Thursday, October 4, 2012

Discovering My Universe #ReneeRearden #NewHome

Hubs and I purchased our dream home, and we're elated.

We also had a plan in place for things to accomplish  before we move in. First on the list: New carpeting throughout. Final papers were signed October 2nd. Two hours later hubs and I were in the house and started ripping up carpet in the formal dining room.

Imagine our surprise when we discovered pristine oak tongue and groove hardwood floors...that extended through the formal living room and down one hallway. That's the kind of thing you hear about happening to other people but never happens to you, right?

The next day we pulled up the carpet in each hallway on two sides of the atrium, hoping to find more hardwood. Unfortunately, we found an awful, orange-colored linoleum...which didn't make sense because it looked terrible next to the beautiful hardwood.

But, you can't have everything, right?

And then we discovered a chipped corner of the linoleum and found a light colored stone underneath. I held my breath as hubs stripped a large piece of linoleum away to reveal travertine tiles. All I could think was WOW!

Hubs shook his head and smiled at me. "How did we get so blessed?"


Monday, October 1, 2012

Righting My Universe

Okay, I admit I've been off my game lately.

My blog is languishing and writing anything new is on hold. Having limited time to do things I want to do has been driving me crazy...but I'm a firm believer in the bigger picture. You know, everything happens for a reason. There's a cosmic plan in place and I have a part in it.

So I sat down and meditated yesterday. Cleared my head of all the stuff and just was. I opened my eyes an hour later and nearly floated to my office. Everything made sense.

My transcript load has been insane for the last 18 months. I've struggled, trying to keep up with appellate court deadlines and still write. Work feeds my family. Writing feeds my soul. Since work hasn't gotten any less busy, these last few months I've questioned whether I should keep trying to write.

Then we discovered our dream home was for sale--below market value.

It was fluke. I tapped a real estate map on my iPad and randomly landed on the listing. I called the real estate agent. Never got a call back. Two weeks later we stopped by the house to look at it from the outside. The owner was there mowing the lawn. He showed us the house. Told us three other people were interested and working on closing a deal.

Two months later, we still hadn't heard any word on the other deals. So, we decided to purchase a different house. Three hours after talking to the builder, the first home owner called us and offered to sell us our dream home. We signed papers and started the process. Crazy things had to happen for us to have a shot at buying this home (including the extra funds my unusual transcript load provided), but things kept falling our way.

We're supposed to close on the house this afternoon or some time Tuesday.

My point with all this?

I believe there truly is a larger plan than the small pieces I see or try to understand. No matter how difficult or stressful, each circumstance I've encountered has happened for a reason. This last 18-months has led my family to the next milestone in our lives...the last home we ever plan to buy.

This home is where our growing family will gather, celebrate holidays together, where our grandchildren will run and play. It's the home my husband and I will live in together when the last of our four daughters move out on their own. The home where we'll sit on the porch, years from now, reliving all the memories we're going to make.