The OTHER big announcment

So, I alluded to many changes in our life right now. Adding another member to our family is certainly life changing, and yet we have so many other things to think about too.

This blog started with a lot of posts about our cabin. We bought lakeshore property in 2004 because I have so many memories going to my grandparents cabin on Lake Florida growing up in the Kerkhoven area. Dan and I both thought it would be a fun thing to invest in and possibly build a cabin there someday. Well, in January 2008 our dream came true and our cabin was finished after a year of building permits, sub-contractor issues, and plenty of elbow grease each and every weekend we went out there. I love the cabin. I love the distance from our home (just 1 hr door-to-door), the lakeshore (all 180 feet of it on our double-lot), the view from all the huge windows, and the memories.

As our family has grown, we've talked about moving to a bigger home, or if it works to live in our 1,850 sq feet twinhome during the week and spending Friday evening through Sunday morning at the cabin. We have almost everything we need at the cabin but it still is a process to pack up some fresh food, maybe our computers and now Bethany's things each weekend, and also to keep both places clean. But, to me it is a small price to pay for being able to truly relax each weekend... because hey, I left our daily life at home.

Because the housing market has been down there are a lot of lakeshore properties closer to Minneapolis that have drastically come down in price. Before we thought we'd never be able to get onto Lake Minnetonka but now it seems like there are a few places we could see ourselves living in year-round.

So, this leads to our other big announcement. We had both the cabin and our twin-home on the market last summer and fall with limited interest. It wasn't fun showing our house with a toddler, so we took it off over the holidays and then put the cabin back on in February. We had a lot of interest right away with some quick offers but nothing realistic. Then, a couple weeks ago we got a call that we had a showing at the cabin setup for a Wednesday morning. Our real estate agent had lots of dialog with the other agent the night before and by Wednesday afternoon we had a list of questions from the potential buyers asking for clarification on some things since there was so much snow and the lake was still frozen over. We responded and Thursday got an offer. It wasn't close at all so we had our agent give them our final number to take it or leave it Friday morning. At noon we got a congratulatory email that we had a deal. I wanted to be sure we made it through the house inspection because it was all happening so fast and I couldn't believe it went that quickly or easily. The inspection was perfect and they are anxious to close on April 6th. It is a very quick timeline so we've been rushing to get packed and ready to move the weekend of the 2nd. My sister came to help last weekend and Dan's dad is coming this weekend which is good so I don't wallow in my pity-party about losing the cabin. Yes, I'm excited about the possibility of finding a great place to move to, but it is bitter sweet. We put our lives into the cabin over the last few years so I will always miss it.

We've gone house hunting once with no clear answer, so we'll try again. No immediate rush since we can stay at our house until we find something, but the clock is ticking for baby #2 and I doubt it would be fun to move 8 or 9 months pregnant so my goal is by June.

I need to trust God during this whole process as it has been a whirlwind so far. I've been traveling a lot and so my mind is going a lot of different directions. Moving isn't "fun" but pray that we'll find a perfect place that has what we're looking for: good view/lakeshore, decent distance to work, and big enough for our growing family. Dan has done so much research so I'm also learning to trust his instincts to find something that has both of our goals in mind.

Maybe we'll find something just like the cabin but on Lake Minnetonka :)