Are we moving or NOT?!?

So here we are, going on 16 weeks waiting for this little piece of heaven.  We've been waiting (and waiting, and waiting, and waiting...) for this home, which is a 'short sale'. This means that the owners are close to foreclosure and owe more on the house than it is actually worth. The bank then agrees to allow the sellers to sell their house for less than is owed - leaving the bank SHORT. Sometimes the bank will require the seller to pay off all or a portion of the remainder, but many just simply forgive the rest of the loan and consider themselves lucky since they often would get even LESS for the house if it is foreclosed upon and put up for public auction.

My dreams of taking all of the lessons and ideas I've learned and obtained into a home of my own is (hopefully) nearly here. We are the top bidder on the home (and from what we understand, the ONLY current bidder!). The bank has tried a couple of different strategies to entice others to come look at the house and outbid us, but to no avail, and so the bank now has 2 weeks to answer our offer on the home.  

The home has many of the things I really want for our lives. It has a completely separate area I could use for my home childcare (including it's own bathroom!), it is situated on 3 acres of land with many more unused acres of woodland that I'm sure we could quietly use (I'm secretly hoping to find some sugar maples out there somewhere!).  It has 4 bedrooms and 4 baths, a great russian masonry stove (let's hope it is in good condition!), on it's own well and septic, and is conveniently located for any potential clients but yet is set off on a quiet road in a sleepy neighborhood.

What's not to love about this house??  

We have spent over 4 months of agonizing waiting, wondering, worrying, etc. about whether or not we will get this house.  Yes, we are staying realistic and we DO realize things could fall through at any moment (hense the 'worry' part).  

 We also realize this could be the most amazing purchase we ever make in our lives!  

We will be getting a large home at an affordable price. Of course, along with that 'affordable price' are a number of repairs we'll need to do (and pay for), but much of it we can do ourselves (and we're excited about that idea!).

We just got a reminder in the mail that our current rental lease is up for renewal in late August. We have until late July to let our landlords know if we'll be staying on for another year. I really, really, really, REALLY hope we won't be signing that piece of paper again this year!

I have so many dreams for our new home. I want to have a nice big garden to provide much of our veggies, a fruit and berry orchard, a chicken or rabbit house for meat and/or eggs (undecided on which yet!), our own source for wood for winter, a solar hot water system, a homemade wind turbine system, and a lifestyle where I can stay home with my kids.

So, as I sit here with this rental lease agreement in front of me, I can't help but want to rip it up and run with boxes in hand to our new home.  Hurry up, bank!