Good Things

So. . . remember that dream house we walked away from a little while ago? Sad as we were to leave it behind, we felt certain that it was the right thing to do given the seller's price constraints. Frustrated that the best opportunity we had didn't work out, we agreed to put the whole house hunt aside for a while and just focus on saving, anticipating that it would be a long while before we were ready to move ahead again.

Amazingly, a week later we got a message from our Realtor. The sellers came back to us and agreed to take our offer (which was low, given that we put it out there as a start to our negotiations) plus $5000. I don't think it is an exaggeration to say that we were stunned by this news and a little unsure what to do, given that we had moved on and lost all emotional attachment to the house. We had also become rather comfortable with the idea of building up our savings nest and continuing to settle in our current place. We asked for a couple of days, feeling completely in limbo and on shaky ground.

I am not someone who believes that there is someone or something out there orchestrating everything. I don't believe that everything happens for a reason (though I do believe there is value in attaching meaning to our experiences, even if we don't understand them at the time). However, I do believe that sometimes there is something (or someone) out there--whether it is our intuition or the Universe or God--gently nudging us in the right direction. When we left this house behind and it miraculously came back to us, it didn't just feel like a nudge--it felt like a unmistakable shove. Having had some of the urgency and pressure taken off of us from the week before, some of the emotional investment dissipated, and such an extraordinary set of circumstances come together to make the house seem within reach, everything pointed to the fact that it was time to make a move.

And so, my friends, it appears that we are buying a house. And not just A house, but THE house. The kind of house we've walked by many times and wished we could have, but never expected to get. The kind that feels so much like "us" and so much like the right place it makes us feel giddy and start dancing in circles. We are under contract, and the inspection is done, with no major surprises. The deal is not sealed 100%, but right now there's no reason to believe that that the house won't be ours. We got an amazing deal, for a house that we love, in a community that we would be heartbroken to leave behind. We are so excited and grateful.

Having wished for so long that so many things--including a new job and a house--would fall into place, I am a little overwhelmed that they both have come to pass so quickly and so beautifully in the last several weeks. My tendency is to want to believe that it's all too good to be true and that the other shoe is going to drop at any moment. And while I know that things won't be perfect, and that not everything will live up to my expectations, I'm going to ignore the voice that waits for the worst. Good things happen all the time, and we are all deserving of them, and there's no rule that says they can't happen all at once. This time, I am going to believe that the good things are coming to me. I feel so grateful for it all.