The Red Door

Remember this post? Well, let me tell you something....God has answered our prayers. :)

For those of you who may not remember the post, let me recap a bit. Nick and I started looking for houses to buy almost a year ago...a few offers were made, none were accepted, then we thought about renting for a year or so until we found the house...we were 3 months out about ready to pull our hair out because we have no idea of where we are going to live, let alone a city in which we will live in. This is normal for most engaged couples, where they get to the point where they have to make a decision about where they will live and they have to make that decision soon. Well we were very much at that point...at least it felt that way. I think it was after our 3rd or 4th arguement where I finally got to the point where I was just giving up. I figured, if I didn't worry about it, we would magically have a place to live come October 10th. Well that didn't happen.

Finally he and I made a day where we went down to the beach to look for condos...we figured, let's live near the beach for a number of reasons, i.e. it's close to the beach and traffic to work would be next to nothing. score!

We got down there and after a few discouraging phone calls we decided to call it quits and lay out. Hey, at least we got something out of it! But at the end of the day, we still hadn't found a place to live. So Type A, Lindsey gets back into gear and starts talking to a friend through Young Life about where they are living. She and her fiance are getting married a week before Nick and I and also are looking down near the beach. We talked about a complex in Costa Mesa, it looked awesome, had everything we were looking for, after talking to Nick about it, I made the call to go look at it. Well the day we were supposed to look, something came up and we couldn't.

**side note: I was very frustrated at this point, we had to find a place but I took a deep breathe and just let it go....

we went for bike ride that evening (Thursday)....Nick had found an ad in The Courier about a "cottage" near the Village and we thought we would go take a look at it. Well it sure was a cottage and though it was darling, the owners were cool, they also used to have Shelties so that made me happy...it was just too small.

Bummer....

This is where it gets good...this is also where, now looking back, God totally had this plan the whole time.

***another side note: those of you who know me, know that I love Claremont. When I get back into Claremont after work or just being gone all day, I find myself almost ALL THE TIME, taking a deep breathe and telling myself I love Claremont when I get back into town....it's kinda sick actually....I have always told my friends that when I have kids I want them to grow up in Claremont. Though it is very pricey and liberal, it is very much me. I love the trees, the smell, the running routes, the trails, the village, 21 Choices, Claremont Young Life, etc...I think you get the point. Though I love it so much, we had never even considered it because it was so out of our price range. But I told Nick, that eventually, like 20 years down the road when we can afford a nice house there, I have two must-haves....a porch...and a red door.

Ok so we are riding back up to my house and I suggested we go up a side street so it wouldn't be too crowded....we found a for rent sign at this really cool house that was for sale a few months back....Nick had called them the next day, as it turns out it was twice as much as we were willing and able to pay but the lady had another property down the street available. So that Friday, Nick went down there, I was at work, but I google mapped it...he LOVED it, I loved the location, and I loved that he was just so excited for it. We filled out an application that night, and that Saturday I went and looked at it. I loved it!! We turned in an app right then and there...The very next Wednesday we got the house!!! Soo....guess what? I move in August!! What the heck?! It happened so quickly....

Such a God thing....I am still in awe...we are very blessed that during that whole time, God was preparing a house for us...in Claremont...and with a porch. and. a. red. door.