new beginnings.

We'll be closing on the new house in a few short weeks.

We are looking forward to the memories to be made at the farmhouse, but also excited for the couple who will be purchasing our current home.

Our stories line up pretty perfectly.

We've known these "kids" for several years and we've always joked with them about how their relationship has really mirrored ours.

They were high school sweethearts.
They got married young.
We share a lot of the same hobbies and our tastes in decor are very similar.

So when they contacted us with aspirations to purchase our house, we felt very "at peace" about the whole situation. We decided to pray about it and look at the budget, as we discussed all the possibilities of where we might end up.

One possibility was my parents' house, staying in their basement.
With three kids.
And three dogs.
And cows.
And chickens.

We also talked about buying some land and building a house, but there was the issue of going from a house with three nice big established outbuildings to a property with none.

For most of the land we were looking at, we would have to fork out about as much as we will be spending on the farmhouse for the land alone. And we would still have the expense of a house and shop added on top of that.

Plus, we have really loved taking this old house we live in now and loving on it to make it our own. The thought of starting with something brand new just didn't really feel like "us" at this point in our lives. We both love the character of older homes, so we were trying to build that character into our house plans which can get pretty costly.

So when I was sitting at Claire's softball practice one night and my sister-in-law mentioned her neighbors getting ready to put their house on the market, my heart leapt and a smile began to form on the corners of my lips.

After practice, the girls and I drove out there and we fell in love.

That's when the dreaming began.
The "Bungalow" Pinterest board was created.
I started sketching ideas of how to divide up the pasture and yard.
I emailed the realtor and set up a showing.

I began praying that if this was the house for us, that God would work it out.
And He did.
In a big way.

But that's a story for another day. ❤️