I have been dreaming of our home growing just a little bit from 4 bedrooms and 2 1/2 bathrooms to having 5 bedrooms and 3 full bathrooms. I've also been dreaming of moving out west to be closer to our families. I've also been praying that we will live where Heavenly Father wants us to live.
Well, I think (or hope) today we got an answer to our prayers and that our dream of living in a home with a bit more space has come true!
I've watched a model home being built this spring, and I received an invitation in the mail to go to its Open House this morning. I asked Leonard if he wanted to go and he said, "Sure!"
We arrived this morning about 15 minutes after the open house started and there was a line from the home almost out to the parking lot.
We grabbed a book of floor plans, pricing sheets, and a site plan upon arrival. While we were waiting in line, we perused our new library and found a house with an option of a 5th bedroom upstairs as well as a 3rd bathroom upstairs. Are you kidding me? This is exactly what I've been dreaming of, but it is so hard to find!
When we were finally at the front of the line, one of the associates asked if we wanted to tour the model, or meet with a salesperson. I told him we wanted to do both, but Len said we should probably check out the model first. So off we went. As we explored all 3 levels, we just got more and more excited- it seriously is a home made exactly for us! We were running at the end to hurry and get to the sales center.
When we got back into the sales center, it was a madhouse! We started speaking with a sales consultant about the plan, elevation, and lot we wanted. He said, "let's go and see if that lot is available." We went over to the neighborhood model and found that all but ONE of the lots that were designed for our plan were already sold! I told him to grab a sticker so we could claim it!
What? Who buys a house with about a half an hour of thinking about it? Well, we only put down the first of 3 payments that will make up our down payment and we have 5 days to cancel without any penalty. But I sure hope we won't be cancelling!
We came home and told the kids we had good news and bad news. The bad news- our trip out to the Maritimes is postponed for now, but the good news is we're moving to a new house! We received mixed emotions- excitement for a bigger home and back yard, but sadness to move again and leave friends again. I understand. Even though I'm so excited to move to this new home, I am also sad to leave our current one.
However, our closing date is in September of 2019, so we still have a while to live in our first home. We're not moving far, so we will go to the same church. Hopefully, Kaleb and Noé will be able to get a zone variance as we will move during their senior year. The little kids will have to start a new school, but I'm hoping they'll love it even more than their current school. Leonard's commute time to work will be shortened by 20 minutes, so that's also a bonus!
I hope this new home will help me feel more settled here in Ottawa, knowing that this is where Heavenly Father wants our family to be now. Ottawa has lots of good things for us here, and hopefully we can be a good thing to those around us too! (Although, I'm still hoping when Len retires we can move closer to family and to a milder climate.)
I'm so excited!! I'm so stressed! Hopefully, it will all work out!
UPDATE: Leonard went to the bank this morning (June 18th) and we got pre-approved for a new mortgage for this house! WOO HOO!! We will be moving in as early as September 26, 2019, but construction can get delayed so possibly January 24, 2020, or May 25, 2020, or even as late as January 25, 2021! If that happens we could cancel our contract on February 24, 2021. I just hope all will go as planned and we'll be moving in next September!!
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