weekending v.5+6

I'm back for a post or two, and then I'm off to Uganda! I can't believe the trip I've been dreaming of for so long is really happening.

Last weekend we celebrated Todd's birthday at the cabin. I read the book "Kisses From Katie" (a memoir about a girl who is ministering to people in Uganda) and received a load of incredible wisdom for my trip.

This past week was my last week at work. It didn't feel real until I cleared out my desk and went around the newsroom saying farewell to everyone. I'm grateful for the ability to not work right now and to have the time after my trip to pack up the house and then settle into our new home. Who knows what will happen next?

Speaking of homes, we drove up to Frederick yesterday morning to go house hunting. !!! 

My parents met us there to offer up advice and moral support. We had a list of 11 houses to see. Our realtor had us scheduled for viewings until 8 p.m., and I said "whoa, that can't happen... we have a dog to get home to." Little did I know how long we would take...

The first house we went to was in a rough neighborhood. We didn't even get out of the car. The next one was in a nice neighborhood and would've been a beautiful home, except that the previous owners had completely trashed it. The third was our favorite exterior we had seen online, but the interior was ancient. The fourth was one of our favorite interiors, but the price seemed suspiciously low and I didn't have a good feeling about the neighborhood. The fifth was an absolutely stunning new construction, but it was at the top of our price range and had no outdoor space. The sixth was nice on the outside and inside, but the kitchen needed some work and I wasn't "in love." The seventh was a walk in and walk right back out situation. We got back in the car and decided against going to three other houses b/c one was super old, one was in a sketchy area, and the other was a short sale. We had one left. We walked in and everyone said "Oh, wow!" My mom called my sister to tell her "we think we found the one." We went to dinner, chatted things over with the realtor, called a lender on the drive home and stayed up past midnight on the phone w/ our realtor while electronically signing a contract stating our offer.

Now we wait.

double sinks in our potential new home!