Over the summer we found out that we are getting stationed at Langley AFB, our first pick for where we were desiring for the Air Force to send us next. As much as we adore our community and home here in Mississippi, we really really craved being closer than 12-17 hours away from family. Especially considering the really wild and tough year we’ve had.

As soon as we got the word that we were “most likely” headed to Langley, Stephen and I could be found on Zillow far too often throughout the day. The timing with these moves/purchasing homes can often be a bit tricky. With this one in particular, we knew that we wouldn’t be moving until February (roughly six weeks after the newest Tupta Tot arrives) but we also knew that the housing market is insane in Virginia and that we most likely weren’t going to be able to house hunt in person. That doesn’t bother us a ton if at all, quite frankly. It’s 2023! Technology is awesome, you can FaceTime to walk through homes, and inspections are so thorough. That has never been a huge deal for us (we’ve purchased multiple homes at this point that way!). Along with that, because of the crazy market and how fast homes are moving, it was so unlikely that we were going to be able to find a home on the market that we loved in the short amount of time during a visit up there. Oh and don’t forget the fact that the trip up there isn’t cheap, time or money wise. I say all of this just to point out that yes, it is possible to buy a home site unseen that doesn’t suck. Is it better in person? Sure. The key though is to have a kick butt realtor.

That leads me to Heather Moseley. If you’re looking to buy in the Langley AFB/Chesapeake area, Tyndall AFB area, or even Texas for that matter, Heather is the absolute best! She is a former Air Force spouse as well and lived in both of those areas for many years so she is a wealth of knowledge. She also is very straight forward and doesn’t beat around the bush in terms of what she recommends doing with homes or offers… Something Stephen and I really value, especially since we were doing this site unseen. Like I mentioned the housing market is wild there and so quick communication and research was really important. She always was on top of it and was very prompt. We also love that about her!

We ended up seriously considering or putting offers in on I think six houses? I honestly lost count. It can always be a bit of an annoying process buying a house but we knew the entire time that the Lord was going to provide us with the home that He wanted our family to live, learn, and grow together in the next chunk of years. As time was ticking down towards baby, we were starting to feel a bit worn out receiving disappointment after disappointment so Stephen and I decided to pray a surrender novena together. Like I said, we knew the Lord would provide but the enemy works hard to try to steal that assurance, you know? So anyway, to keep our gaze set on Jesus and the knowing that He will provide for us, for nine days in a row we prayed together ten times, “Jesus, I surrender myself to you. Take care of everything.” The point isn’t to get hung up on the numbers (it is written out for you HERE or we used the Hallow app to guide us!). The point is to set your sight on Jesus and leave your worries at the foot of the Cross.

On day 8 of the novena, Heather sent us the Zillow listing for what would be our new home. My best friend, who will be living 10 minutes down the road from us, had actually sent it to me a few weeks before but I knew it was out of our budget so I didn’t let myself consider it much. Sure enough Heather had caught it right as it had dropped $25k in price, putting it in our budget range. We had a walk-through scheduled for the next day.

I don’t want to sound dramatic and say that it was love at first sight but I will say that we loved it at first FaceTime. I told Stephen that had it been 1960, I would’ve been friends with the sweet lady that decorated that home. Come to find out, it was indeed the doing of the original owners! The lady that built and lived there with her husband and family all those years is who sold it to us. She lost her husband a year ago and was just recently placed in assisted living. She was so thrilled to know that a family was purchasing it from her. It makes me tear up to think about it.

We knew we loved the house but what really sealed the deal for us was when we found out that all of the carpeting upstairs was covering hardwood floors. Considering we had recently gotten a quote on another house to install hardwoods for FIFTY-SIX THOUSAND DOLLARS, I said, “Alright, where do I sign?” The previous owner said that as her kids got older, they wanted carpet and they let each kid pick out their own for their room. Thus explaining the wide variety… I love thinking about that memory for them though. How many times do we do something like that for our kids that will seem wild 40-50 years from now? Now it doesn’t seem so crazy does it?! We weren’t able to be present for the closing but we were able to squeeze in a quick trip up the week after to start ripping up carpet before we move in with a newborn (plus two other littles). The house was even better in person while the carpet was… Even more intense. Without further ado, welcome to our new home!

The playroom/school room and the dining room. We’re going to keep the wallpaper in here!

The entryway and living room:

The kitchen (I’ll have to take a more detailed photo once we move there of the cow wallpaper!) and the upstairs hallway:

We’re SO excited for this area! It’ll be our office/craft room/sewing room/hide the Christmas presents room/etc. We look forward to having that all in one big place and I think design wise it could be so fun in here!

The powder bath and laundry room:

Are you ready for these funky bedrooms? Here we gooooo! These will be the kid’s bedrooms and guest bedroom:

Here is the kid’s bathroom/guest bathroom. I get the most excited comments about this room from friends/family that see photos of the house!

The primary bedroom and bathroom:

We’re going to have a lot of fun working on this house and really leaning into the colonial style. You can view my Langley Home Pinterest Board to get a good idea of what we’re thinking! We’re not going to stray away from color or…. WALLPAPER! It’s going to be so fun. It actually already looks really different than from when I took these photos. We’re excited to move there and slowly but surely make it our own and I look forward to bringing you along!