We bought a house!!Not just any house.Our dream home.The place we plan to never leave. Where we will raise our children, host holidays, parties, and dinners.I envision living in this home until the day I die. It’s everything we have always dreamed of, but didn’t think was possible. Here’s our super-cheesey “we bought a house” faces:That’s the amazing thing about allowing God to go before your and wait on his timing.A few months ago we thought we had found our house. We put in an offer and it was rejected. No counter offer, nothing. A few weeks later it sold to someone else. We were pretty disappointed but I had to remember the situation we were in just a year an a half ago before moving to Nashville from Dallas:We had a fantastic rent home all lined up. My husband had been tirelessly searching and found it while in Nashville on his last day looking. With no time to write up paperwork my husband and the homeower had a verbal and “handshake” agreement, with promises to sign paperwork that weekend.Long story short, the owner ended up stopping communication with us and tried to lease it out from under us for way more money. It never leased and he eventually ended up having to sell the home. We were really upset and felt kindof betrayed. We also were in a bit of a pickle, needing to move quickly, with a brand new baby Miles, movers lined up, and no house. In that moment I felt that there would never be another home as great as that one for us. However, we soon found a fantastic home where we have been for almost 2 years.Anyhow, I tried to remember this scenario when we lost the first home we tried to buy.You Guys. There is no comparison between the home we lost and the home we just bought.NONE.It was actually posted the day Etta was born, and we went and looked at it 2 days later (yep, got in trouble with my midwife for that one!)There is a small downside. It’s filthy. It’s abandoned. It hasn’t been lived in (by anyone other than critters and spiders) for almost two years.But it’s amazing. Big moldings, fireplaces, wainscoting, exposed brick, a big deck, little nooks and crannies that ooze character and charm, enough bedrooms for as many children as we could ever want, a great spot for family to stay when they visit, a play room, a perfect studio space for Hank, a yard that’s absolutely to die for…in an ideal, central location. It’s even built in the farmhouse style that we just love.I won’t be showing any pics of the front (which is a shame, it’s beautiful!) but I’ll have lots of photos coming of the interior renovation!We have some close friends who once told us “God delights to bless us, even to the point of our preferences”. That is exactly what has happened here. I don’t believe in a “prosperity gospel”, trust me, we have had our share of heartache, pain, and difficulty.But right now, he is choosing to bless us, far beyond what we deserve, and in more ways than we have ever dreamed of.The house is perfect for us. Or it will be once we are done completely renovating it.We will be gutting the kitchen and bathrooms, tearing out all of the flooring (except the entryway, and possibly one room where there are some amazing old wood floors), redoing the staircase, repainting the entire thing top to bottom, inside and out. All new lighting, all new fixtures, vents, doorknobs, everything. We are adding a bathroom and busting down a wall to open the kitchen to the den.I. can’t. wait.So I hope you all don’t mind home-reno blog posts – I’ll probably be posting them once a week or so with some tips for buying or renovating a healthy home!Hank and I have dreamed of taking on a project like this since we did a mini-reno on a rent home when we were first married. We fixed it up and the landlords were able to sell it for way more than they had originally thought to the first person who looked at it. Hank is great at remodel, and has an eye for tasteful design. You should see the “home design” file on his computer! I’m less creative and more administrative, so we are a good team…at least we think we are…I guess we will find out.My husband informed me this morning that he removed the Zillow.com bookmark tab from his computer…Zillow has been the third person in our marriage for the past 6 months, so I’m glad to see her go!Alright, so stay tuned for my tips on finding/renovating a natural, healthy home!live well. be well.