Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Almost there!

It had seemed like nothing was ever going to happen with the house. For the past month we hadn't heard much except what financial paperwork we needed to get to our mortgage guy Brian. I admit I was getting impatient and a little frustrated by the seeming lack of forward movement with the house. But...that has changed!

Last week we found out that our loan was approved and the loan documents were being sent to the escrow company. We called them repeatedly on Monday hoping to be able to get in to sign them. Finally around 2pm they were finally ready and so we stopped at the bank to get a cashier's check for the remainder of the down payment. It ended up being almost $1000 more than we had expected, but God provided and with us needing to only pay half our rent in August, not having our first mortgage payment until September, and the fact that we had started saving up some excess money we were able to handle the surprise. After getting the check we drove to San Bernardino to visit the escrow company.

We met with Linda, the notary public, and spent just over an hour signing and signing...and signing :)...our names. It was quite a stack of documents, but we got them done. We were told that the next step was to find out if the two broken windows had been fixed. They had not, so both Brian and Rob called the seller to make sure they were on top of getting it done this week. We've been told that the window will be fixed today, so that hopefully it can be appraised this afternoon. Next we make sure everything is signed and that the money is transferred and then hopefully by Friday we will get the keys and actually be homeowners!

Though it seems to me sometimes that this process has taken a long time, I can look back and see that it really happened so quickly. We began looking in March after God spoke to me in late February and let me know that He would provide a house for us and that I needed to trust Him. We found several possible houses in the next few months, and then on June 9 our offer on Via Apolina was accepted. And by the end of this week we will be homeowners...just 5 months from when we began! What an awesome God we serve! He is so worthy of our trust and adoration...what a blessing He has provided for us.

We began packing a few weeks ago, but as we are both procrastinators, it is of course no where near being complete. Our goal is to have the big move-in day of Saturday, August 8 when we hope to get all the furniture and all packed boxes moved into our new home. We will still have our apartment until at least August 15, so we have some time if there are a few things left over. If we do get the keys this Friday, then we are hoping to have a cleaning weekend on Saturday and Sunday, August 1 & 2. If any of you reading are willing and able to help with either cleaning or moving - or even packing! :) - ...please let us know as we would greatly appreciate it!

Thank you for your prayer and support as we've gone through this process. We look forward to celebrating with you at our housewarming/Mamma Mia, It's my Big, Fat, Greek, 30th Birthday on August 29!

Prayer requests:
  • Pray that the window will get fixed, the appraisal will go well, and that everything is complete so that we can get the keys on Friday
  • Pray that cleaning will go well prior to moving in
  • Pray that we get packing and have most, if not all, accomplished by moving day
  • Pray that we have lots of energy to pack after working all day and that we get enough sleep as well
  • Pray that moving day goes well with nothing broken, lots of help, and no complications
  • Pray that we are able to get our full deposit back from our apartment and that move out goes well
  • Pray for patience, kind words, and peace as we go through this major change in our lives - I have been very stressed about much of it and worried about many things
  • Pray for anything I can't think of that I'm sure will pop up unexpectantly :)

Love you all! *hugs*