Today was a rather emotional roller-coaster in our household. Kris had to take his dog of twelve years, Tyler, to be put down. Even though he'd gotten sick and become kind of an ornery old man dog, we will miss him as a member of our family.
Today was also Kris' last day at Coca-Cola. That was where Our story started, so what a gift his time was there. Even though we're both excited for his new opportunities, it's a rather melancholy time for us. So many emotions! But boy, at the end of a long, emotional day it feels good to be home with our family and a glass of wine!
That being said, here's how we ended up back home...
Just in case you didn't read my posts over the last couple of years
about trying to sell our home and eventually moving, here's a quick
synopsis of our story over the past few years...
We moved into our dream home right when we were married. Both my husband
and I made decent money, and I always assumed I'd be a working mom. I
loved my job in banking, and was pretty good at it.
All that changed when I got pregnant with Keegan. I suddenly realized
that I couldn't stand to be away from Keegan those long hours. My bank
was open til 6:00, and quite frequently I didn't get home til darn near
7:00. Babies go to bed at 7:00!
The opportunity arrived for me to switch companies and industries and
work part time at an insurance agency for the greatest boss I could ask
for. But great bosses and work environments sometimes come at a cost-
and ours was a pay cut. We put the house on the market and agreed that
we would downsize because focusing on our family, and living within our
means was important.
After a year and a half on the market, and one offer that fell through
due to financing, we finally decided to give leasing it out a shot.
We quickly found tenants that more than paid the mortgage and we moved
across town into a small rental. It was fine, and we adjusted to our
smaller space and made sure to save, save, save. We figured that since
we so quickly placed tenants, we could continue to lease it out until
the market turned around.
When the lease came up for renewal I was 7 months pregnant. They showed
it multiple times, and within that month, determined that they'd need to
drop the monthly lease payment down substantially- so much so that it
would no longer make sense to rent it out.
We had assumed that since the lots in our neighborhood were filling up
we could try selling it again... But then they expanded the neighborhood
by 70 new home sites... So, that was off the table.
We prayed about it and decided that we love our home. It was and still
is our dream home. I literally had a dream of a little blond haired-blue
eyed boy wearing a plaid shirt getting his picture taken on the front
porch on his first day of kindergarten before we bought it (the little
boy in my dream looked eerily like Keegan FYI. I'm kind of psychic).
I remembered a sermon at our church from while we'd been
trying to sell our home before when he said that God has us in the
exactly place, the exact street, the exact home where He wants us in
that moment. If it was His will to have us elsewhere, we'd be elsewhere.
We decided to move back.
With perfect timing, Kris was offered a new job that he's starting soon,
and we've adjusted our lifestyle to focus more on eliminating debt and
saving than spending and acquiring more.
And it feels good to be home.
It feels really, really good. To ALL of us.
Keegan cheers every time we pull into sight of the house, "Yay, my 'new'
home!"... And we've lived here for almost three months again already...
And it was so good to bring my second baby home from the hospital to the same home that I brought my first baby home to.
I am so thankful for the home we've been given, and continue to build
together. I'm thankful for a husband who works his butt off for our
family, and takes risks because he loves us.
God is good.
And just for another remind of how good God is... here's my sweet tiny boy sleeping in our bed this morning before school...
How Big-Boy does he look already?
Thankful for comfort and an early Friday night in bed. Enjoy your weekend with people you love, I hope!
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