how we found our house

let's see..where to start.

originally, jeremy and i planned to take a whirlwind trip to our new city to find a house to rent, about two weeks before we were scheduled to move. though it wasn't glamorous and was mostly going to be filled with business-y details, we had decided to also call that trip our 5th anniversary trip.

due to a variety of factors beyond our control, about a week before we were going to leave it became clear that the trip was not going to happen. this was sad (we were really looking forward to getting away together!) and stressful (how would we find a place to live? and how would jeremy get the things done at the hospital that were required before his program starts?).

the day after we officially cancelled our trip, i woke up with weird, excruciating back pain which i have never had before. seriously...it was terrible. i told jeremy that it was some of the worst pain i have ever experienced...and i have given birth naturally to a 10 pound 10 ounce baby in our dining room, so that is saying quite a lot!

anyway...jeremy ended up staying home from work that day because there was no way i could take care of the kids. while he was home, i came across a house for rent online that was exactly what we were looking for. jeremy immediately called, and after many phone calls back and forth, verifying through a variety of means that it was not a scam (and that it didn't smell like cats), and wondering if we were crazy to be renting a house that we had only seen photos of, we secured the home as our own. (and maybe we were crazy...but we were really out of options at this point). it just all felt right and we were very thankful to have this major detail taken care of.

and oddly enough, the back pain gradually lessened and was pretty much gone a few days later.

the house has all the things we wanted/needed in a home plus more. our must-haves were: rent that equaled or was below what we budgeted for, 3 bedrooms, central air conditioning, and a backyard. things we preferred/wanted but were willing to compromise on were: a dishwasher (we've never had one!), within walking distance of a park, a ranch style, and close to the hospital where jeremy will be working (in our weeks of looking, we only came across one house that was close to the hospital - the hospital is downtown and there's just not much housing available there - so we were willing to compromise on that one). anyway...the house has all of those things! it is exactly what we had budgeted for, has three bedrooms, 1.5 bathrooms, central ac, a fenced in backyard, a dishwasher, it's all one level, it's within walking distance to two parks, is in a great neighborhood, and is only two miles from the hospital! it also has a fireplace, an ice maker, a garbage disposal, wood floors, and a front porch.

the house also has some great neighbors. our retired neighbor next door is a very sweet lady. she bought us dinner our first night here, often comes out to talk to me over the fence in the backyard, and has several cats that like to sleep in our front yard and keep our kiddos entertained during the day. our neighbors across the street are becoming our friends. they have a four year old boy and will be having a baby in july. we met them the day we moved in and they invited us to their church several times. after visiting three other churches, we visited theirs and loved it and have decided to attend there. they came over the other night and we sat on the front porch and talked with them until it got dark. it all felt so neighborly to me, and i appreciated it so much, especially since that would never have happened in our old neighborhood.

so...it seems that God planned for us to live in this house all along, and really has blessed us with more than we had hoped for or imagined. it's really amazing to me when i look at how it all came together.

(oh, and p.s. jeremy and i still ended up getting a 5th anniversary trip to ludington, mi...and it was even better than our original plan of coming to south carolina. we didn't have to find a house or deal with moving details, so we could relax and just enjoy getting away together!)