Odds and ends

Well, we have a house all picked out and we have said that we are willing to pay money for it, and the owners of that house said sure, we'll take your money. You would think that would make things in our life slow down a little bit, but now the "fun" is just beginning. The last week or two have been spent looking for just the right mortgage, just the right homeowner's insurance, just the right appraiser, etc. We haven't even begun to pack up our current home!! It has felt like both Greg and I have been on the phone or email almost constantly with various companies. (The kids are tired of me closing them out of our room because I need to make or take "an important phone call"). We think that all our effort and homework has paid off though, and we feel, as we so often have in our marriage, the blessings of paying our tithing. We feel like we got a great mortgage at a great rate, one of the very best rates in the country right now (we would know since we talked to practically everybody!!). We are going to be paying much less for our homeowners insurance than anticipated thanks to BYU's arrangement with Liberty Mutual insurance. Perhaps the most amazing miracle of all is what has happened with our tax assessment. The home we are buying was assessed at far above the value of the surrounding homes. Like 50 or 60 thousand more. It seemed unusually high. It is a nicer home, but not that much nicer!! Greg sent an email to the assessor asking about it and the appeal process. The very next day the assessor answered back saying the current owners had already appealed and the assessment had indeed gone down effective in just two or three more days. We couldn't believe it!! So between the great deals on mortgage and insurance, and the decrease in taxes, our monthly payments will be less than we had planned on. We have just felt that the Lord has really been with us through this whole process. We are so thankful things are going well. There is still a lot to do, but we are anxiously awaiting the day when we can move into our new home.