Ok, friends! Big news first: we bought a house this week! It’s a little 3bed/1bath in Waco built in the 20s and we adore it. We won’t be moving in until Daniel’s internship is over at the end of the summer and I can’t wait to set it up!
We put our offer in on the Feast of St. Joseph and he took care of us big time. The house had only been on the market for 24 hours when we put in our offer and there were already two others offers down! We gave a great offer, but asked for a late closing date and splitting closing costs with no idea whether they would agree.
We were so excited they chose us, but then a few big ticket things showed up in the inspection. We didn’t really think they would agree to fix things (like the foundation! yikes!) and we knew we couldn’t afford to. But lo and behold, they did! They fixed everything we asked for. Then our closing costs ended up being significantly LESS than we estimated. THANK YOU, St. Joseph!
When I posted a picture of the house to Instagram, I few friends mentioned that it looked like a storybook cottage and that’s exactly what I think. In fact I thought:
“Oh a cottage! A little cottage is always very snug.” (Speaking of, this Great House Therapy post on the S&S cottage is hysterical.)
And it will be snug, but it will also be TWICE as big as our current 650 sqft apartment so…..just imagine the space! And no more composting toilets. Sure there’s only ONE bathroom but it has a toilet that….wait for it….flushes! Oh the luxury. And it has an extra lot attached so our backyard is ginormous and begging to be turned into a huge urban garden with chickens and who knows…maybe a goat to keep the grass short. Do you think the neighbors would notice? Could we pass it off as a strange dog?
The house has the charm of an almost 100 year old house, but also has a brand new kitchen, all new appliances, and original wood floors or new tile or linoleum. It’s just precious and I can’t wait to get settled in it in September! I won’t tell you how cheap Waco real estate prices are or you’d just cry jealous tears of misery.
We’ll also be walking distance from a Catholic church and a Mexican restaurant so….what more could we want out of life?!
And a great climbing tree!
I’m really loving that all of that house stuff is wrapped up with a bow, so we can enjoy the summer on the farm and not stress about where we will live next. And Daniel has a few leads on jobs for the fall that we’re excited about.
In other news, we visited friends of ours in The Woodlands last weekend and then drove into Houston to go to Our Lady of Walsingham. Friends who go to Mass together stay together. Or something like that.
AND my best friend had twins this week so that’s amazing. It’s been a busy, but chill week because Gwen got a little fever from some 48 virus and has been needing extra snuggles and sleep.
Podcast:
We absolutely loved talking about the four temperaments on this week’s episode with Connie Rossini, author of the book on choleric children that I told you is changing my parenting. It was a great conversation, so if you’re interested in an introduction to the four temperaments or how they can affect our relationships with spouses, children, and friends, definitely give it a listen!
Links:
Building a home you want your kids to come home to: Kindred Grace
On Respecting Children When They Make Mistakes: Crisis Magazine
Anti-Social Media: The Isolation of Overconnectedness: Mama Needs Coffee
Lady Gaga and the Online Eucharist Police: Aleteia
Sponsors:
Be sure to give some love to this month’s sponsor! They keep the lights on around here.
Wishing you a beautiful spring weekend!
Lots of love,
Haley
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Small houses with big yards are the absolute best! Our house is similar in size to this one but has one of the largest lots in the neighborhood. It was a definite selling point for us. Plus the walking distance to a Catholic church. Hmmm…did you secretly buy the house we live in without us knowing? HA! We are up in Dallas so guess not:) So glad it all worked out for y’all. That St. Joseph sure is a great guy!!
Haha! We’re definitely in sleepy Waco, not Dallas 🙂
You were at Walsingham?! Dangit!! Of all the days for us to go to the early service! Let me know if you come again!
I will! I’m sure we’ll be back soon.
Congratulations on the house! Wow, St. Joseph did a great job 🙂 It looks absolutely charming, and the big yard sounds so cool and perfect for summertime get-togethers! And the fact that a Catholic church is within walking distance? Oh goodness, that’s pretty much the best thing ever 🙂
It really is!
Congratulations again! Our house was also built in 1920, is 3 bedroom/1bath, and was beautifully redone with hardwood and tile before we moved in! (However, we lack the large backyard – so am a little jealous. Oh yes, and we live in CA so *please* don’t tell us how much you paid for your house or I will cry! 😉 ) Because our houses sound so similar, might I offer some unsolicited advice? When our house was redone, the folks took out 90% of the insulation (so the work would be easier) and never replaced it. We lived in the house a full year before we got around to re-insulating, and man, that second year was *so* different! I mean, remarkably different – heating and cooling wise. So if you haven’t poked around in the attic yet, I might recommend it. (ok, advice done. Enjoy your summer and new home!)
Great advice!
Beautiful home! So happy for you guys! Oh and our parish is OLW. We love it! 🙂
Thanks, Irena! GORGEOUS parish!
Happy for you guys! Walking distance to church is fabulous. That’s a goal of ours when we buys hopefully in a few ore years. 🙂 Congrats!
Thanks so much, Desiree!
Oh I’m soooooo happy for y’all. What a home run for St. Joe! (printing off a novena now…)
Thanks, Jenny!
Every time I watch fixer upper I’m jealous of Waco real estate. Have you still not seen it? Wishing you wonderful times in your new home.
I’ve seen most of one episode! I’m trying to forgive them for causing so much traffic downtown 😉
Ahh! That is so exciting you guys. I’m so glad you found a beautiful home and some job opportunities for Daniel as this internship comes to an end. Yay for new adventures!!
Thanks, Ashley!
Cute house!!!!!!! And our kids go to homeschool enrichment classes at Our Lady of Walsingham!!! We love the community there.
Thanks, Elaine!
“cry jealous tears of misery.” So true. We’re same size (and mostly same ages) family in 500 sq ft. and we are wondering when/if God is going to give us an upsize. But…He has bestowed upon us the gift of being content with our lot and trusting that He knows our needs better than we do.
And I am happy that He has obviously blessed you with “abundantly more than you could ask or imagine” through St. Joseph’s intercession. Awesomesauce!
Thanks, Jenny! It’s been cramped but doable in our current 650 sq ft, so y’all must be tiny house living warriors! <3
Usually I don’t comment on blog posts, but I was just confirmed at Walsingham this past weekend! It’s such a beautiful church. 🙂
Oh how wonderful! Congrats, Kailey!!!!
Your new house looks awesome! I love your plans for the yard/garden.
We actually had help from St. Joseph selling our home. We got the offer on his feast day too! It took a while for the house to close, but it did and I can’t complain. 🙂
We sold our home because my husband took a new job. This move was in part prompted by your family’s inspiring move.
Oh wow! I hope your move goes great!