Speak It Into Existence

One of my favorite memories from when Brandon and I were dating and engaged was driving around, eating Blizzards from Diary Queen, and dreaming. We would dream out loud with each other for hours and hours. We would say all of the things we want, all of the things we want to do, all of the things we want to be. 

At some point, we stopped. At some point, it’s like we accepted some reality of our lives and ourselves and we stopped dreaming. Or we at least stopped saying it out loud.

When we started looking at North Carolina as a place we want to be some day, all of that changed. It’s like we had new life breathed into us. If we were going to make this major change, we wanted to make sure we ended up with what we wanted, able to do the things we want to do, to become the people we want to be.

It seems unbelievable some of the things on our list. I think there was even a time I said something like, “this doesn’t actually exist.”

Brandon has always dreamed of owning a historic house. We know this can come with its own challenges, but for as long as I have known him, he has been drawn to old historic houses in old historic towns. But on this North Carolina list, he also added that he wanted mountain views. And a creek in the backyard. That’s right, a historic house on a historic street in a historic town, but with mountain views and a creek. The only time I have seen homes with really good mountain views was on our vacations. We would be five minutes up a mountain on a one-lane road to a cabin with a yard that is completely sloped on one side. I made it very clear, he could have his mountain views but no way was I living on the side of a mountain.

Which leads me to my wish list. While Brandon could picture in his mind exactly what he wanted, I at least knew I wasn’t winding up a mountain to go home everyday. I also knew I didn’t want to be isolated. While the best mountain views might be far out of town, I knew I needed people, neighbors, community. I told him we didn’t have to live right in the middle of everything, but I couldn’t be so far I felt disconnected. One day I said, “I want to be where I can tell people I meet, ‘We are the white house just as you leave town,’” and they would know where I am talking about.

We talked and talked about these things. We prayed about it and we could see it. 

Turns out, this place does exist and we were led straight to it!

Photo Credit: Historic Webster, NC

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