We Did a Thing.

After about four hours of sound sleep and my first cup of coffee, I dragged myself to the shower. Although I was physically exhausted, my mind was racing with excitement and my gut tied up with anxiety.

Since the forecast called for rain and wind, for the second Monday in a row the gals had planned a shopping day. This coincided nicely with the meeting Tom and I had scheduled for 9:30 in Walker. As I sipped on my sugar-free Almond Joy Mocha with the noise of the coffee shop in the background, we hashed out the details of our offer with Brian, our realtor. We signed and initialed page after page, while he explained how the process would work. He said we would probably get an answer before the end of the day.

Tom then headed back to the cabin while I waited for Maddie and Chloe to join me in Walker. While waiting, I sat outside of the Village Square Cafe reading a book. Since we hadn’t told our cousins about the potential cabin purchase, I decided to call Deb and share the news of our offer. (Around the same time back at Birch Villa, Tom was telling Roy, Paul, & Melissa about our prospective new home.) While talking to Deb I noticed a few large raindrops on the table and within seconds it started pouring down rain! I ran for cover under one of the awnings while we chatted some more.

Love from above. Could it be a sign?

Eventually, Maddie and Chloe joined me in Walker and we browsed the shops. Many of them are filled with “Cabin decor”, i.e. pillows, signs, quilts, candles, etc. that would be out of place in our home in Michigan. For the first time, I could imagine decorating “my lake cabin” with these lovely items. Still, I had to stop myself. I did not want to end up disappointed if we lost the cabin. Since there were multiple offers coming through, I knew this was a real possibility.

The three of us moved on to Park Rapids where we were able to check out several of the stores that had been closed the week before. We bought some yarn at Ben Franklin for knitting or crocheting wash cloths, and the girls bought some fabric for making pillows and scrunchies. Throughout the day, I found myself checking my phone, just to be sure I hadn’t missed a call from Brian.

Later in the afternoon, the guys (Tom, Jared, Seth, & Ollie) left the resort to meet us for supper at Zorbaz. They stopped at Portage Brewing Co. in Walker to sample some of the local brews on their way. As Chloe drove the three of us from Park Rapids toward Zorbaz, I pulled out my phone again.

No messages. I had barely started a game of Wordle when an email notification from Brian popped up on my screen. I opened it and saw: Your signature is requested. I started shaking with excitement as I opened the email and began reading. It appeared to be an acceptance of our offer! I was just beginning to process it when my phone started buzzing in my hand with the call from Brian.

“Hello?” I said, trying to remain composed.

“That was quick!” he said. “You got the cabin!”

The rest of the conversation was a blur, and as I repeated “thank you, thank you!” Maddie was furiously texting the guys to let them know something was exciting was going down! We arrived at Zorbaz and I couldn’t get to Tom soon enough. Dodging the other customers and tables, I spotted him and the boys in the back of the room. As we embraced, I said, “We got it!”

And that’s how we ended up owning the cabin of our dreams, nestled in the pines, on the shores of Lake George in Minnesota.

(Our happy family at Zorbaz: Seth, Ollie & Maddie. Tom, Ollie, me, Chloe & Jared. Leah missed out as she was already home, but she was happy to hear our news!)