(Disclaimer, the house is really not on a street called Chipotle, but that’s the nickname Jon gave the street it is on when we first looked at it. This was also written in January, when we first put our offer in. I didn’t want to post this until I knew we were getting the house. I’ve tried to fix it to past tense, but we’ll see if I caught everything. )
Jon and I have been saving for a second house for a long time. It seems like forever, though I’m sure it’s only been closer to 3-4 years, which is still forever when you’ve only been married for 10.
Last year we went an amazing family vacation and and afterwards decided we wanted to go on an Alaskan Cruise in June 2012 to celebrate our 10 year anniversary. We would continue to save for a home, but we’d also have fun traveling because once we got a home, it might be a while before we could do any expensive vacations and I wanted to really celebrate our 10th year married, which was this past February. (We can now not afford any expensive vacations.)
So we had been discussing and talking about going on an Alaskan cruise since around July of 2011. It would be the honeymoon we didn’t get to have, because we had a honeymoon, but it only last two days, in Mesquite, NV. What can I say, we were poor college students and the money we would have spent on a honeymoon, we actually saved and it’s what got us through some unemployment just 5 months after getting married.
Jon and I were both looking forward to the Alaskan cruise, but he wasn’t so sure about leaving the girls behind. So while he wanted to go on it, he also had his reservations.
As we looked over finances one day we realized we were really close to being able to buy a house and have the down payment we needed. So close that Jon was a little upset that we had paid tithing, because it meant we’d have to wait around a year to start looking.
I was OK with paying tithing, but then I started thinking, “What if we don’t go to Alaska, and just bought a house?” Now, Jon and I had made a decision way back in July and knew that going on big trips meant we would not get our house as soon, but it was a sacrifice we were willing to make….
Then one night I decided to look over realtor.com. I found a 4 bedroom house, in the neighborhood I wanted to live. It was close to our price range, with no pool. This no pool thing was big. Jon and I did not want a pool, and he had threatened that if we did buy a house with a pool, he’d make it into a fish pond and catch fish from it to eat. I fully believe he would try to do such a thing. I did not want a fish pond in my back yard. As strange as it sounds, finding a house with no pool and in our price range was huge. Everything was too expensive, like we’d have to wait another 2-3 years to have enough money for the down payment, or things were too small, or too icky, or not in a good area at all, or they have the dreaded pool. It seemed like 75% of the houses in our ideal area had pools.
So here I had found a house that might work for us, but we were planning a big trip to Alaska. Jon and I had chosen the dates, were checking out costs for flights, beginning to look at what activities we wanted to do in our ports, such as whale watching and riding a historic train. We had done everything but book the cruise, because we hadn’t decided if we wanted to use a travel agent or not.
Then my brain started going crazy.
I would look at Alaska stuff, but then I’d also think about this house on Chipotle.
I’d looked at our finances to see if we could buy the house, but I’d also be looking at the prices for whale watching.
My brain was confused and I was unsettled about everything.
So while sitting in Sacrament meeting one Sunday I prayed.
I was a little vague in my first prayer. “Heavenly Father let me know if I should go on the cruise or if we should try to buy this house on Chipotle?”
Nothing but more confusion and the Holy Ghost telling me I knew what I needed to ask and I needed to be specific.
I didn’t want to be specific.
I wanted to go on a cruise.
“Heavenly Father, I’ve decided we should go on the cruise, I mean, buy the house on Chipotle is that what we should do?”
Wait, did I just ask to go on the cruise or buy a house?
My brain was still flipping back and forth, and I was still getting a sense that I knew what I needed to ask.
“Heavenly Father, I’ve decided we should try to buy this house on Chipotle, is that what we should do?”
Then my brain went calm.
It was silent.
I felt peace.
We were suppose to try to buy this house on Chipotle.
I had already e-mailed my sister Carolyn about the Chipotle house and we had decided to look at it for fun. (She was my realtor, and she is awesome. Read awesome in a singing voice to get the full affect.)
I set up an appointment and we checked it out.
The house had much to be desired aesthetically. The paint was terrible, the floors wrre hideous, the bathroom and kitchens were not what I would choose, but it had what I needed. Four rooms, a formal living, a dining room, and a family room. The formal living could be our regular living room, we could have a dining room and the back family room would be our homeschooling room. Jon could have his library/office and I could have my sewing/guest room because of the 4 rooms. (We’d continue to have the girls share a room because we are evil, selfish parents.)
It also had a nice sized yard and no pool!
So I decided Jon should go see it and we made an appointment.
Between me seeing the home and Jon seeing it, something miraculous happened. They lowered their price. This was huge, because their asking price was a bit much, but also because it was lowered to exactly what we needed. I had looked over the finances and realized with some other expenses we’d probably not be able to buy the house at the higher costs, but with the price being lowered, it was doable, and it was exactly what we needed.
So we took Jon to see the house. He didn’t mind the tile, the paint was a little too much, and the yard wasn’t as large as he hoped, but still big enough.
We talked it over and debated. It was the only house we’d looked at. It had kinda an odd floor plan, but it still worked and was very functional for our needs. If it closed soon, we’d have to move in as is, and that would stink, but we could make it work.
We put an offer in January of 2012, and then we closed 10 1/2 months later. Closing later stunk, but in the end it was the best for our finances. We are now fixing the house on Chipotle and will move in the beginning of the new year. We are really excited. Over this whole time there has only been one other house that we’ve wanted to buy, and that helped my realtor feel a little better about us putting an offer in on the first and only house we had seen. I really feel we are suppose to have this house and am so excited for the many years ahead.
