grow on trees

Who knew that money was such a big deal? Oh, everyone? Well, you forgot to tell me!

It's like, "Well, for starters $20,000 and then a couple fees that add up to another $5,000. Oh, and if you just make the payments on time we'll casually add $54,000 in interest to the $68,000 you were paying originally." It adds up to alot of thousands. I get it. Everyone who has a house is like, ".. Old news..." BUT NO ONE TOLD ME!

If you have a teenager (or a pre-teen. junk, start as early as you want!) sit them down and be like, "That pair of shoes? You don't need it. I'm not even talking need in a serious like-you-NEED-food sort of way. I mean even in a want-more-than-you'll-want-that-twenty-dollars-later kinda way." I had a blog once called 69 pairs-on Amanda. It was like a lame play on my maiden name (Pearson) and an ode to my massive shoe collection. 69 pairs. That's $1,400 roughly. Good golly. I have a scrapbook FULL of movie tickets. Probably literally one hundred. Maybe more. I may go count them. Point: I wasted so much money on things that I enjoyed but didn't matter at all! Go see movies! Enjoy your life! Have ten pairs of shoes if you want! But for goodness sake, save all the money you can. Later it'll come in handy.

We have the money saved, so this is in no way a plea for money. It's a plea for money education! If there's anything else down the road that I'm going to want to know, feel free to tell me! Really.

The paper work on this house buying thing also kinda side-swiped me. Like our whole house is already in boxes for the move and they're calling me and asking me for all this documentation that's (literally) in the last box in the bottom corner. It's like they sneaked into our Living Room, "Hey, what's that last box on the bottom over there in the corner say? Yeah, tell her we need a copy of that too."

If this sounds like a rant, it's because it is. :) My stress level during this whole house buying thing is ridiculously high. It's way worse than college finals or anything else that I may have previously considered to be stressful. At least college finals are in your hands. You come to class, take notes, make note cards, quiz yourself until you literally wake up reciting it, and do well. Buying a house has been in your hands your whole life, you just didn't know it. It's like they take every piece of paper ever connected to your life and decide whether you should have a home while you sit by the phone in case they need a blood sample.

Really, it's all in God's hands. He already knows. He won't be surprised when we do get the house, or when we don't. Next time I sound a little stressed, just remind me of that. No matter what it is, God cares. His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.

p.s. They moved our closing date up a week to the 6th of September! So, we'll be starting new jobs and buying a house all in the same week! :)