This is how it happened!

 "For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and
not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11 NLT

This has all happened so quickly and so easily, to be honest with you. We are amazed to have God's favor in purchasing The Nest. I actually feel I should be holding my breath, waiting on the first snag to happen. We are doing a long distance closing today. The seller should have signed his set of papers TODAY at 11:30 a.m. So The Nest should be officially ours by the time you read this.

When Terry and I began looking at places in the Ellijay area in early September, we were interested in a specific area based on the location of my brother's cabin. Many of you have seen some of the pictures I've taken while I was there. Beautiful view of Carter's Lake!! What actually started us out on this journey was a small place, two lots down from his. We had seen it was for sell in August while we were there. A cute little cottage. We made a special trip back up there three weeks later in September to see it with a realtor. Several days later, we tried to make an offer but before we could, someone else came in with a higher bid. I was so disappointed. It would have been a perfect location, I thought. I decided I should sign up with a real estate website. I figured there was no way of knowing what was for sale, long distance, if I didn't. Within 45 minutes, I had received an email from a realtor in the Ellijay area. And technically, I guess, that's when the REAL journey began.

A few weeks later, another place hit the listings. This place has a wonderful mountain view and is only 1.5 miles away from my brother's. The pictures looked great. We were very excited. I called my brother on a Friday, asked if he was in the Ellijay area (He was.) so I asked him to meet with the realtor for me and check  this new place out. He did. The pictures had done it justice. It was big, secluded with a fabulous view. It had been on the market for a year and a half and had had a price reduction a little over a month before then. It wasn't perfect but it was nice. It was a little big, probably bigger than we really needed. It would have required a bit of upkeep, we thought but we were willing to make an offer, sight unseen. However, during the very next Sunday morning service I felt God speak to me and told me to slow down. It had been for sale for quite some time, after all, so "what was the rush" I heard. I couldn't wait to get home to tell Terry the direction I felt God was leading. Terry was in agreement so I spoke with the realtor the next day and told her we had decided to hold off after all and wait till we were able to see it in person ourselves. We had already scheduled our vacation to be at my brother's again in just three weeks. It had been on the market for so long. I decided, if it was ours, it would still be on the market when we arrive. Well, two weeks later I called the realtor to remind her we would be up there the following week and to ask the status on this house. Have you guessed it? A solid offer had been made in the last two weeks, more than we would have offered. She didn't think we had a chance. Again...another one slipped through our fingers.

A couple of days before I called the realtor though, another place had hit the listings. Very cute, little place. Looked brand new by the pictures but I hadn't been interested because the previous place was only 1.5 miles from my brother's. A perfect location, I thought. It was not to be so our attention turned to this new place. It was located about 7.5 miles from my brothers so still in close enough proximity. I did a little investigation on-line and discovered it was located in a gated area called the Coosawattee River Resort (CRR). My brother had mentioned the area when we had been there in September. This new place had been on the market since December 2010. I asked our realtor about it. It was still for sale. I told her that was the one I wanted to see when we would be up there on vacation. There were a few others in our range, that I felt warranted seeing as well.

Long story short, we met and she got us in The Coosawattee (CRR) to see the house. It was great. Nothing was wrong with it. It looked like it had never been lived in, even though records showed it was built in 2005. Color choices were great. Carpet was in fantastic condition and most of all, it was close to our price range. The only thing we would need to do is buy a refrigerator, washer and dryer and move in, with furnishings of course. I knew this was the one but just to be sure, we let her show us the other ones I had mentioned. OMG!! Every one was in disrepair. Significantly. One was so bad, I didn't even let her drive us up to the house. Really!! So I asked her to take us back and let us look at "our place" again. It was just as wonderful the 2nd time around!! We made an offer. Heard back the very next day with a counter offer. After a couple of rounds of haggling and negotiating, we settled on a price.

The seller wanted the "due diligence" period to be 7 days. Wow!! That's quick but we said if she, the realtor, could get the termite and home inspection scheduled while we were there, we'd go along with it. She did. Both came and the house checked out great, with only minor things needing to be addressed. The really cool thing that happened was while the home inspector was there, it came up in conversation that we had looked at the little place, 2 lots down from my brother's originally but didn't get it. He told us he had just done the inspection for that place. He said, and I quote, "Be glad to you didn't get that place. It has issues. You definitely got the better place." Can you believe that? What are the odds that he would have inspected both places, and we get to know that? I really felt like God had given us a gift with that information; a confirmation that we were getting the place we were suppose to.

So I said all this to say, we said from the beginning that we didn't want to get any place, at all, if God did not want us to have one. We asked him to put things in our paths to keep us from getting them if it wasn't His will. He did just that. Twice. But on the third one, He left the door open. Wide open. One in a gated community where it will be more secure and safe when we aren't there. He gave us the one in much better condition. Move in ready. He gave us the one that was the best price to begin with, before we even negotiated down a little bit. HE GAVE US THE BEST ONE!! I'm amazed. I'm grateful. I'm humbled. I'm thrilled. No, it doesn't have a view. It's not a cabin. It's not huge but it's just right for us.

Because we couldn't get access to the area (it being gated and all), we were only able to ride through the Coosawattee (CRR) two times with the realtor. But both times...in the middle of the day...we saw two deer. They say in some areas the deer are so tame because they are fed, they'll walk right up to you. I CAN'T WAIT FOR YOU TO SEE IT!! And that's how it happened... :o)