cautiously optimistic.

I guess I owe an apology to my three (four?) loyal readers…I’ve kind of fallen off the blogging wagon lately. A lot has actually been going on.  (So that’s good, right?) About this time last week, B and I got bitten buy the house-buying bug. My dad sells real estate and he had been in our ear for the past few months about what a great time it is to buy, now there’s this tax credit for extra incentive, but I was sticking to my guns. “We are happy where we are…no, we’re not moving into the house in your neighborhood, mom and dad…we hate moving, we’re not doing it until we’re moving OUT of B’ham or completely outgrow this house.” 

Then I got a little bored last Thursday night. Brian was studying for the CPA and Thursday night TV has become beyond boring, so I got caught up in looking at houses on the internet. That’s where it began. After a few emails and phone calls to my dad, and a full on 4 hour driving tour of the suburbs of Birmingham on Saturday… by Sunday night we’d found the perfect neighborhood and were ready to move. Well…B was ready. I had a mini-panic attack thinking about all that needed to be done to sell this house, the increase in mortgage (we’ve been spoiled by the great deal my dad got me on this house…), and for me…it felt like a we were making a statement that I wasn’t sure I was ready to make. The neighborhood we’re looking at is beyond amazing. From the first time I drove through it a few years ago, I said that if I ever “settled down” in Birmingham, it would definitely be this neighborhood. The houses are gorgeous, there’s an amazing pool, golf course and RESORT on site and it just has this quaint community feel that you just don’t get in many subdivisions in Birmingham. In fact, I wouldn’t call this a subdivision…it’s becoming a town in and of itself.  There are nature trails (great for Samson) and lots of activities including a farmer’s market on the weekends in the summer and several other “family-oriented” activities. Which brings me to my next point.

Brian and I are not planning (planning be the key word here) to start a family any time soon, and we weren’t even planning on staying in Birmingham for more than another year. So to me, this move said, “Ok, we’re buying a house together, we could start a family here, we’re settling down.” And that scared (scares?) the crap out of me. But we’ve talked through all of this and have decided that the pro’s to moving to this neighborhood far outweigh the con’s. It’s a fresh start for us. And who knows? We may fall in love with Birmingham and decide to stay longer…this new neighborhood would be a dream place to have kids. So…as of now (like I said…we just started seriously talking about this, oh…four days ago?) we’re moving! And I feel good about it! But that’s the thing. I’ve learned that I’m absolutely ruled by my emotions, and emotions, they cannot by trusted. They change. They fool you. It’s wisdom, wisdom that comes from the Lord that is unwavering and true. So there’s a lot of prayer going on too. We cannot make this decision lightly or on our own. But for now, I am cautiously optimistic.