In less than 60 days this will be our home. The home that Jeff and I have prayed over and waited for God to show us which way to go. To say I am excited would be the understatement of the year.

I am still under strict orders not to show any portion of the outside of the house that could cause stranger danger. Fortunately many of you already know where this house is located and with a few clues you will know exactly the house we are buying.

1. The name of the street is a tree.

2. The house is two blocks from the Home of the Fighting Cardinals.

3. If you keep going three more blocks you will be at the street where I grew up.

4. My neighbors are great friends of many of us. In fact our group from the high school youth group spent most Wednesday nights hanging at there house.

Still don't know? Don't worry, we will be sending an email in the next few months with our new address and phone number. Stop by anytime!

Do you want to hear the funny part about this whole process? For years, YEARS, Jeff and I have been praying for God to open doors for us to move. As we waited, we continued to save money and get out of debt but I was starting to get very restless. Let's just say working for a huge furniture company in the middle of my one bedroom apartment has been a real challenge.

During this time I prayed for three specific things. 1) an older home that we could remodel. 2) A house with lots of trees. 3) a house with a separate space for an office

In late June, I had lunch with my soon to be neighbor. We were sitting in her living room talking about how I would love to live on this street. She and I have been keeping our eye out since the day Jeff and I got married for a house to come on the market in their neighborhood but nothing was happening. In July, after the Disney Trip of 08, Jeff and I decided it was time to start the house hunt. I continued to secretly wish for God to open a house for us next to our friends but was happy to go anywhere as long as Jeff and I were together. :) Less than two weeks after we started looking, I received a call from my friend telling me about a house across the street. "Are you serious?" It was more than I could hope or imagine. When I hung up the phone I immediately started to pray that God would either open or close the door if we were to move-His will be done and all that. I waited two days to tell Jeff, mostly because he was working crazy hours (more so than usual) and I really didn't think he would go for it. I was so nervous to hear the word no.

Jeff as usual was very cautious about what direction we would take but was open to the idea although he need to sleep on it a bit. And thanks be to God, I kept my mouth shut as he mulled it over. Somewhere deep inside I knew that this would be the house we would be buying one day. The first day we went to look at the house-our friends we were buying the house from, left us alone in the house to talk it over. As we were standing in the kitchen debating this and that, I had a moment where I felt at home. This was home but Jeff was still not there yet. I think the foundation being slanted and bricks cracked was a large part of his hesitation. Fast forward, after months of waiting for the foundation to be repaired we were pleasantly surprised to see that the house had been fixed. Christmas morning instead of opening presents, we sat and discussed paint colors and which color of hardwood floors we were going to put down. It was one of my favorite Christmas mornings.

This past Saturday night, we went over to our soon to be neighbors house and had dinner. When we left our neighbors house that night, Jeff and I walked across the street and walked through our new home for a bit. Yes, we do have a key to a house that we have yet to sign a contract for but that's what happens when you buy a house from great family friends. A perk I guess.

Come March 31st we will be home owners-praise be to God. Stay tuned, I look forward to sharing the adventures of homeownership.