I can't believe it's only been three weeks since we left our home on Lookout Mountain, Georgia to move to the North Carolina coast. It seems like months ago! Hotel life and house-hunting aren't as much fun as one might think. We're very stressed living in such tight quarters. I've had several migraines, my face has broken out like a teenager, and we're both putting on weight since we're not exercising as much or eating as healthfully as we normally would.
We're living in this extended stay hotel because the AirBnb apartment we wanted to stay in was all booked up. This turned out to be a great blessing since the AirBnb was located in an area that flooded during hurricane Florence. And the city of New Bern, where we want to find a home, was one of the hardest hit by the storm.
Here at the hotel, an hour northwest of New Bern, we only experienced a few days of rain and never lost power or internet service. The storm made it difficult to go house-hunting, though. On the bright side, it's made it easier to determine whether houses are in flood zones and whether they are structurally sound.
So far we've looked at six houses around the New Bern area including this old 11,000 sq ft schoolhouse we thought could be remodeled into rental units.
Sadly, it has been neglected for so long that we simply can't afford to give it the love it needs.
We also skipped over the border into Virginia and looked at two homes there. The rolling hills, farms, green marshes, and coastline in southeastern Virginia reminded us so much of where we grew up. It was a breath of fresh air! But we also felt a little homesick, even though we know we don't want to go back to New England winters.
We looked at this old farmhouse on 16 acres and it pulls at our heartstrings. While it suits our art & yoga retreat plans to a tee, it too needs a lot of TLC. We haven't ruled it out entirely, but we're concerned that it may prove to be too much for our budget.
And so our search continues. When we put our house on Lookout Mountain up for sale my prayer has been that we find the right house in the right place for the right price at the right time. We make our plans, but God has His own. As stressful as this time is with tight quarters, migraines, sleepless nights, and money draining away, we didn't have to evacuate and didn't lose our house and belongings to a hurricane. For that, we are immensely grateful. I have faith that God is with us.
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