"Nothing is as Constant as Change"

This year has promised some pretty big changes for our family. Today, finally, I'm pleased to report that one big change is officially on its way.

Now hang on a minute! Why is it that you automatically assume I'm pregnant?!? Come on, my baby is only 9 months old. Give me a break. Am I really that predictable?

Never mind, don't answer that.

No, I'm NOT pregnant (let's make sure we're clear on that), but we do have some big news. We are buying a new house! Our offer was officially accepted yesterday. It will take approximately 45 days to close, so we should own it by about mid-March. Here is our new house in all its glory:

Okay, okay, so "glory" doesn't exactly seem to fit. Yes, the yard looks awful because this house was foreclosed on. We are purchasing this home from the FDIC. It is only partially finished, so once we close it will take approximately 2 months to finish the work on it. We will probably move in May at some point.

We feel so blessed to have the opportunity to buy this home. We were definitely not looking to buy a new house, but some friends of ours found out about this neighborhood and told us about it, so we looked into it. After some heartfelt consideration, we feel that purchasing this home is a good investment and the right thing for our family and our future.

We are very excited for the new opportunities that are before us, but we're also sad (read "in denial") about leaving our current home, neighborhood, and ward. The new home is not too far from where we are now and the kids will still attend the same school, so we hope that the changes will not be too strenuous!

It's going to be crazy around here for the next few months. Preparing this home to sell will be a huge undertaking in and of itself, but we intend to find "Joy in the Journey," which is our family theme for this year.