We are pending!!

I don't even know where to begin other than to start off by saying I woke this morning knowing it's going to be a waterproof mascara kind of day. Friends, I have something to tell you. It's been a big week. 

WE ACCEPTED AN OFFER ON OUR TOWN HOME!!! 

 Everything sort of happened in fast forward. All I can say is we serve an amazing God who cares for us deeply, for the big and small things. I get goosebumps even typing this because it is so evident that God has been in this process. 

 We packed our first box the evening of May 2nd and then spent 2 1/2 weeks deep cleaning and emptying the place of all but the essentials.

 We put it on the market at 4:30 PM on Tuesday, May 21st, had someone coming to see it within 15 minutes, received an offer by 9 PM and then 2 more in the next 24 hours. 

 A bidding war commenced which ultimately ended with us accepting an offer for $11,000 OVER asking price, the very amount we purchased it for 7 1/2 years ago. Did anyone else just get chills? And all this after bumping up our list price by 25K (yes, $25,000) as a long shot at literally the last second before "going live." 

 And we'd gone into this expecting to have to do a short sale. I can't even tell you how dumbfounded we are right now. God's timing is incredible. And perfect. 

I thought Tuesday late afternoon seemed like an odd time to list but the photographer had just finished editing the photos and our place was still clean so why not? (The credit for these photos posted here go to the Keller Williams listing, by the way). The timing of our listing was spontaneous and totally random from our perspective. We didn't even know when we woke up that morning that we'd put it for sale later on in the day. 

But it just so happened that an agent was 10 minutes away when the post went live and she wanted to preview it for her client. After walking through, she knew it was just the thing and returned with her client immediately. 

 And as for the final offer price - UNBELIEVABLE! The townhouse market is literally recovering this very week. Who knew that by listing on Tuesday afternoon, we'd get to be a part of bringing it back? With a bang, I might add.

 Funny aside: we are told our buyer is an interior designer at an upscale firm here on the east side. The offer letter said she loved our style and the color choices in our place (!!!) Though Graham gets most of the credit for the look of our home, I'm giving myself a few pats on the back that I've managed to obtain some sort of a "style" over the years. 

 Anyway, our buyer is closing on the sale of her current house next week so we looked it up just for fun. You'll never guess the color of her living room accent wall: NAIL POLISH RED, the exact color we covered up last month!!! We laughed out loud. Sort of.

 I've gotta say, our place cleans up nicely though I am absolutely, 100% thankful it does NOT need to remain this clean for that much longer. Keeping every faucet polished, drawer closed, tong out of the curtain string (yes really), light on, shade drawn, chair straight, dirty diaper scent camouflaged, toys put away, shampoo bottle stowed, towel folded, carpet fuzz tossed nearly killed me for 48 hours straight (we had about 10 groups come through in 2 days) but I don't think you would have known we had kids were it not for the 2 cribs upstairs!

 As for our next steps, we plan to move in temporarily with Graham's parents while we wait for the money of our sale to come through. Then we will begin the process of searching for our new home! Though the events of the past 48 hours have at moments left me wondering if we'll have have a hard time getting anything in this crazy fast market, they have also left me that much more confident that God is in control and He has something amazing planned for us.

On Tuesday morning before we listed, I was reading Psalm 68 for my Bible study. Verse 9 really stuck out to me and it reads "You gave abundant showers, O God; you refreshed your weary inheritance." I loved the picture of God showering us abundantly, beyond all that we could ever ask or imagine, refreshing us when things seem hopeless. But I found myself stuck on the fact that earlier in the chapter, He had been addressing widows and orphans and the underprivileged and so I wrote off the verse as I am neither a widow, orphan or underprivileged. Certainly this abundance He referred to could not also be directed toward me? But then the happenings of the last couple days have caused me to take pause as I've felt, in a rare and very tangible way, God grabbing me by the cheeks, looking me in the eye and saying Kelsie, these words here are for you too. I care for you more deeply than you will ever be able to understand. Quit doubting and trust in me. I am so grateful for His love and provision! It truly goes "beyond what I could ever ask or even imagine." He is so good! Now prayers for a good appraisal, a clear inspection and that all the papers would go through!

Going neutral

We covered our red wall last night. It has provided a "pop" (or something like that) to our living room for over 7 years now. I asked Graham last night, as we layered on the primer, who's idea it was originally to go with such a bold color. He said it was his. Because he'd seen a picture of a cute English library that was painted red. Too bad our room is neither English nor a library. But the wall has served us well and we've loved it through the years. It has only been recently that I have been wanting to repaint it, to go with something lighter, to neutralize. To make it seem like we have more space, actually. Even though this is a desired change, it is definitely bittersweet! How is it that even wall color holds so many memories? 

