North of the Mason-Dixon Line
Get ready for some news, folks.
This is our new home.
[taken by Sam]
IN PENNSYLVANIA!!!!!
Oh. My. Word. I know. In about a month, I will be watching a moving company pack up all of our worldly goods into a big truck and then we will be heading out on an adventure the like of which I’ve never quite experienced. Because although I’ve lived in four places in my life, three of them were within rock-throwing distance of each other and the fourth was just twenty minutes away from The Valley.
If you live in Pennsylvania (or near, or are even traveling through), you are welcome to drop in and stay with us. Of course, you’ll need to wait until everything is unpacked and set up. Or you’ll end up helping me arrange our hundreds of books.
[taken by Sam]
We’ve been pondering moving to PA since January (mostly because the company Daniel works for is located there and he would be working in the office and no longer from home) and yet haven’t really considered it a serious possibility until the past few weeks. But within days, every single thing fell into place and we found this cozy little house.
These are huge decisions and we are not taking any of them lightly. Our constant prayer has been for the Lord to guide us, show us, keep us, encourage us, and to give us wisdom. As we realized this was happening sooner than we thought even imaginable, our prayer became more of an urgent dear Lord please keep us from screwing up and making big mistakes. I sort of expected things to go wrong every other day and for a big neon sign to drop from heaven stating “Do not even think about it. Just stay put.”
But in every single cross-roads or decision about this move, everything has been so peaceful and has worked out amazingly. I’ve seen God’s grace written all over every single piece of it.
Especially regarding the house. As you know, we have been going through FPU and working towards paying off debt. When we got to the point of looking for a place to live we just assumed that we’d have to find an apartment (probably a very tiny one that was only big enough to walk sideways through the kitchen holding the laundry basket high above my head). This house had been listed as a rental property for a few days even before I discovered it and I thought there was NO WAY that it was still available. But as we began talking with the sweet couple who owns it, we discovered that not only was it still available but surprisingly, we have several mutual friends! Thankfully it has all worked out and it will be our lovely little home now.
It has three bedrooms and one bathroom as well as a cozy kitchen and a formal dining room with a covered porch along the side. The porch will probably be where boys will code and girls will knit.
[taken by Sam]
Another wiggly that deserves mentioning is the wood burning fireplace. I’m already imagining curling up with books in the winter. And for the warm summer days, a beautiful lawn is waiting for Drew’s fingers and toes.
[taken by Sam]
So, here’s the plan for the next few weeks:
- Blogathon 2008 begins on Saturday and I’ll be writing for TWENTY FOUR HOURS. Right when I am finishing, Daniel will be heading to Pennsylvania for a week where he’ll be working on a job-related project but also checking out the town and our house. I will be busy taking inventory, finishing up selling things on eBay and Craigslist, and making lots of lists. And catching up on sleep from Blogathon.
- Then about two weeks later, we will be heading to Baltimore to stay with the Bergeys (visiting with Tim and Steve too who are home from college) for a few days and spending some more time in Pennsylvania and checking out the house.
- Our last days in South Carolina will be spent with family and friends as we try to cram a lot of memories in a short amount of time. It’s an understatement to say that I will miss my mom and dad. That is absolutely the hardest part. But as my mom whispered the other night, “We’ll get through this.”
It’s hard to believe, isn’t it? In just a short amount of time change can whirl into your life before you can blink.
If you are interested in learning about the area we are moving to, you can read about Cumberland Valley.
July 23rd, 2008 at 10:00 am
Good luck with your move! I hope everything goes well for you guys.
{wendy last wrote about: Let me get this one}
July 23rd, 2008 at 10:18 am
Lovely area up there - I might be up a time or two over the next twelve months, drop by on my way to Gettysburg? Would be funny if I finally meet you guys after you move from SC :)
July 23rd, 2008 at 10:24 am
Wow! Pennsylvania is a great place! I grew up in Bucks County (right above Philly), lived there until I was 18 and I love it. In fact, I’ll be driving right through your new neck of the woods in a few weeks on my way to a wedding in Tennessee–maybe on my way down or back we can meet up. That would be fun! Your new house looks great–what an amazing blessing !
{Lore last wrote about: }
July 23rd, 2008 at 10:30 am
WOW. What a stunning home. Congratulations! I hope it all goes smoothly.
{beck last wrote about: Pray}
July 23rd, 2008 at 10:58 am
How exciting! Good luck with everything! Someday Paul and I will come visit. :)
July 23rd, 2008 at 11:13 am
Well, OK, if it has a real fireplace then I can come to terms with this. For a fireplace, even I might be willing to go live among the heathen… I mean, the Yankees. I’m really excited for y’all, whether that’s been coming across over the phone or not. I know you wouldn’t be taking this step if it wasn’t clear that the Lord was leading you, and I know He’ll have great things for you, yes, even in the land of Mordor… I mean, Pennsylvania. ;-)
But c’mon, we’ve only got a month left of living 30 minutes apart — let’s make the most of it!
Love you dearly and can’t wait to come visit you in your beautiful new home.
{Kerry last wrote about: Nothing Could Be Finer}
July 23rd, 2008 at 11:38 am
I’m terribly excited, but, you know this means you’ll be like, 100 more miles away from me. :( on the other hand, if work flies me into DC, i’ll be much closer.
July 23rd, 2008 at 11:53 am
Wendy, thank you so much.
Rick, it IS beautiful up there. And you are right, it would be hilarious if we finally met AFTER leaving SC. You are more than welcome to stop by anytime you are traveling through.
Lore, it would be so much fun to you have there. I hope we can make it happen! We are figuring up our exact moving date in the next few days and then maybe we can email back and forth about when you’ll be driving by.
Beck, thank you. :) It is a beautiful home and we owe that to the very sweet couple who are renting it to us. They have really made the place what it is.
Shannon, thanks and you know that you and Paul are always welcome.
Kerry, honey…really. All these references to Mordor and heathen-land? ;) I wouldn’t expect anything else. The fireplace really does add to it. I have more pictures that Sam took and maybe I’ll post one of the fireplace. Just to calm your heart down. We will make some memories in these next few weeks and then we’ll both save our pennies for road-trips and airfare.
Jason, I googled it a few days ago to see how far we’d be away from you. :( Fuss. But we will still make it work. :)
July 23rd, 2008 at 11:20 pm
Oooo, that makes it more difficult to see if we can meet up since you won’t be a couple hours from my parents’ house anymore. I’ll have to come up with another plan. Of course, Jeremy and I love nature and that is a beautiful place to see it, so maybe we could have a vacation and go camping nearby or something of the sort.
I know about those whirlwind times. When Jeremy was hired up here in Chicago, it was all a whirlwind. It took us a while to find a permanent house, but now here we are (and we have a wood burning fireplace too! w00t! Anyway, take a deep breath and plunge into getting everything packed up and ready. It’s going to be a bumpy ride, but lots of fun anyway.
July 23rd, 2008 at 11:50 pm
Congratulations! What a beautiful house! My grandmother lives not too far north of there a few months a year, it’s pretty nice :)
July 24th, 2008 at 4:35 am
congratulations! pennsylvania is so awesome. i lived there for about 5 years when i was a little girl, and my grandparents had a farm in central PA where i spent many-a-summer day picking flowers and talking to horses and basically living an idyllic life that is hard to replicate in much of the world today!
the house is adorable and at least you’ll be closer to daniel’s family, although i can imagine leaving your parents will be rough. thank God for cheap airfare and nighttime cell minutes, though, right?
i pray that all goes well with the move….onto a new adventure!
{sarah last wrote about: two’s day.}