Dreaming of a Farmhouse (part 1)

Well I am sure that after my last post most of you were wondering what in the world was going on around here...And even if you weren't, you're about to find out!

You might want to sit down for this... We've had some major, awesome, exciting, life changing happenings going on around here.  So grab a seat, and read on for the story of how our family of 4 ended up buying a farmhouse!

Let's go back to the very beginning of this crazy chapter of our lives, about 18 months ago... 

We were mid-remodel on our first house. When we began the remodel, we were planning on living in that home for 3-5 more years. By the time it was complete, we were glad we had updated everything because we planned to list it as soon as we found a lot and were ready to build a house.  

Sometime in the middle of the remodel, God started speaking to Hubby's heart, and calling him to move our family to the country. I was a little hesitant, as change isn't on my list of favorite things, but the more we talked and prayed about it the more excited I became

As a little girl, our family had a weekend ranch on 100+ acres in Columbus, TX.  When it wasn't the middle of the blazing TX summer, we would go just about every weekend.  Some of my favorite memories were made fishing, hiking, riding in my Poppy's old jeep, picking wild flowers, catching bugs, rescuing baby bunnies, and the list goes on. I owe our family ranch, in large part, for the fact that the country is where my soul rests.  Just simply driving around and looking at property would cause the memories to come flooding back.  I couldn't wait to get there.

So when we began the search, we were looking for 1-2 acres...we drove around and found an area that we absolutely fell in love with.

lot #2 

We initially settled on one neighborhood that we thought was the right spot, but one lot we wanted got an offer before we placed ours, and the other one just wasn't the right fit.  The lot owners were a little cookoo, and lived right next door.  So that definitely worked out for the best.

 (Fast forward about 6 months since we began looking and praying for the right lot to purchase)

We kept praying and seeking God's direction, and the night before Hubby and I left for Boston, MA, to celebrate our wedding anniversary, we found IT.

                                    the trees weren't all dead - these pics were taken mid-winter ha

                       

 

It met and exceeded all of our criteria. It was a true gem and we couldn't wait to purchase it!  Hubs finally got in touch with the owner the day after we arrived in Boston, and they made a verbal agreement on July 4th. 
If you know us, this date will probably make you chuckle because when something significant has happened in our relationship, it's typically on the same date as a major US holiday!
We returned home a few days later, set the closing date, and signed on that dotted line the next month. Both of us had so much peace, and knew we were stepping forward in God's will.

We immediately began the design process, with our builder and architect - they were ready to go and got started designing. We. Had. A. Blast. Hubs and I both had so much fun dreaming and seeing those dreams come to life on paper.  Our architect was truly amazing and his vision and our dreams perfectly aligned.  We did have a few disappointments along the way, due in part to the HOA restrictions of the acreage neighborhood.  I had always wanted a traditional farmhouse style home with white siding and large porches, but in the HOA bi-laws the only exterior you could use was brick or stone.  I sloughed it off, but was still disappointed that my full vision wouldn't be coming to fruition...or so I thought. The design process did take longer than we had expected, but we knew that God's timing is always perfect. Always. So we kept trusting, even though at some points it was really, really hard.

(To expand on that comment a bit, we faced some frustration when we placed our house on the market based on the original timeline we had been given by the architect.  We covered the sale of that house in prayer, and trusted that if it was supposed to sell, that God would take care of those details. And WOW, did he ever! We had 7 showings in 3 days and received 2 competitive offers on Sunday afternoon.  The house sold for above asking price and they set the closing date for October 31.  Notice the correlation with the major holiday? ;)  Our family moved to the rent house, and that is where our frustration began because we weren't where we wanted to be.  Not in our newly remodeled house (that we'd just sold) or the house we had designed... But God taught us a lot about patience and trusting Him in all the details, and that any place can feel like home when you are surrounded by your family.  And we did make a lot of fun memories there! The best part of all of this, is that now, looking back, it all makes sense!)

We wrapped up the design phase mid January, and all that we had left to do was to sign our final contract with the builder and then close on our construction loan at the bank.  How easy is that?  The timeline up until now had been determined by everyone else, and now it was more in our control than it had been thus far.  Which is when we had the most unexpected turn of events...

Dreaming of a Farmhouse (part 2) post will be here tomorrow! 

Check back to see what happens next.