Our First House

We've been looking for a house for almost a year now. Nothing felt just right and we were undecided about what we wanted--fixer-upper, starter home, Riverton (by work), or Sandy (where we are now). I fell in love with an expensive house near where we live now and hoped that the price would drop in the buyer's market. It sold in 2 weeks. Jer fell in love with a house on an acre in Riverton, but there were already two other offers on it. We put in an offer on a serious fixer, short sale in our ward, but it also had another offer and sold. At times we felt like we were too picky--"This house is in our neighborhood, but not our street" or "This one is in the ward but the road is kinda busy." There were times when we thought we'd found something that would work, only to have a strong impression not to buy it. In the fall we decided to take a break and wait till spring. We really had our hearts set on staying in our neighborhood.
Well, a few weeks ago I was just browsing through the listings and saw a house with a large lot (almost an acre, which has been a dream of ours) in a great location (10 minutes from work, same school and temple district--which is oddly important to me--2 minutes from the freeway and stores, in a rural setting, but also part of a neighborhood). So we went to take a look. Immediately I fell in love with the location, but felt really anxious going through the house. We couldn't find any deal-breakers--it was move-in ready, but also had enough future projects to let us put our own touch on it and build some sweat equity. It had plenty of room inside and out that I couldn't imagine we'd ever out grow it.
We agonized over the decision all week and Friday night made an offer. We were hoping the bank would either accept or reject it, but they countered and again we agonized. This time we had a time limit though. We met our Realtor at the house to take another look around and prayed for direction. We just weren't feeling an answer either way. We decided it would be better to just accept the offer instead if countering, since they had met us in the middle. Jeremy looked at me and said, "Should we do it?" I said, " I guess." We both had painful looks on our faces. Our Realtor said, "How did you guys decide to get married?" But that had been an easy decision--this was huge. Jer picked up the pen to sign--I felt like I was having a panic attack--then put it down and stepped back. We went back into the bedroom to talk and decided to just go for it. So we signed. As I drove away, I felt peace.
As the days have passed, we have still gone back and forth. It's hard to leave a place we thought we'd live for a long time and we will mourn the neighborhood and ward and our friends. It's hard to swallow the mortgage payment. It's the top of our price range and we worry about getting in over our heads or being unwise. It feels like a huge commitment and responsibility. It takes faith to move our family and feel like we've made the right decision. We're also excited about the possibilities. I feel like Heavenly Father is supporting us. I'm also overwhelmed that He has blessed us with such an amazing place which seems to be perfect for us (even though it's not on our street). After this experience though, it might be the only house we ever buy!