I haven't posted much to the blog in awhile, and I have to admit, there won't be much posting to come in the near future. I have a lot going on right now and updating the blog isn't even on the radar for the to-do list.
So, what's going on? And why can't I sleep? Where should I start?
We sold the Ferndale house. Yay! And while that is a good thing, the sale has not been an easy one. We agreed to an offer that leaves us with writing a check at closing just to make it happen. Not ideal, but it gets us out of that house and able to move on. Then we got the inspection report, and we had to replace the siding in order to get the appraisal to pass. Another check to write for a house we will no longer own or live in. (Sigh) And we have yet to receive the final appraisal report, so there may still be some things to do. We should find out later today. Please keep your fingers crossed for good news! We are scheduled to close no later than September 17th, and all parties are interested in moving that date up if possible. I'm not sure I will believe it until I sign on the dotted line. There have been so many setbacks in selling this house.
We bought a house in Olympia. Yay! Oh my, I just realized that I haven't yet posted the details. Here is the listing online if you'd like to take a look. We are scheduled to close on this purchase on September 28th. We had the inspection on Saturday and will likely ask for a few repairs or allowances to make the repairs ourselves. Nothing major, but things we are not willing to let go. So now I have a move to coordinate, with belongings coming from our storage unit mostly, but of course we have some things at Ernie's parents' house too. Thankfully, I don't have an entire house to pack!
In the midst of real estate transactions, my mom is having brain surgery. Yikes! She has a benign tumor affecting the hearing center in her brain. She has had trouble with her hearing for years and just recently was able to get a diagnosis. I will accompany her to her pre-operative appointments this week, and will transport her to and from Swedish Medical Center in Seattle next week. After she returns home, she will be very limited in her activities. I am working on coordinating meals and visits for her recovery, and Ernie and I will fill in the gaps. Prayers for a successful surgery and quick recovery are appreciated.
And at work, I'm coming up on a big deadline, with lots left to finish.
So put all of this together and I wake up many nights around 3AM, unable to turn off my brain and go back to sleep. I've made many to-do lists, I've scheduled out everything that I can, but there are just so many variables that I can't plan for. And it's the variables that keep me up at night.
Showing posts with label Moving. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Moving. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Thursday, August 12, 2010
WE SOLD THE HOUSE!!!!!
That's right folks - we have a signed purchase and sale agreement for our Ferndale house! After having it on the market for 17 months and nearly giving up (seriously, we hired a property manager to rent it out) we got an offer, countered, and they accepted our counter-offer! Now we just need to wait for the inspection and appraisal, and then all should be good to close in mid-September. To say we're excited is an extreme understatement. We're so excited we can't come up with words to express it.
Now we get to start searching for our next home in the Olympia area!
Now we get to start searching for our next home in the Olympia area!
Friday, March 12, 2010
What’s New with the House?
Well, I’d much rather this post be titled, “We Sold the House” but that post will have to wait for a bit longer. We have had steady interest in our house – it has shown over 60 times since it went on the market nearly a year ago. According to our realtor, that is a very good number. Unfortunately, none of the interest in looking at the house has turned into an interest in making a realistic offer on the house. We have had one offer that was so low we couldn’t afford to accept it, another verbal offer that was lower than that, and a lease-option offer that was rescinded within 24 hours.
After much thought, deliberation, and prayer, we have decided to hire a contractor to do some sprucing-up at the house. Of all the feedback we’ve received on the house thus far, we have consistently heard that it requires too much work. So, we’ve decided to do some of that work and hope that it’s enough to entice someone to make an offer.
The other story with the house is that we saw a 2000% increase in our electricity bill in January. We went from using 4-6 KWH per day to using 80 KWH per day. Since the house is vacant and we only have a few lights on, we couldn’t figure out why we would be using that much energy. (Ernie came up with a great scenario – that one of our neighbors was using an extension cord plugged into our exterior outlet to run their marijuana growing operation. The real story wasn’t nearly so exciting.) It turns out that when a previous owner replaced the original electric baseboard heat with a natural gas furnace, the wiring wasn’t disconnected properly. We think that someone who looked at the house turned the knobs on the thermostats in the house, kicking on the power. Once the breakers for the electric baseboard heat were flipped off, the power usage has returned to the low normal of 4-6 KWH per day.
