In our “uprising for downsizing” (which you can read more about here), my husband, Corey, and I have been on a mission to find a smaller, more affordable home.  The catch is that we are very spoiled!   We have lived in a brand new, custom built home that offers 4 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms and roughly 3400 sp feet for the past 6 and half years.  I love my house and all the space it offers.  I just don’t care for the lifestyle it has created over the years…children going off into their own corners of the house never to be seen or heard from again…or at least until called for dinner.  Corey and I decided that bigger is not always better and have made it our goal to find a home more conducive to the “simplified” lifestyle we want to lead.  Again, the largest snag in this process is that while I have committed to the quest in my head, my heart has been slow to follow.  Every house we have looked at just felt wrong.  It may have been esthetically pleasing or met all of our criteria, but I was truly struggling to let go of our current home which was blinding the potential of every place we entered.  UNTIL TODAY….

Corey found a “for sale by owner” that he was really excited to go check out.  I saw it online and was mildly interested.  To be honest, I didn’t really care anymore.  After going through dozens of houses and finding nothing that could break the heartstrings that still tugged at me for our current home, I struggled to get excited about going through yet another home which was sure to be a disappointment.  However, Corey insisted and I obliged.  We walked through the home yesterday afternoon and by the time we walked down the steps to the finished lower level, I was hooked.  I looked at Corey and whispered, “This is it!  This is the place.  We have to buy it NOW!”  He smiled at me and I could tell he was “feeling” it too.  So we walked through the place a couple of times, talked with the homeowner, and standing in the driveway just 30 minutes after entering the home, we made an offer to buy it.  We both just knew that this was the place that we could actually call “home”.   It is a 2200 sq foot, 4 bedroom, 2 bath house that will soon be our “home”!  And the truly amazing part is that this property was just put on the market Friday afternoon.  By Friday evening, they had already shown it and had received a verbal offer on it.  Thankfully for us, they did not accept that offer immediately. We walked through it the next day and made an offer as well.  Now anyone who cannot see God’s hand in this work must be blind!

We got the phone call today that they have accepted our offer and we are closing on September 30th.  For those of you now trying to do the math…allow me….that is a mere TWENTY-FOUR days away!  Needless to say, we are excited, stressed, scared, stressed, thrilled, stressed.  I’m fairly certain at this point, everyone really should just stop calling me Mom or Sara and just start calling me Stressed Out or SO for short.  Am I justified in being stressed…let’s see:

I am 10 weeks pregnant with baby number 6

We are choosing to DOWN SIZE with baby number 6 on the way

I have to pack up the previously mentioned 34oo sp foot, 4 bedroom, 4 bath home in TWENTTY-FOUR days

We have to take 1 of the 3 weekends we have available to get the house packed up and travel to Minnesota (A story that involves my son which I will share in my next post)

The story that involves my son is enough to stress out any well-intentioned mother

I have 5 children whose lives, schooling, homework, and extracurricular events simply refuse to stop on my account

Oh…and did I mention I was pregnant????

So again, am I justified for being stressed out?  Honestly….probably not.  I have a friend who works full time outside the home, has 2 children of her own, just remodeled a home and moved, and her mother is battling cancer.  When I put things into perspective, I have just listed nothing but blessings…nothing to truly be stressed out about (except for maybe the part about my son which again, I will get to next time).

All in all, this move is a blessing for our family.  We are doing what’s right in our hearts even if the rest of the world may not understand.  We have found the perfect home which is allowing me peace of mind as I pack up and leave my current home.   Everything will work out fine and in due time.  I have more faith right now than I probably ever had.  I know I have wonderful family and friends to help us out if we need it, and I have God by my side, holding me up when I cannot seem to stand by myself any longer.

Stressed out….perhaps.  Blessed beyond measure…absolutely!