It's been quiet here and for me in general on social media because big changes are happening for our family! After about two years of looking for the right-for-us home, we found a new place and in roughly two weeks we'll be packing a truck, closing on two houses, and moving. The last two months have been filled with the many, many, many details of buying and selling and prepping to move. Our current home has been filled with memories and has served us well but it has been clear to us that it was time to move once the right place came along. Six boys, homeschooling, winters that last upwards of five or six months, not enough room, a desire for a home that would be a better fit for entertaining and having guests, and a space that would allow a dear friend to live on the property were just a few of the main reasons. We never planned on being in this current home for almost ten years!

There has been a crazy seller's market around here. We looked at two homes very seriously during the past year before discerning that they just weren't the right ones for us. And so we waited. And waited some more, checking the housing listings somewhat obsessively several times a day. At the time for me it felt like an eternity. When this new one opened up we made an appointment right away, realized what a good fit it would be for us, and placed an offer four days after it listed. We signed a contract the next day on the feast of the Visitation. Good thing because several more offers came in after the contract was signed! We listed our home within a few weeks and -praise God- it sold with a full price offer within two weeks. They visited the house on the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart and put a contract together the next day on the feast of the Immaculate Heart. I actually signed the contract for the sale of our home early the next Sunday morning while in Steubenville chaperoning a youth conference trip with my oldest. Praise God for technology and fast working realtors! (And yes, the conference was amazing and filled my heart good.)

Things take forever here in New York so we still don't close until the end of August which leaves my fun little brain lots and lots of time to second guess everything because that's what I do. The price, the location, the layout, the commitment, the amount of upkeep the extra square footage will add, the lack of obvious parish to join (that's probably the biggest struggle for me currently!). But Our Lord is so patient with me even though He made it clear in dozens of little ways that this was of Him and we had a deep desire for His will that led our discernment. There's always going to be a huge part of me that would love to sell everything and move to some third world country or a tiny house in the middle of the city and live a life of radical detachment. But God has made it clear that that's not His plan for us. Isn't it funny how acts of submission and humility can take such different forms? The new home is not in an area we were planning on and it's taking a good amount of faith and trust on my part to believe we're supposed to be there. It's just a few towns over but it will still take a whole lot of adjusting and getting used to everything! I think there's always going to be a part of me that never quite feels at home anywhere on this earth and that's exactly as it should be. At this point, though, I'm just so ready for the move. I'm ready to tackle a new place and make this new house feel like ours.

The boys haven't even seen the inside yet! They walked around the outside but in case you haven't tried it, taking six kids that want to touch all the things into a house showing is NOT FUN. But more than that, hearing all the opinions of six kids on said house while you walk through it is also NOT FUN. We wanted to be able to make the call for our family and discern clearly. So they haven't seen it yet and we are so excited to finally show it to them. They've seen pictures and they've walked part of the property and they are thrilled we will have land to explore. Their one request as we've been looking at homes was to find something with forest. And that we will soon have beyond any of our expectations, nearly 11 acres of it!

It will be a bittersweet goodbye to this current home, the only one our kids really remember at all and the one that saw us welcome three babies, two of them born right in these rooms! But we are ready and we are excited to take this leap of faith and start this new family adventure. Any prayers for a smooth move and smooth construction as we begin work hopefully immediately on adding that living space for our friend would be much appreciated!

May God continue to bless and guide every step of this journey for our family and may this new home be a place of peace, a gift to us and our local Church to be used for His glory.