We saw 13 homes today, which brings the grand total to 75ish.  I woke up this morning so excited.  I thought for sure that we would find our REAL house this time.  We didn’t.  We found one…ONE out of the 13 that felt comfortable, but it wasn’t our home.  The layout was all wrong.  It was a very rainy day and there was a chill in the air…and when we got home, there was a chip on my shoulder.  “I’m in a bad mood.”  It really helps me to just say it right out loud so Chris knows I am not mad at him, he didn’t do anything, I am just in a bad mood and he can ask me about it if he wants.
  He said it felt like we just broke up with someone and we are already out dating other people.  And today most of those people homes had STDs.  It’s really hard when you have looked at 70+ homes and none have worked out.  It’s enough to put anyone in a bad mood.  We started looking at our budget to see if we could free up some money so we could afford a nicer home.  We even looked at selling our Acura, Harrison and downgrading.  A home $20,000-$30,000 more would make such a difference.  The chip on my shoulder was getting bigger.  You know what puts me in a bad mood?  Stress, especially about money.  I don’t WANT to sell our car.  I LIKE our car.  So that was out.
  And then we started talking about waiting.  Just until next summer.  We could have the Acura paid off, we could have some student loan debt paid off, Chris would be getting another raise and a pretty big bonus after his spring conference–we could wait.  I started feeling better.  We could afford a better home that we could feel comfortable staying in for a while, that we wouldn’t have to settle on.
  Because, honestly, we would be settling in our current price range.
  We have been praying ever since starting this process that everything would work out if it were right.  Well, it hasn’t worked out, and this evening, Chris and I both feel so happy.  Maybe it is just not the right time for us to buy a house.  We are going to focus our energy on making our little apartment feel more like home.  We are going to keep saving money.  We are going to baby-proof Greta’s room and make it HER space, so she has plenty of room to play, safely.   I am feeling very content and excited and I am looking at our place in a whole new way.  First things first–we need to get a couch delivered.