It's Official....

Warning: this will be LONG!

Virginia it is. We found a place to live, and signed the deal in Baltimore on Wednesday. The new boss seems like a really nice guy. I hope he stays that way. We will be giving our two week notice on Monday... that should be interesting.

Before we went to Virginia, I had spent hours and hours online searching for housing. I basically found 5 places that I thought we could afford. The odds were against me. Before we even left I had it narrowed down to two places I was being drawn to: a farmhouse and a townhouse. The first day we were there, I arranged to see the townhouse along with 5 other properties (houses and apartments). The farmhouse would be on Tuesday. I had been hoping for a sign to let me know where we should be and I was really being driven by my gut this trip. When we pulled into the townhouses, we both liked what we saw. They were very well kept, tucked on the outskirts of a very small town (1500 people) and seemed to be very quiet. The lady in the office had worked there 20 years. That told me something. The townhouse is a good size and had a fenced in yard for our dogs.

Back to wanting a sign... we got the key from the office to go take a look inside and as we rounded the corner to go inside, out walked two missionaries from 2 doors down. I said, "You have got to be kidding me!" (You never see Mormons outside of Utah that easily). I then joked, "there's my sign". We both laughed. We then had to explain to the missionaries why we were laughing so hard. They got a good chuckle themselves. Anyhow, we both felt really good about it, but still had more places to see..... including that farmhouse I was being so drawn to. We went ahead and applied and left. We were approved 2 hours later. We told her we had one property to see and we'd be back the next day to put money down unless something else caught our eye.

Fast forward to the next day. I got this listing for the farmhouse off of craigslist. I knew nothing of it other than it was a farmhouse and that the owners lived on the property. I had dreams of this house, not knowing if what I was seeing was real, or my imagination. In my dreams it was a little shack like house, deep green in color. I kept teasing Shaun that with my luck it would most likely be on a stinky hog farm. That is what my gut was saying. We got directions from the lady and off we went. We were told to meet at her house, and she would take us to the rental. As we approached the area of the house, I started to notice a long black fence along the roadside. I said, "I bet this is the farm". Then, there it was... this HUGE white Georgian mansion plopped in the middle of this mass pasture. It was gorgeous!! We pulled down the dirt road to the side (as instructed) and along the way passed these little shack-like houses. I suddenly realized what it was and and I said, "Oh my gosh... it's an old plantation!" We approached the house and there was a black man painting her garage. He waved as we passed and assured us we were in the right place. He was one of her tenants who did work for her on the side. We got out and approached the door as roosters ran all around us.

Out walked little Althea Randolph, who's frizzy blond hair pinned up in a pony tail was bigger than she was. She greeted us with a hand shake and a "how y'all doin'?" I loved her already. She then hopped in the car with us and our dogs (ha ha) and showed us the way. As we passed about 7 little houses, she explained about the folks who lived in them. 3 nurses, two school teachers, etc... Good people she said. As we rounded the corner, she explained that the remains we were seeing were that of an old hog farm. I laughed my butt off. I then had to explain why I was laughing. Ha ha
We hit the end of the road and there it was... a little shack like house with a deep green roof. It was tucked in the tree's with a little stream running by. I was in heaven. It was old and musty with original hardwood floors. She told how she had inherited 600 acres from her grandparents 10 years back and began renting all the houses out. I would have been able to garden to my hearts content. There was a pond to fish in and an orchard I could pick fruit from. I would have deer and rabbits and fox and all sorts of other fun critters on my doorstep daily. Instead of cows, I would have heard roosters. This was my fairytale. It was perfect, except for one thing.... the dirt road that took us there. It was rough and long and we were afraid we wouldn't be able to get out in winter. I was heartbroken... still am.

But I was drawn there for a reason. I am a big believer that you meet certain people in life for a reason. Althea asked why we were moving and we felt compelled to tell her the whole story. She listened intently and then gave us some wise advice. The part that will stay with me forever is when she said, "you may be angry now, and you have every right to be. But it's not worth sticking a stick in their eye just because they are not as smart as you are. It won't change a thing".
Maybe I wasn't drawn to that little house to live there, but more importantly to meet the owner. She was a remarkable woman, and would have been a wonderful landlord. She was sad when we told her we couldn't take it, but extended the invitation to 'stop in if we were ever in her stomping grounds again'. We certainly will. So it all came down to that damn dirt road. I wish I had a truck, and I'd be living my fairytale.