Paul, Ashley, and our monkeys: Our New House!

It's been awhile since I've dusted off the old blog (almost two years!!!) but it seems the best venue for home photos.

So here we are again!

Many of you know we recently moved and while I've shared the story of how it happened many-a-time, it's such an awesome example of God's leading that I wanted it to preface my reveal.

About this time last year Paul and I began looking at the option of renovating and adding on to our home. We loved living there, love home improvement projects, and wanted little extra space so we started the process of applying for a home reno loan. This project was going to involve a lot of money and a big strain on our family so we spent quite a bit of time praying that God would make it clear whether this was the direction we should be heading.

To make a long and incredibly frustrating story short, we spent almost 7 months trying to make it happen with nothing to show for it. Everyone involved was dumfounded as to why this was happening. Our finances were in order, everything should've clicked along nicely, but there was always some ridiculous delay. From paperwork getting lost, to a key person leaving on vacation without finishing a time sensitive document, to appraisals scheduled out three-and-a-half months, we kept hitting walls.

Finally, we threw up our hand and said "FINE!!! We get it! Your answer is NO!" and we made the call to pull the plug on everything. We decided to refinance with a lower interest rate and be content with what we had.

When our appraisal for refinancing came back we were shocked that our home equity had skyrocketed. Still with no real intention of moving (because we hate moving), we decided to see if by chance there was a home in our kids' school district that blew us away. And we fell in love with this place.

Our realtor warned us that there was only a slim chance we could buy it, considering how fast the market was moving and our house was not yet listed. We decided to give it to God, and asked that if He wanted us there it would happen, and if not we'd be content where we were at.

Literally seven days later we had sold our house and bought the new one.

This entire process has been such a blessing, with dozens of moments along the way of seeing His hand guiding us where He wanted us. Like selling our house to the first viewer for a full price, cash offer, no repairs requested! Whaaaat?!!! Or that there is quite a bit of evidence that this house was designed by my grandfather (something we didn't know until after we'd bought it). We still have to do some digging into the city records to know for sure. He passed away just a couple of years before Paul and I started dating, and I've often grieved that the people I love most will never know someone who left a such unique stamp on who I am- but living here it feels like they kind of will.

This new house is so much better than anything we'd ever ever pictured for ourselves, it feels like God dropped a beautiful gift in our laps. Just the process of buying it has been an incredible journey, I can't wait to see what He has in store for us here!

I've debated sharing much about the actual house because I don't want to come across as boastful. Please know that I am sharing to complete the story of what God did here, not to stir up a spirit of "keeping up with the Jones's". To answer the basic questions: the house is 4 bedrooms, 3 baths, 2 living areas, and almost 2500 sq ft. Today I'm just going to post a few photos from the original listing, there's not many areas that feel like "our home" yet. However, we have spent the past three weeks updating the kitchen and dining rooms by our blood, sweat and tears (quite literally), photos of which I plan to share later this week :)

Main Living Area

(we first fell for those exposed beams!)