GOODBYE GALTS ROAD
In 2006 we got married and decided to tear down the old bachelor pad house Josh had lived in on the lake and build a new home. We built our house in 2007 and we have lived here for 5 years. In those 5 years we have had 3 kids and our cute little house got really little really fast. We have been praying for a long time on what we should do because we LOVE living on the lake, and we love the privacy or our little street and home. On the other hand, we're not in a great school district and we're not really fond of forking over hundreds of thousands of dollars for private school for all 3 kids, and we're running out of room. We feel that we are literally busting at the seams. So after a lot of prayer and a peace that we received, we put our house on the market in April. By July we had an offer and on August 24th we close and sell our home.
Our cute house on Lake Allatoona
The path down to the dock. We were on a private, little cove near Galts Ferry Landing.
Saylor's cute room. I'm going to have to re-do all this work for her new room!
The boys shared a room (which they love), but we are very excited for them to each have their own room. They'll eventually share again, but bedtime is a nightmare right now because they talk and play and feed off each other. So, we put them down at 8:30 and after 3 hours of disciplining they'll finally go to sleep. Seperate rooms will eliminate that need to talk and play and disobey when you are by yourself! Also, their room is right above the kitchen and near the family room, so they hear everything. In the new house both of their rooms are tucked away upstairs so we'll have more peace!
I'll miss our shower, but Josh says he can do his magic in our next bathroom. The perks of marrying a plumber :)
We have had so many memories in this house, and on this piece of land. This is where Josh and I started dating in college again and where we always hung out. This is where our dream of building a home came true and this is where we were blessed with our 3 beautiful children. We loved it. But as Josh's Grandma Faye (her and his Grandpa Robert bought this piece of land a long time ago and then Josh got it as his inheritance) said, "that little lake property did what we bought it to do."
This Friday when we hand the keys over to the new owners, it will be bittersweet. I'm so thankful that we were lead to sell it, that it sold fast (let me tell you, having a house on the market with 3 kids is a nightmare!) and that it set us up to be able to buy another home in this buyers market we currently are in.
HELLO COLLINS ROAD
My mom is our real estate agent, and she's really awesome (thank you Mom!)! Throughout this whole process we have seen God's Hand because the timing is perfect. My mom is a special ed teacher at Acworth Elementary so her real job is from August to May, and it's a hard job! The fact that our home sold during the summer and that we found another house (and trust me, we were extremely picky buyers...we had a list of things that were a "must" and we were willing to wait it out to find the perfect home. Our biggest fear was jumping into something else too fast and not loving it) so quickly is all glory to God. I think we looked at every house possible in our area and the minute we walked through this house we "felt at home." Everything about it felt right. That's a good feeling to have when you're making a huge decision like this.
Hello new home!
It's on an acre hidden off Pitner Road. It's not in a neighborhood, which we love, and it's all fenced in, which Herschel and our kids will love.
It's a country home with a wrap around porch, and it reminds me of our old house.
We fell in love with the back porch...
and the woods. It's private, which is what we really wanted.
Back of the house. It has a basement that we can finish off one day and the actual house is a lot bigger than our old home. It's in an excellent school district, which was on the top of our "must" list (Picketts Mill, Durham and Allatoona High School) and it's 5 minutes from both of our parents! I would have never in a million years thought that one day I'd want to be so close to my parents or my in-laws (not that I don't love them, but everyone wants their space!), but with 3 kids under 3 1/2, living 35 minutes away made it hard to get a lot of help! Why not take the help if it's there? So now that we're a lot closer it will make things easier. We close September 12th, and we'll have 2 weeks of a few renovations and then we can move in at the end of September!
We are beyond blessed and are so thankful! God is good :)
We are humbled to have this home, but we always remember that our house is not the most important thing, having Jesus in your life is the most important thing.
"Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.
O Lord Almighty, blessed is the man who trusts in you."
Psalm 84: 10-12
