here (for obvious reasons!).

Thank you for all your love, support and prayers! God is so good and we thank Him for this wonderful blessing!