Feeling like Grownups.

Well, since the last post, we've moved into a much cheaper weekly rate hotel. It's okay. The first day we checked in I almost cried- the smell of smoke and the kind of people I saw staying here freaked me out a little bit, especially since I will be here all day by myself. But as we've been here for about a week, it really hasn't been that bad. Sure our room is small, we don't have an oven (lots of skillet dinners!), and we have to supply our own toilet paper, but this could be much worse and much more expensive. Hopefully we'll only be here for another 2 weeks or so, and then move in with some good friends we've met here. Could it be that the Lord is trying to teach me to be content in whatever the circumstances??

We continue to enjoy our realtors. They've shown us a lot of houses and taken very good care of us. They took us out to dinner one night at their favorite restaurant in Dayton. And they got to hear the interesting story of how God brought Nathan and I together. It was a lot of fun! Last Friday, I went to get a haircut and it turned out horrible!! I guess that's all I needed to release the emotion from the past month, so I just lost it. I was crying, and letting out all the stress of moving around, not having a home, fighting a lot with Nathan, and feeling ugly with a bad haircut! This has been a tough season for us- and some days realizing that we will be without a place to settle for at least another month is discouraging. I really just needed something fun to do. That very night, Larry gave us two free tickets to a Dayton Dragons baseball game. Every single game is always sold out- but even better, we got to go to a party deck! Our seats were wonderful, we got free Dragons visors, and even free food and drinks! It was a lot of fun, and just what I needed to destress a bit.

So over the course of a few days, we looked at houses, and narrowed it down to about 4. Some needed a lot of work, others not. But two nights ago, both mine and Nate's Dad came up here to help us out. It was wonderful! We showed them all 4 houses, and their perspective and insight helped so much. I ended up not liking so much the house that was originally my favorite. It's just so tough- with every house, there's something you like and things you don't like. You have to think about location in terms of resale, and what you can afford and how it will pay off down the road. It's a bit overwhelming, so having some older wisdom here helped a lot! That night was funny, because both of our dads ended up staying the night with us in our "suite". Sleeping in the same room with 3 other men was quite interesting. I haven't slept in the same bed as my dad in years! AND, both of our Dads are LOUD snorers, so I was braced for the worst night of sleep I've had yet. Actually, it was fine. Not much snoring, and another funny memory! This has been quite the adventure.

So, we just put an offer in on a house last night (see picture). We love it. It's a little more expensive than we wanted, but not out of our ability to pay, and the best value in terms of current price and resale value. The houses in the area are selling for a lot more than this house is- and all it needs is some paint to update the inside. I am trying not to count on it being our house until all is said and done (this process is so long)- but just to trust the Lord. We prayed that God would mess up this whole process if this wasn't the house for us. We really do want to honor Him with such a major financial decision. If you could just pray for us and this whole process, that would be wonderful! Pray that God would give us good perspective as we face more time in a hotel, and just a stressful season of our marriage. Nathan goes back to work tomorrow- so pray for him as he starts a job too. We will keep you updated!