Please pray with us that there will be a new post very soon entitled "We Sold the House!"
After much thought, deliberation, and prayer, we have decided to hire a contractor to do some sprucing-up at the house. Of all the feedback we’ve received on the house thus far, we have consistently heard that it requires too much work. So, we’ve decided to do some of that work and hope that it’s enough to entice someone to make an offer.
The other story with the house is that we saw a 2000% increase in our electricity bill in January. We went from using 4-6 KWH per day to using 80 KWH per day. Since the house is vacant and we only have a few lights on, we couldn’t figure out why we would be using that much energy. (Ernie came up with a great scenario – that one of our neighbors was using an extension cord plugged into our exterior outlet to run their marijuana growing operation. The real story wasn’t nearly so exciting.) It turns out that when a previous owner replaced the original electric baseboard heat with a natural gas furnace, the wiring wasn’t disconnected properly. We think that someone who looked at the house turned the knobs on the thermostats in the house, kicking on the power. Once the breakers for the electric baseboard heat were flipped off, the power usage has returned to the low normal of 4-6 KWH per day.
Please pray with us that there will be a new post very soon entitled "We Sold the House!"
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Moving Day
I realized on moving day that the reason I had such a hard time getting started with packing was that I didn’t want to move. I resist change. (Who doesn’t?) But I really didn’t want to leave the house that we thought would be our last house before our kids moved us to the old folks’ home. I didn’t want to leave the amazing friends we have grown to love in our nearly seven years in Whatcom County.
We had a mad scramble to finish packing before the big move. We were lucky enough to have Ernie’s parents come up on Monday to help us pack on Monday and Tuesday. Then they took the girls home with them so that we could have an easier time with the move on Wednesday. When they left we still had plenty to do, and we were up until very late. And even though we still weren’t quite done, Ernie demanded that we go to sleep. We were both very tired and getting stressed and started snapping at each other.
I woke up early and started packing up the last of our things. Ernie woke up with the alarm clock and started helping out. And we worked super-fast to be finished by 9:30am when the movers would arrive. And then we waited….and waited…and waited…until noon when they finally showed up! I guess there was a miscommunication between the gal who helped us set up our move and the dispatch gal. Oh well. Too bad that all of our stuff was packed up and we were a bit bored!
And yes, you read that right, we hired movers. Totally worth every penny! Three guys showed up with a semi trailer (we didn’t fill it – we don’t have THAT much stuff!). It really was wonderful to sit back and relax and watch other people work so hard to move us. We had a little drama with one of the movers. Apparently it was his third day on the job and he decided part-way through the move that he wanted to quit. Mind you, the crew we hired came up from Olympia, so he was three hours from home and wanted to quit. He thought he could just hang out in the truck and wait for the other two guys to finish up. He was told that if he was no longer an employee, he was not allowed to be on the truck. He was basically stranded in Ferndale if he really wanted to quit. After a break and a cigarette, he decided he might as well finish the job. Whew! The crew finished up about 5pm and then we packed up our cars and headed out.
I met up with the movers at our storage unit on Thursday morning to unload the truck. I was there with Ernie’s dad’s SUV to load up some stuff that we wanted to have at their house that didn’t make it in our cars.
Since then we’ve settled in at Ernie’s parents’ house. We are so grateful for their hospitality. It has been a bit of an adjustment – sharing space, figuring out who cooks when, who does laundry when, etc. We enjoy spending time with Ernie’s parents and hope they don’t mind us too much. Sophia loves living at Nana & Papa’s house. Kaitlyn doesn’t notice the difference – except when Sophia wakes her up (they share a room now). We brought Milo with us and he has settled in as well. He has made friends with one cat (Thomas), enemies with another (Tigger) and the third is indifferent (Tucker).
We had a mad scramble to finish packing before the big move. We were lucky enough to have Ernie’s parents come up on Monday to help us pack on Monday and Tuesday. Then they took the girls home with them so that we could have an easier time with the move on Wednesday. When they left we still had plenty to do, and we were up until very late. And even though we still weren’t quite done, Ernie demanded that we go to sleep. We were both very tired and getting stressed and started snapping at each other.
