Symbolic

From this to this.

Two weeks ago the little nest, that has been sitting empty outside our bedroom window for months now, became occupied. The silly morning doves were making all sorts of noise early in the summer sun and I could see the shadow of their heads bobbing up and down and around as they coo-ed and cawed at each other.
Probably arguing on just how to place the furniture in their newly found home.

We too have been on a hunt for a new space.
We have been living with my in-laws since December, a place that I am thankful for.
It was a soft place to land after having to (short)sell our house and move our dreams into storage. But this living situation was only temporary.
And I know it is time for us to wiggle and settle into a different place.

We thought for a few weeks that we would try to buy a house again with my mom's help. We looked and we looked, we even had an offer approved by the seller and another one we were bantering back and forth with about price.
It could have happened, it could have.
In the mean time we were also tossing around the idea of renting a house. Checking out a few dumps made our hearts sink so we kept scouring Craig's list late at night.
Then finally we found a place that seemed like a good fit. 

But the Universe likes to test you, ya know? Keep things interesting and give you choices.
One of the houses we were looking at came back into view and was an option again. It didn't seem like it was going to work out the first time and so we let it rest, but it popped back into the mix and we had a huge choice to make.
Do we go with buying or do we hold off and rent?
We could save a bit more money to do things again on our own. Renting would allow us to feel a bit more free should opportunities pop up in an unexpected place.
We (Andy, my mom and I) sat on my mom's back porch sipped a beer and talked it out.
A decision was made.
The choice seemed to happen suddenly, but I think we all sort of knew where the choice was going.
I felt a huge relief.
The weight of the decision I was aware of, it had been there for weeks, but I had become used to it all. When it was lifted, the freedom was tangible. 

I am so glad we looked at so many options, we communicated and talked and talked some more. I am happy to say that we all feel good about the choice that was made. I think we have a better idea of what we want in the end and how we want to go about making it all happen. That feels amazing.
We signed a year lease yesterday afternoon in the windy-wind of South Reno.
Get the boxes ready, we're moving!

From this to this.