Merry Christmas: We bought a house!

My last post talked about giving thanks, and we have some major thanks to give today...
As always, I wasn't sure how much to share, but it's time I tell you how grateful we are for some really amazing people.

Remember when we found out Graden had to have surgery? I'll never forget; it was January 2013. We made some major changes after that appointment.

You may know that we made the decision to sell our house and move in with Phil's parents. You may know that we lived with them for over a year, and you may know that we moved into our "new house" in February. What you may not know, however, is that we did not buy this house until yesterday.

At first, I was embarrassed. I didn't want anyone to know that we couldn't buy a house yet. I even blogged and talked with a few friends about it. When we found this house, though, we knew wanted to buy it; we just weren't sure we could make it work. We had worked for the last year to pay off medical bills while they continued to come in... I finished my Master's but wasn't working full time yet. So many things were still holding us back, and I was embarrassed. It took me a long time to accept that we didn't do anything wrong. In fact, we have worked so hard to get exactly where we are today. (We've had some great help along the way, too!) Are there still some hurdles to overcome? Sure. But, that's nothing to be embarrassed about. Someone along the way said, "It's not like you were out wasting your money." True. I could probably fund an entire wing of Lutheran or Riley Hospital, though, and I'm okay with that. Really. I can't complain about doctor bills; those same bills keep my boys, especially Grado, healthy and here.

Still, money was tight, and it wasn't a big secret. Insurance helped, but those of you with medical expenses can understand that they never cover everything, and somehow, all the "major" expenses are the ones covered the least, leaving you to pay the difference. Regardless, we managed and didn't do "without," but we didn't have a house, either.

In February, I blogged about finding this house. It was a quick, easy process. We signed "papers," got the keys, and moved right in within weeks of when we first looked in the windows.

But, we still knew we couldn't afford to buy the house just yet. I knew I would be looking for a new, full-time job, and we needed to finish paying on those last few (large) medical bills... so, you know what the sellers agreed to?

They let us pay rent and wait to buy! These sellers, the people who had this house on the market and who had been through ups and downs with trying to sell this house, let us wait. They knew most of our situation and, despite theirs, they helped us without hesitation or question.

I'm here to tell you:  If it weren't for them, we would not have this house. They gave us the best gift ever this Christmas. Thank you, Pickens family. Thank you. We will be forever grateful for your understanding and support.

And, I could write a book about my in-laws. Sure wouldn't have this house without their help, either. This past year, they've been our "go to" support in so many ways, and we will spend our lives making it up to them. We are forever grateful. Forever.

Another special thanks to our friend, George Raptis; if you're looking for a realtor, call him. I'll spare you the details of how great he is, because you only have to meet him once to decide for yourself. And... we have never met people who worked as hard as Greg and Jathni at Ruoff Mortgage. There's something to be said about working with people locally; they fought for us and did a lot of leg work to get us the best deal. The best part? They took time to understand our past and never made us feel like we were anything less than millionaires. Truly.

So, as of yesterday, December 23, 2014, we are happy homeowners - officially - once again.

Needless to say, this Christmas will be a special one for the Hirsch family.