I woke up early and started packing up the last of our things. Ernie woke up with the alarm clock and started helping out. And we worked super-fast to be finished by 9:30am when the movers would arrive. And then we waited….and waited…and waited…until noon when they finally showed up! I guess there was a miscommunication between the gal who helped us set up our move and the dispatch gal. Oh well. Too bad that all of our stuff was packed up and we were a bit bored!
And yes, you read that right, we hired movers. Totally worth every penny! Three guys showed up with a semi trailer (we didn’t fill it – we don’t have THAT much stuff!). It really was wonderful to sit back and relax and watch other people work so hard to move us. We had a little drama with one of the movers. Apparently it was his third day on the job and he decided part-way through the move that he wanted to quit. Mind you, the crew we hired came up from Olympia, so he was three hours from home and wanted to quit. He thought he could just hang out in the truck and wait for the other two guys to finish up. He was told that if he was no longer an employee, he was not allowed to be on the truck. He was basically stranded in Ferndale if he really wanted to quit. After a break and a cigarette, he decided he might as well finish the job. Whew! The crew finished up about 5pm and then we packed up our cars and headed out.
I met up with the movers at our storage unit on Thursday morning to unload the truck. I was there with Ernie’s dad’s SUV to load up some stuff that we wanted to have at their house that didn’t make it in our cars.
Since then we’ve settled in at Ernie’s parents’ house. We are so grateful for their hospitality. It has been a bit of an adjustment – sharing space, figuring out who cooks when, who does laundry when, etc. We enjoy spending time with Ernie’s parents and hope they don’t mind us too much. Sophia loves living at Nana & Papa’s house. Kaitlyn doesn’t notice the difference – except when Sophia wakes her up (they share a room now). We brought Milo with us and he has settled in as well. He has made friends with one cat (Thomas), enemies with another (Tigger) and the third is indifferent (Tucker).
Friday, August 7, 2009
Needing Peace
I'm sure that you all are thinking that with two young kids I would need peace and quiet. However, as I write this post I have two young kids asleep and Ernie is gone to a movie with a friend. No, the kind of peace I need is peace of mind.
We have had the house on the market for nearly five months now, with not a single offer. Heck, we haven't even had a hint of an offer. To say I am getting discouraged is an understatement.
No matter when we sell the house, I go back to work in the Tacoma office on September 1st. For those who are unfamiliar with the geography of western Washington, Ferndale (where our house is) is too far from Tacoma (where my job is) to commute. It is a two-hour drive one-way, on a good day with no traffic.
We are lucky that Ernie's parents live relatively close to my job in Tacoma, and have offered us the opportunity to move in with them until our house sells. We are extremely grateful for their hospitality so that we do not have to worry about paying rent in addition to our mortgage. (Of course, it's not all selfless on their part - they get to have their granddaughters move in with them too.)
And while Ernie's parents have a big house, it is not big enough to absorb all of our belongings. I am working on packing up everything so that it can be moved into a storage unit, until our house sells and we find a new home in the Olympia area to move to. Good thing I like an organizational challenge, since some of our things are going into storage, some of our things are going to Ernie's parents' house, and the rest of our things are being thrown out or donated to charity. I just hope that I don't get things confused and sent to the wrong place!
In addition to packing, we have other things related to the move to figure out. Foremost in my mind is what to do with our cat, Milo. Ernie's parents already have three cats at their house, and while they graciously offered to let us bring Milo with us, I don't think that's a good idea for Milo or their cats. And while Ernie and I love Milo, I think Sophia would be most devastated if we have to get rid of him. And if we do leave him behind, who do we leave him with? Permanently or just until we settle into a new home in Olympia?
And as if moving wasn't enough stress with more questions than answers, Ernie still has not found a permanent teaching job. On one hand, that could be a good thing. He can substitute teach and figure out which districts he would want to work for, and possibly which he doesn't want to work for. On the other hand, it sure would be a whole lot easier, financially, if he brought home a consistent paycheck.