Painting that wall red was one of our first newlywed "home projects." Then baby Isla joined our family and she was obsessed with that wall. This may sound awful but she could stare at it for hours so sometimes we would just turn her bouncy seat toward the wall it just seemed to make her so happy. Then there were Christmas times, the best time of year for the wall. Our living room always looked so festive with the red backdrop for our green tree. Some might have thought we were super ambitious and painted it just for the season.

Gag me lest I get all too emotional, but I must confess that as I made the first stroke with the paintbrush last night, there was a knot in the pit of my stomach. There's no turning back! Ack! Change! 

A lot has been happening in our household already this month and we're only 9 days in. After much talk and so very little action (let's be honest - we've had a lot going on the past 4 years!), we finally contacted a realtor. He came to look at our place on Thursday and we are beginning to take the necessary steps to get our place ready to list (hence the painting of the red wall...) There are a LOT of unknowns and we have no clue what is next. It is so exciting and totally paralyzing all at once. We never ever anticipated our 1-2 year plan of living in a town home would turn into 7 but God obviously had different plans for us. This place has served us well and it's where we have built our family. Now we are praying the pieces will come together and we will have a new Home Sweet Home someday soon! (And no, I will not be painting any of it's walls red).

6 Years Ago

Six years ago today, we closed on our very first home. And six years later, we are still here! Our 1-2 year plan in our townhome didn't quite pan out as we'd hoped, but I'm choosing to celebrate it today all the same. Truth be told, we cannot wait to find a house with the capacity for hosting, a garage, a dining room, party parking, space for vegetable beds and maybe even kids toys that are larger than a 1 foot square cube. But when that exciting time comes for us to trade our keys in for a new set, I know I will weep. So many memories have formed here!

 

Christmas' as newlyweds

 

Real wood fires (sometimes complete with s'mores!)

 

Remodeling projects

 

Countless special meals

 

Cherished visitors

 

Our first pregnancy

 

My "haven"

 

The nursery before

 

 

And then after

 

 Bringing babies home (yes he wore the same shirt both times)

And then the nursery rearranged to accommodate two!

 

The living room (read: play room)

 

 The tiny plot out back that I affectionately refer to as "my garden"

Recently, we were lamenting our decision to buy when we did, though it truly was the best and most (only actually) affordable option at the time. I left the conversation feeling very unsettled and unsure. The next day, I pulled into our parking spot at the same time as one of the neighbors. He moved in recently and we've had a number of brief interactions but nothing much beyond casual introductions and friendly greetings. Isla wanted to say hi so we stopped and chatted for a couple minutes. He was about to go inside and I returned to unload the car when he stopped and turned around. "I feel like I'm just supposed to say this to you. You know, don't you, that you guys have the best unit here? You've made the backyard into a beautiful haven. I feel like I'm supposed to tell you that you guys are going to be okay. Keep up the faith!"

 

I was nearly speechless. Never before have I felt God speak so directly to me through another human being. But the timing was incredible. I'd never discussed my faith with this neighbor before but somehow he knew and his words were just the reminder I needed in that moment. 

 

Our place is a blessing and while we are in these four walls, I hope we can continue to use it to build memories and bless others!

The Living Room

Our living room has been in desperate need of a little pick-me-up. We painted a lipstick red accent wall when we first moved in which we both have loved. But after spending a dark winter almost entirely at home while on maternity leave, I questioned whether we should go back to a more neutral color to add some cheer and make the room feel bigger. In the end, Graham still wanted to keep the wall red so I had to attack something else to satisfy my need for change. We purchased our Pottery Barn couch on Craigslist awhile back and it came with these drab, orangy-brown throw pillows "from Singapore" (or so we were told). Graham's always hated them and I got so used to them I never really noticed they didn't even match the room! When I was ordering the fabric for my dining chairs, I needed to spend only a few more dollars in order to get free shipping so thought, Why not pick out something to use to recover the pillows? I found this blog which I followed to make the easy-to-remove patterned covers and I was able to whip one out in less time than it took to watch an episode of Portlandia. Ironically enough, the blogger used a fabric nearly identical to the one I'd chosen! I just so happened to be at Costco last week and spotted the solid red pillows that matched perfectly and were CHEAP so I grabbed 'em. I couldn't have recovered mine for that price.

Here is the living room with the old hodge podge of pillows BEFORE:

 And now AFTER:

Next up? The lampshades!!