Life's a beach!

We've been living at a beautiful, spacious house in Nags Head.  We are sound side and loving it!  I really thought I'd prefer to be ocean side, but there is something so peaceful about sitting on the dock and watching the sun go down.

We spend our days crabbing off the dock.  We haven't had a ton of success with it, but it's been so much fun sharing that experience with the kids!  I loved crabbing as a kid.  I've always wanted the kids to try it!  Vera caught the first crab!

about to get her first taste of crab!

We are currently in Gettysburg for a family reunion this weekend, but after this we head back down to the OBX.  We'll stay down there until Thanksgiving week.  We're spending Thanksgiving back up here in PA with our families and then we're praying we'll be back in Virginia in our very own home!  We're just waiting for a few details to be buttoned up and then it looks like we'll be under contract!  I'll share about that in a few weeks when things are more official...  but for now, we are enjoying the moments that we are sharing as a nomadic family.  I'm choosing to look at this as a blessing. It took me a few days at the water to get to that point, but I'm there.  <3

We love Virginia and an Update

We came down to Virginia at such a great time of year.  It has been beautiful!  The weather has been amazing and the foliage is picture perfect.  

Our hosts here at this Airbnb have been so amazing!  Vanessa has been so patient in teaching us about homesteading and milking.  Weve learned so much!  Here she is teaching Jeff how to milk.

It has been so fun living where there are cows in the yard.  

This is Daisy.  

She's probably about 4 months old now. 

Her mama, Hickory, is the cow we get our milk from.  She sometimes has trouble letting down when she's being milked, so they bring Daisy in to get her milk flowing again.  Daisy comes off the teat with milk bubbles running down her chin.  She was very curious about my camera. 

 Hickory has this chicken that follows her all around the pasture.  

It's so funny to see this chicken and cow companionship.  Is it weird that I totally imagine them having some kind of barn yard discussion about the other animals on the farm, baby daddies, or raising babies??  No?  Good.  I'm not that weird then... 

We went house hunting on Thursday.  It was successful-ish??  Maybe??  Idk.  We found two places that we really liked.  One was on 59 acres in the middle of nowhere.  When I say "the middle of nowhere", I mean the internet hasn't come through yet.   Neighbors are miles away and Jeff, who always has cell service, didn't have service.  The house was cute and had some potential, BUT, one of the bedrooms had a pretty significant mold issue from a leak in the roof.  That would have changed the kind of loan we would have to get in order to buy it. It doesn't really matter, since we can't live there without internet or cell service.  

Another house we looked at was move in ready.  It had a few minor things that we would change, but that's no big deal.  The best part was that it had this ADORABLE guest house on the property.   By ADORABLE, I mean, uninhabitable mess, but it had these amazing paneled doors and original hardware from the 1920's.  So stinking cute!  I'm sure the chipping paint was a lead hazard, but still...  I mean, I'd wear a mask and strip all those babies down!  I'm telling you!  These doors and hardware were amazing!!  So, the mortgage broker we're working with was like "Hey, give me a call when you are thinking about making an offer.  We'll discuss everything and run some numbers before you make the offer"  So Jeff called him on Friday and he gave him the address for this house and the guy goes "What's this building to the left of the house?"  Jeff told him that it was in law quarters or a guest house, and the guy goes "Oh, we won't be able to finance that unless it's on two separate deeds."  Of course, it's not on two separate deeds, so that was another no for us.  We are going to call a new lender and see if they'll finance it, but I'm questioning if maybe this is just another door being closed. 

I am definitely feeling God's direction AWAY from places, but I'd really like to feel some direction towards something.  There is a house down the road here in Pilot, with 150 acres, that was auctioned off this summer.   The new owners want to build their own house on the land and sell the original house and a chunk of land with it.  It has a mature apple orchard, a barn and a pond.  