The super-difficult part for me is that I am starting to doubt if moving to the Olympia area was a good decision. Ernie and I felt that God was pushing us in that direction, but as we get closer to the reality of it, with so many big issues (let alone details) left to iron out, I wonder if we misunderstood God's message to us. I have been having a really tough time with it lately. I have been having trouble sleeping. Which has left me in a bad mood and feeling like a bit of a basket case. Please pray for me as I deal with my doubt and impatience, please pray for Ernie as he is left to deal with a cranky and crazy wife, please pray for Sophia as she has to deal with an abundance of changes in her life (she was worried when she saw me put the waffle iron in a box - I am SO not looking forward to packing up her stuff), and please pray for our situation and for all of the pieces of the puzzle to come together.
We have had the house on the market for nearly five months now, with not a single offer. Heck, we haven't even had a hint of an offer. To say I am getting discouraged is an understatement.
No matter when we sell the house, I go back to work in the Tacoma office on September 1st. For those who are unfamiliar with the geography of western Washington, Ferndale (where our house is) is too far from Tacoma (where my job is) to commute. It is a two-hour drive one-way, on a good day with no traffic.
We are lucky that Ernie's parents live relatively close to my job in Tacoma, and have offered us the opportunity to move in with them until our house sells. We are extremely grateful for their hospitality so that we do not have to worry about paying rent in addition to our mortgage. (Of course, it's not all selfless on their part - they get to have their granddaughters move in with them too.)
And while Ernie's parents have a big house, it is not big enough to absorb all of our belongings. I am working on packing up everything so that it can be moved into a storage unit, until our house sells and we find a new home in the Olympia area to move to. Good thing I like an organizational challenge, since some of our things are going into storage, some of our things are going to Ernie's parents' house, and the rest of our things are being thrown out or donated to charity. I just hope that I don't get things confused and sent to the wrong place!
In addition to packing, we have other things related to the move to figure out. Foremost in my mind is what to do with our cat, Milo. Ernie's parents already have three cats at their house, and while they graciously offered to let us bring Milo with us, I don't think that's a good idea for Milo or their cats. And while Ernie and I love Milo, I think Sophia would be most devastated if we have to get rid of him. And if we do leave him behind, who do we leave him with? Permanently or just until we settle into a new home in Olympia?
And as if moving wasn't enough stress with more questions than answers, Ernie still has not found a permanent teaching job. On one hand, that could be a good thing. He can substitute teach and figure out which districts he would want to work for, and possibly which he doesn't want to work for. On the other hand, it sure would be a whole lot easier, financially, if he brought home a consistent paycheck.
The super-difficult part for me is that I am starting to doubt if moving to the Olympia area was a good decision. Ernie and I felt that God was pushing us in that direction, but as we get closer to the reality of it, with so many big issues (let alone details) left to iron out, I wonder if we misunderstood God's message to us. I have been having a really tough time with it lately. I have been having trouble sleeping. Which has left me in a bad mood and feeling like a bit of a basket case. Please pray for me as I deal with my doubt and impatience, please pray for Ernie as he is left to deal with a cranky and crazy wife, please pray for Sophia as she has to deal with an abundance of changes in her life (she was worried when she saw me put the waffle iron in a box - I am SO not looking forward to packing up her stuff), and please pray for our situation and for all of the pieces of the puzzle to come together.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Just Three Weeks Left!
Do you have a yearning desire to organize and pack boxes? Well have I got a deal for you! We have just three weeks until we move! Oh my goodness! It hit me last night how little time we have left before we move, and I must start cracking! And packing! So if any of my loyal blog readers out there are just itching to pack some boxes, please let me know. I will be happy to put you to work!
Our house is still on the market. So, the plan as of now is to move most everything into storage. Ernie's parents, saints that they are, have graciously invited us to move in with them until the house sells. We will be taking a minimal amount of stuff with us to their house.
I am lucky and grateful to have a wonderful husband who jumps in and takes care of everything else needed around the house (childcare, housework, cooking, errands, etc) so that I can focus on packing and organizing for the move. Now if he could just find me a few more hours in the day...
Our house is still on the market. So, the plan as of now is to move most everything into storage. Ernie's parents, saints that they are, have graciously invited us to move in with them until the house sells. We will be taking a minimal amount of stuff with us to their house.
I am lucky and grateful to have a wonderful husband who jumps in and takes care of everything else needed around the house (childcare, housework, cooking, errands, etc) so that I can focus on packing and organizing for the move. Now if he could just find me a few more hours in the day...
