Happily Ever Faster

I suppose there's no sense in waiting to let the cat out of the bag...

Last week, the future H family (yep, that'd be us) went to VA for a few days to scope out some real estate. Accompanied by a tranquilized puppy, Chandler and I met with our realtor and the hunt began!

Because it's 2009 and people can pretty much walk the streets of distant lands from the comfort of jammies and a kitchen counter (thank you Google), we'd seen a lot of the area we were interested in and just needed confirmation. We toured a few home sites in the neighborhood and long story short, made an offer. It was perfect. The homes were well built, the neighbors seemed nice, there is a park beside the 'hood, a new library, a new elementary school.... and a dog park! It's right outside of the city and only a few miles from Chan's office. We honestly couldn't think of a reason not to move forward. Wait, did I mention that this was the first place we looked at in the flesh? Well, that's not too important (please, don't remind me of this if in a few years I regret our decision!).

We talked. We called the fam. We called the CPA. We talked some more... and we decided to make an offer. It was just too good not to do so. There were a few reasons we needed to move quickly so the following day, I spent the afternoon with the builder and started the unexpected, grueling process of choosing colors. After work, Chan met me there and we completed the paperwork. The site manager, Melannie (who is as completely awesome as Leah), let us know that we were asking for a lot and to be ready for a counter offer.

Chan and I discussed at length what we'd do if that happened but I told him not to get too upset because I had a good feeling. That feeling, however, was certainly not without a LOT of prayer and a lot of "God, if this is your will..." I truly felt good about it all.

I left VA the following morning and we understood that Melannie would call us that day sometime in the early afternoon. The call came in early. Two hours plus early. I couldn't believe it. Melannie said, "Happy Thanksgiving!" "What?!" I was utterly confused... "We got the house?" "YES! You got the house!" So, we got the house! She said that the builder went back and forth about a counter offer, but because our realtor had referred two others to the neighborhood, he accepted! Chan was at work and I didn't have his number - he didn't have his number! - so it was another whole hour before I was able to tell him. I spent that time half wanting to cry and half wanting to throw up! This is it. We're moving. For real. Time to put on my big girl panties and get with it!

There is still a lot to be done but we are very happy and truly thankful to have this checked off our list of things that needed to be done.