It is almost-pretty-much-exactly what we'd love to have.  But, it's not on the market and we aren't working with a realtor in this area.  So, maybe we'll be able to buy it from them before it hits the market and before realtors get involved.  Idk.   We meet with them on Tuesday.  They've been on vacation in Wyoming, so we haven't had a lot of contact with them.  I'm praying that they still want to  meet with us and that the price is right for us and that it just works out.  Maybe that's why we've been in this area for so long and maybe that's why nothing else is working out for us.  Idk.  But, I do know that God has gone before us to wherever it is we're going and He's got it all worked out and waiting for us.  I'm reminding myself to be patient.  It's not my timing.  It's His.

We did it!! And it's hard.

Some of my tiny cut garden

Jeff has talked about farming for years.  It's something he has always wanted to do.  I NEVER thought I'd be okay with that.  But, God worked on my heart for a few years.  I started homeschooling the girls.  Then, Jeffrey came home from public to be homeschooled. After that, Micah decided he wanted to be home, too.  He didn't want to leave everyday if the rest of us were going to be home!
I had started to get into living a more natural, organic life.  We were growing our own veggies and herbs in the summer, raising chickens for fresh eggs.  I was growing a tiny cut flower garden.   The benefits of this kind of lifestyle were starting to kick in.  I could see the rewards of our hard work.  It was enjoyable to me.  I'd spend mornings and evenings, barefoot, in the garden and with the chickens.  It was a JOY.

An evening harvest

I was starting to look forward to it everyday!  I loved it!  I loved homeschooling and having everyone home.  Jeff and I started dreaming about all of us home together on a piece of land that was bigger. With a simpler lifestyle. Simpler doesn't mean easier.  We understand that.  But, we started thinking that it would be worth it.
We spent a lot of time in prayer.  A lot of time discussing.  A lot of time preparing the house to sell. We met with a realtor and then things just happened really fast!
Our house was listed on a Monday.  The realtor put a 24 hour block on showings.  So they'd start on Tuesday.  Tuesday had a bunch of showings and we had an offer by 11 am on Wednesday.  A good offer.  Over our asking price!  The couple loved the house and they were super excited.  We saw God's hand through the whole process.  It was amazing.  He was so good!  There were times when we were just overwhelmed by His goodness.  From the home inspection to the appraisal and lots of little things in between. 

Fresh eggs from our backyard flock

But, here we are in Virginia, and it is HARD.  The house we fell in love with did not work out for us. We made three offers on it.  After the second offer, Jeff said "If she doesn't counter, we're walking away."  She didn't even counter.  Jeff went back on his word when he saw my heartbreak. So we offered cash, because there is an issue with the heating that needs to be addressed before a lender will approve a mortgage. She is choosing to wait for a FULL PRICE, cash offer.  We had to let that dream go and continue the search.

The view from the ridge behind the Airbnb

So here we are, in this amazing Airbnb property, searching.

If you ever need to quiet the noise and get away, I highly recommend this Airbnb in Pilot, VA. 

It doesn't feel like a vacation anymore. We're homeschooling, Jeff's working and we continue to look. Continue to pray.  Continue to trust.

But here's the hard part.  These kids.  They are being so amazing.  They are such good kids.  School is going well.  They're all amazing.  But, they're human, and they're children.  They don't know exactly what they're feeling.  Uncertainty, perhaps??   And it comes out in other ways.  Like the break downs...over math that is too hard or being corrected and disciplined.  Or the fight with a sibling over the "silver" pencil.  Or crying over a popped balloon from Red Robin.  I mean, everything is an emotional event right now.  And I get it.  I SOOOOO get it.  It's hard not to cry with them.
I want a house.  I want to be in my own place, decorating for fall.  Planning halloween costumes and baking all things pumpkin.  But, that's not going to happen this year.  We're here in this temporary house and I don't have all my baking pans and I am watching my kids feel a little bit of insecurity, uncertainty, or something I can't name.

We get our milk from Hickory.  She's so sweet and hangs out in the pasture all around the house here.

We're going to look at houses again on Thursday.  I'm excited about the possibility of finding THE ONE for us.  And in the meantime I am reminding myself that He is faithful.

From the driveway looking into the neighboring farm.