And the Winner is.....*drumroll please*

oh right, you thought I would reveal the winning house in the first sentence? What, are you nuts? Then you wouldn't read any of the other scintillating details of our fun filled trip. So... you'll have to wait. At least you'll have to wait until the offer is accepted or countered and we can actually breath outloud... if I have to wait, YOU have to wait.

But in the meantime... here are a few of the houses we looked at (in summary, I'm too tired to hunt up all the photos and link them!)

Our first trip revealed an overpriced 4 bedroom gem on a double lot in a lovely neighborhood. It was overpriced, but I already said that. It was a well designed house for it's space and it felt larger than it actually was. The yard was fenced but it was, ahem, overpriced. We actually made an offer on it and could hear the people laughing from 3000 miles away. They countered with a not very polite, "nope." This house is lovely and it won't leave our minds.

This trip out we saw a whole slew of new houses.

There was the "Green House"... you know, the one with the pink walls? It had a gorgeous yard and had 4 bedrooms, but the cellar was unusable and there would only be one living room/family room OR I would have to get rid of my brand new dining set (never... NEVER) plus the kitchen had... pink countertops. Yep. Pink. The kitchen needed some work and the front door was there, right there, in the kitchen. So everytime someone came over they would see your dirty dishes or all the empty wine bottles. But it was the right price... aside from the red carpet and the pink walls.

There was "Malden"... which was also the right price, but was one bedroom too small. We did wrack our brains to see if we could do it because it was a perfectly lovely house - usable, light, airy, well loved and it "felt" good but it was just too small. Our kids are the wrong age/sex mix to be sharing rooms...yes, I'm fully aware that I and my kids are spoiled. But seriously... they can't really share rooms. So... a few tears over this house though.

There was "Pioneer" which was simply way way way beyond our means and so new on the market that they would not be willing to negotiate yet. And did I tell you that MY house has a March 9 closing date? I gotta hurry man, I can't wait for a house to sit on the market long enough for the seller to reduce.

And then the "big house"... the house I have wanted all along. The house I was somehow stubbornly set on and couldn't even see past. My house. The house David did. not. like. It was this house. It has 5 bedrooms and a space that needs worked on to be a 6th. It has a big kitchen and a huge finished walkout cellar with a laundry room I could really work in! It has lovely yards that back up to woods for the kids to play in. And... the people NEED to move. It is slightly more than I am comfortable spending but I think they would be willing to negotiate. They have needed to move for 5 months and have switched realtors once and dropped their price twice. The problem? David doesn't like it. It's a typical boxy cape - and the way it's laid out makes it feel like a 3 story house and with too much separation of family. My guy likes his gang to be all within visual distance or at least on the same floor.

So now the battle begins. Which house? The too expensive one that is slightly too small or the big one that one of us doesn't really like? *please note, religious discussion to follow, read at your own risk* Thank you...

I spent most of Sunday night praying continuously for God to break my will to my husbands. I just want to not be stubbornly against my partner, I want to be open to him being the head of our house and to be agreeable to the decisions he makes for us. I do trust him to take care of us and to provide for us and I want so badly to follow him 100% in the choices he makes for where we live and how we make ends meet. But my heart was so fixated, so rock solid about this one house that I felt I was in sin. I felt like Satan had gripped me and I prayed so hard to be released, to be protected, to be able to listen to his reasonings but every time he asked me how I felt about a certain house I could feel myself nauseaus and tense and feeling resentful. I kept praying and praying and I told David that I needed to let go of the decision. I told him why also. We don't necessarily have the same beliefs, but I know that my husband is who God chose for me and I know David honors my belief in that. I have to know that whatever house we end up in the house God led David to choose for us. Now I need to pray for trust in that! Can you tell I have trust issues?

Anyway... be patient. I will tell you which house it is... soon. And in the meantime you can imagine the fun we had with snow, being underdressed, an hours wait for luggage, and having lost our car in the parking garage at Seatac, and then David having lost me and Chick in the garage after we separated to find our car. And yes, Chick had a lovely 16th birthday with her old friends and then a day in Boston at Copley Plaza, the public Library, and some tasty Thai food with me and David before we left. The prospect of driving lessons once we move was her gift and she couldn't be happier!