I’m not sure that I would be able to fully appreciate our lives now if it weren’t for the struggle we faced to get here.  In the scheme of things, I know it wasn’t that major.  We could have faced the same dilemma our new neighbors faced; when they moved here, they had to pay a double mortgage for a year until their old house sold.  Nevertheless, Justin and I still survived our own personal nightmare.

This move, as any large move is, was all-consuming.  And, in all honesty, we weren’t sure it was the right choice.  When you are doing something because you think it’s the right thing to do (which, incidentally, is much different from moving because the military tells you to or you get a new job), there are so many doubts.  You will never actually know if you made the right decision until it is too late to go back in the event that it was the wrong one.

As you may remember, in early June, everything seemed to fall together.  The day I accepted my current job at Crawford, resigned my former job in Lawrence, and agreed that two of my cats could permanently stay in their temporary homes, we also accepted an offer on our condo.  It was meant to be.  Until our buyers backed out the day Justin flew to Lexington and found a house he was ready to put an offer in on.  At that point, our world collapsed around us.  It was too late to get my job back in Lawrence, and we didn’t have any other buyers lined up in Boston.

We did the only thing we could.  Panicked, really.  And then figured things out.  We started to pack up the house and continued to show it.  We found another buyer.  Which fell through again.  And then we found a third buyer.  We moved to Lexington and started our life in limbo, living in my parents’ basement, not sure we were ever going to leave.  Still making mortgage payments in Boston, despite my pay cut in Lexington.

Of course, on our first day in Lexington, we found our dream house.  We put in an offer, hoping that our condo would close, as planned on 30 August.  It didn’t.  The closing was delayed five more times.  We nearly lost our house, having to pay the seller’s a month’s mortgage with no access to the house.

The stress wore on us.  We had very few conversations that revolved around anything other than real estate.  Robbie fed off our stress.  In short, it was nearly unbearable.  Without family to lean on, I’m not sure what we would have done.  More times that I care to admit, I doubted my decision to push for the move.

And then, suddenly, it was over.  We closed on the condo 04 October and breathed a huge sigh of relief.  If, after all of this, we lost the house, there would be other houses.  We simply needed to be rid of the albatross, and, by the grace of God, we were.  Inevitably, there were more hiccups.  The pay-off was short $290, continuing to jeopardize our purchase in Lexington.

Even more suddenly, that was solved and, forty minutes beforehand, I found out that we were closing.  Justin was out of town, and I had no idea where a checkbook was.  Mom flew across town with a check, much to my eternal relief and temporary embarrassment (after all, I am a grown woman who should know where her checkbook is).  But it was nice to have her there, giving me a supportive hug before she jetted off to pick up Robbie.

There was a pizza dinner at the house the first night.  A late move the next night, involving three stops, gracious movers (Hometown Movers if you need them; ask for Otis to be one of your men – he’s moved us twice), and hundreds of boxes.  And then, finally, Justin flew home, and we had breakfast as a family, our first meal in the new house.

The place was a disaster for six days.  It was bizarre walking through the front door, knowing it was ours.  All of it.  Nothing had to be shared.  We could be as loud as we wanted as late as we wanted.  There was room to put everything away and still have empty closets (we currently have six along with six empty cupboards).  Sure, there’s still work to be done.  The dining room furniture is being refinished and Justin’s office in the basement needs insulation, drywall, paint, flooring, and a ceiling.  But the living room furniture came today, so Justin and I are enjoying a little time just, well, enjoying a little time.

It’s a bizarre feeling, relaxing in our own house.  Knowing all the drama is behind us.  For all the wonderful things that have happened, it has been a positively brutal eleven months.  But you know what?  It lead us here.  Home – on so many levels.  And together, more so than I may have ever thought possible.  We aren’t all fortunate enough to make it through the extreme challenges, but I’m grateful for where they have brought me.  Even more grateful for where they have landed us.