Buying a house is... overwhelming. As we left our lawyer's office, I felt so many differing emotions: excitement, remorse, loss, gain, and more. I cried. Before and after signing the papers. [Maybe this makes the fact that I bawled my eyes out the day after getting married less dramatic; or maybe it just makes me dramatic!] Right now, I'm more glad than sad, but right after the fact, I felt undone. You have to understand that for someone who hates debt and every sensation that accompanies being "the borrower" as much as I do, getting a $60,000 mortgage is a tough thing. The house and all the opportunities for blessing others that it will provide is worth the sacrifice--even the emotional one--but believe me when I say that we will be working hard to get this thing paid off in less than 15 years!

Upon arriving back here at my parents' [where I sat in the car for a few minutes and cried some more], my dear family had some blessings for us. They were all gathered in the dining room, calling out "Surprise!" and waiting to give us three house-warming gifts. Ryan and Danica bought us some wonderful bathroom fixtures that I'd been eyeing at every TJMaxx we stopped at throughout our Christmas shopping trip. Carina gave us matching bath towels that are softer and bigger than anything I've owned to date. And a beautiful, big mirror for our bedroom (which is currently "mirror-less") came from my parents.

Have I mentioned how good it is to have family? Well, it is. Because as I opened those gifts, I was able to get past some of the more "undoing" emotions and revel in the joy of owning a truly wonderful, dream-come-true home. I needed that.

And now Daniel is over at our house [it really is ours!!!!] finishing the stripping of the kitchen cabinets, which will need to be re-stained a different shade after we come back from Williamsburg, and painting the up-until-now-yellow walls an antique white. Tonight as I re-packed our suitcases for our 12-day trip, I felt a renewed sense of hope. I'm not going to be living out of those suitcases forever! The end is in sight! I am glad... so very, very glad.

Two weeks from today we will cut down our Christmas tree and bring it home. It will still be a few days after that before we actually move into the house because of some projects that need to get done, but when we do I will decorate for Christmas as I unpack boxes. And somehow, that sounds like a lot of fun even though the thought made me want to cry yesterday. It doesn't seem like too much work and instead seems to make the idea of Christmas all the more special. And let's face it: I know exactly where the stockings are going [what else did anyone think of when they saw pictures of the beautiful ballisters and railing on the living room stairs?!] and how the lights of the tree will look through the front windows. I've been mentally planning how the holidays and this house will go together since I saw the first pictures!

I now know why purchasing a home is listed as one of the major "stressers" in life. Add to that being [almost] 33 weeks pregnant and recently relocating 500+ miles from our last home, and you've got an easily-emotional Brietta! But it's good and wonderful. I wouldn't trade any of these "stressers" for anything. I would rather deal with challenge after challenge while knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that I am in His will than keep things calm and easy outside His plan. His grace is sufficient. It really, really is.