Yeah, all those cryptic Tweets and “I wish I could say what’s going on” hints I’d been dropping? This is what those were about! AHHH! Somebody PLEASE pinch me, because I still feel like I’m dreaming! Please excuse the quality of my iPhone photos in this post- I intentionally left my camera at home for our walkthrough, so this is all I have at the moment :).

A few weeks ago, we drove by my childhood dream house and saw that it was for sale. After an intense 24 hours of crunching numbers and getting my hopes way, way up, we realized it just wasn’t realistic- the house was at the very end of our budget, and because it was a farmhouse built in the 1800’s, there was a ton of work that needed to go into it. So I moped around a bit the next day, frustrated with myself for being foolish enough to invest hope in a pipe dream.

Then Matt & I were surfing RedFin later that afternoon when we both came upon a townhouse in Sterling, only about 15 minutes from where we are now. It looked alright from the images posted by the realtor, and there was an open house currently going on at that very moment. More to distract myself from the wallowing in self-pity I’d been doing, we decided to jump in the car and head over to see this one.

I’ve staunchly maintained in the past that I didn’t want to buy a townhouse- so many of Reston’s town homes are dark, old, and outright ugly. But as soon as we walked into this one in Sterling, I forgot alllll about that- this was PERFECT. Plenty of room, hardwood floors, and most importantly, TONS of natural light. Ahhh! Matt & I looked at each other as soon as we walked in the ground floor- this was it! And with every room we stepped into, we fell more and more in love. We put in an offer the next day and within three hours, the seller had agreed to our terms :).

That was less than four weeks ago, and yesterday we got the green light that our mortgage went through just fine and we’re good for closing early! For most folks, I know buying a home is just the next natural step in your adult lives. But with the insane housing prices in northern Virginia, it’s always seemed to be an insurmountable obstacle. Pricing was always too high, and seeing how hard my parents had to work to own the home they’re in now, I just thought that we’d never really get there.

[^This is where the September 8th workshop will be going down! SEE HOW MUCH LIGHT THERE IS??]

We DID get there, though! Throughout this whole process Matt and I have been continuously blown away by God’s graciousness- that the perfect home for us became available just as we were realizing the first one wasn’t going to happen, that it was the right price, that we had an awesome realtor working to negotiate in our favor, even the fact that we’re able to close early. We’re feeling so, so blessed right now. And not in a humble-brag kind of way, but in a “we don’t deserve this at all, yet it was dropped in our laps anyways by a God that loves us and knows what’s best for us” sort of way.

That dream house of mine from the 1800’s will still be there in 30 years. But you know, right now? This townhouse is my dream home. And I’m feeling so incredibly content. And maybe one day, it’ll be us living in that old farm house, but I’m honestly not worried about anymore. We’re exactly where we’re supposed to be.

More photos and house updates in the weeks and months to come. I’m sure I’ll have more than a few tales for y’all to laugh with me over as we learn what it looks like to be homeowners for the first time! But right now, I kinda just feel like popping a bottle of bubbly.