Settling In

We've been in the new house for 6 days (I'm including Friday....because I can.) and we're STILL in pretty much the same position we were when the boxes were dropped off here. I've only arranged the family room and the boys' bedrooms. We're still looking for things that have been packed, but we're surviving.

Over the weekend we found out that we didn't have any hot water. Our hot water heater was not working. After 3 different men looking at it, and one professional plumber, we figured out that it wasn't getting any power to it. Someone had moved the fuse box to the wrong spot. All is well now.

The boys have been enjoying sleeping in their own rooms, I'm enjoying the non-late-night-brawls.

I'm sitting in the family room watching the little puffs of snow fall into my back yard....BACK YARD. I have one now!! It's really nice.

Unfortunately, since we've moved, both boys have gotten QUITE mouthy and disobedient. I'm beyond frustrated with their attitudes and think that I might just cancel Christmas all together.

We'll get there, right?

But for now, my number one priority has been cleaning up the old place. I know that our landlord is planning on taking out the carpeting and the icky floors, repainting, and generally fixing up the place, but I don't want to leave a huge mess for him. He's done so much for us over the years that I don't want to do that to him. Today I have to clean the kitchen floor, sweep the garage/basement, and then take all the left over stuff to DI. It's overwhelming, but I CAN do it. I have to....we're supposed to be turning in our keys today.

All is Quiet....

So, my last post....yeah, a bit of a lie.

We had a miracle. On Friday, we began running around doing errands for the house (changing the electricity, gas....) when our mortgage lady, Julz, called.

Me: "Hello?"

Julz: "Dawnyel?? I just left you a HUGE rambly message on your home phone. You're funded."

Me: "What!? How did that happen?" (Seriously dancing in my seat and grinning ear-to-ear.)

Julz: "You're funded. You can get the keys...NOW!"

There was other talk (boring, boring, BORING...especially after the happy news...) and she told us that we had to see the title company and it was ours.

We finished our errands and hurried to the title company, signed the extra papers (a few mistakes) and we were done.

We've been moving in since yesterday. It was a HUGE job, but we had TONS of wonderful help. We're actually IN the house right now. I'm sitting in my cold family room with freezing fingers typing right now (darn that draft...) but we're HOME!!!!

Just a few things left to move over, an old apartment to clean and release, and then we can unpack and just BREATHE!!

Signed, Sealed, but not QUITE Delivered....

Today we signed the closing papers on our house. It feels AMAZING to have a house of our own.

BUT, because we didn't sign all of the papers and get them processed before 5:30, we have to wait until Monday before it's "official."

We're just hoping that the owners will allow us to move our belongings into the house before Monday. We have everyone set up to help, and it would be amazing if we could. (It's most likely to happen, but you never know....)

Anyway, we're on the TAIL end of apartment living.....and it feels GREAT!! :)

PANIC!!!

We close on the house in less than a week. We still have a BUNCH of stuff to do ON TOP of the packing. I'm overwhelmed. I can't do it all.

I'm going to suck it up and ask for help. I know there are people who are more than willing to help (I've already had TONS of offers that I've kind of blown off....) I'm taking them up. I need help. I want OUT of this crummy apartment and into my cute little home.

I Think I Forgot To Mention....

...that after a few months in the Primary Presidency....I got released.

I knew it was coming, the current president had been in for 3 years, but I was SO sad to lose such a fun, wonderful, fulfilling calling.

Because the bishopric member knew about the house hunt, he hesitated to extend me a new calling, so as of right now, I'm without a calling. I haven't had THAT privilege since we first moved into this ward....EIGHT years ago.

I am, however, keeping busy. There's a class that has no teacher and while they find one, I'm the "permanent" substitute. I don't mind it at all...I'm just glad to still be in Primary.

And to address the 8 year comment, yes, it's absolutely true. We moved into this apartment when Cam was 3 years old and one month. He'd just started preschool, and I had to wait to put him into the new school district for over a month.

This means that I have EIGHT years of accumulation to go through and purge and pare down. This will NOT be an easy job. BUT I am hopeful that a lot of the boxes I've neglected over the years are easily de-junked and tossed. I can do this....I can do this....I can do this....

We Got the House!!!!

I'm SO beyond thrilled. Honestly, right now I've got perma-grin.

Steve called me with the news, and I asked if they'd counter-offered....they DIDN'T!!

OH MY GOSH!!! I've got a house, and at a SCREAMING deal too!!!

I am just overwhelmed with happiness right now, you have no idea!!

Waiting Stinks

Last night, Steve and I put in another offer on the house that I dreamed about. It took a lot of talk and discussion to get us both on the same page, but we're both there....and anxious.

We wait to hear back with nervousness and anxiety....and giddiness.

I have to admit, I'm BEYOND giddy about this house. I can't wait to hear whether they'll accept our offer or counter-offer.....

Not knowing is SO hard.

House Hunt

We've been looking for a house for MONTHS now. The first day we looked, Steve found the house that he loved. I thought it was nice, but it just didn't FEEL right to me. Then the next week I found a house that I loved, but Steve didn't like.

Then we'd been on the fence for a while. Steve told me that he felt like either house that we picked (of the two we both liked) would be fine. I thought we should still look, and we agreed to not decide anything yet.

Then last week we went looking again. We saw a BUNCH of houses....and none were really speaking to us. Then we visited a house that we BOTH were in awe of. We both really liked it, and both felt really good about it.

That night we put in an offer on that house....and found out there was already another offer.

Today we learned that they went with the other offer.

When I heard that, I was relieved. That night that we signed the papers for the offer, I had a bad feeling and dreamed about my first dream house...the one that I love, but Steve was having a hard time seeing us living in. ALL night I dreamed that we lived there, that we were happy there, that we were content.

I ignored those dreams, and bad feelings, because I didn't want to tell Steve that we'd made a mistake.

I actually prayed that we would be approved for the house that was MEANT to be ours, and if the house we'd put an offer on was wrong that we'd be denied.

I guess I got my answer, didn't I?

I really and truly feel like we need to put in an offer on that other house. I feel at home every time I think about it, drive past it, look at pictures of it....

Now I just have to convince Steve of that....

Update

It's interesting to me that when I complain, my sweet hubby decides it's time to take action.

Last week we decided that it's time for us to find a house of our own. The boys need their own rooms, and we are officially on our own with our rent now (Steve got a raise, and Cam now has supplemental Social Security....) so we decided that it's time. On Tuesday we looked at 3 houses. The first one is one that I fell in love with online, but once we actually SAW it, it was a different story. It was SO teeny. Steve couldn't even stand upright to go down the stairs. I stood at the bottom and the ceiling was grazing my head. Definitely NOT the house for us.

The second house was nice. It's one that someone had fixed up and was trying to flip. The floors were new, new carpet, paint, it was cute, but it didn't have NEARLY the room I was hoping for. Steve fell instantly in love with this second house.

The third house was one of our friends' houses, and while the upstairs was cute and nice, the downstairs needed a LOT of love and attention. It was missing walls and just a mess. I knew it was more than we could do.

That night we went back to see the second house and show Cameron. The boys were SO in love with the backyard and didn't want to leave. I wasn't feeling the same level of love for this house that Steve was, so I was trying to find it's positive features. We told our realtor that we would love to put in an offer on this house, but we'd like to keep looking as well. He thought that was a great idea, so this week we're going to be looking at a few more houses.

I hope we can find something that will work for us, and won't kill us financially. It's a scary/exciting time for our family.