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Life is Crazy!
I apologize to you, my faithful readers, that I have been so absent from the blog lately. I promise that a posting-palooza is on the way soon. I just need a moment to catch my breath!
I had my last day of work in the Bellingham office on March 31st. I took April 1st off to pack and travel to Chehalis where I'll be staying with Ernie's parents for the next two months. Then today I started working in the Tacoma office, an hour's drive from Chehalis.
I have been very busy the last few weeks preparing for this transition. I have a crazy couple of months ahead of me, definitely. I know it sounds crazy, but I actually think that after baby #2 is born in June, life will settle down. Ernie will be done with school for the summer, and I will be home on maternity leave for the summer. It will be nice to have the whole family under one roof again. In the meantime, I'm taking things one day at a time and trying not to think too far ahead - otherwise I'll go nuts!
I had my last day of work in the Bellingham office on March 31st. I took April 1st off to pack and travel to Chehalis where I'll be staying with Ernie's parents for the next two months. Then today I started working in the Tacoma office, an hour's drive from Chehalis.
I have been very busy the last few weeks preparing for this transition. I have a crazy couple of months ahead of me, definitely. I know it sounds crazy, but I actually think that after baby #2 is born in June, life will settle down. Ernie will be done with school for the summer, and I will be home on maternity leave for the summer. It will be nice to have the whole family under one roof again. In the meantime, I'm taking things one day at a time and trying not to think too far ahead - otherwise I'll go nuts!
Monday, March 16, 2009
We’re Moving?
That’s right, we’re moving. I alluded to this possibility in an earlier post, and now it is official. So, here’s the scoop…
Ernie decided it was time to leave his position in Oak Harbor, with my full support. He has been unhappy there for a number of reasons. We decided it wasn’t worth the grief anymore. We thought about options for another teaching job in our area, and decided that the possibility would be slim that a job would even be open for next year. We decided that we needed to widen our search area. Then we remembered that Ernie’s dad says so often that special ed teaching positions often go unfilled in his area. So we thought maybe it was time to move south.
Also, there are more opportunities for me to advance with my job in the Olympia area, so we decided that would be a good place to be. Ernie will have a large radius of school districts to apply to (or to sub for if a permanent position can’t be found).
It turned out that there was a position open in the Tacoma office, to work for the manager who trained me originally. I decided to jump at the opportunity. Unfortunately, I will have to start working in that office sooner than we expected. I start in Tacoma on April 1st. So, while Ernie stays at home and finishes the school year, I will be traveling between home and Tacoma for the months of April and May. Ernie’s parents have graciously offered to let me stay with them during the week. I’ll be working 4-10 hour days, and coming home on weekends.
Also during that time we will be trying to sell our house. Our house went on the market today. We have been busy the last few weeks getting it ready to show. Now we just need people to show it to (and for one of them to fall in love with it and buy it). So, if you know of anyone who is interested in a 4 bedroom, 2 bath house in Ferndale, please let us know.
Then in June I will return home to have baby #2. We will all have the summer off together. Then in late summer we will make the move to the Olympia area.
We are praying that Ernie will be able to find a permanent teaching job in the greater Olympia area. We are praying that our house will sell in time to buy another home in the Olympia area that we can move right into. However, if neither of those prayers are answered in the affirmative, we are grateful that Ernie’s parents have offered to have us move in with them (are they saints, or what?), that Ernie will be able to substitute, and that I have a job we can be secure in.
While our lives are definitely in upheaval right now, we have a real sense of peace that we are following God’s plan. Looking back we can see times when God has tried to nudge us in this direction and we just didn’t listen. Well, now He is shoving us in this direction! We are excited for new opportunities, scared because we don’t know what the future holds for us, and sad to leave our comfort zone and many good friends. All of these changes are really uncharacteristic for us, and we are leaning on God to light the path for us. Please pray with us as we make so many transitions in so little time!
Ernie decided it was time to leave his position in Oak Harbor, with my full support. He has been unhappy there for a number of reasons. We decided it wasn’t worth the grief anymore. We thought about options for another teaching job in our area, and decided that the possibility would be slim that a job would even be open for next year. We decided that we needed to widen our search area. Then we remembered that Ernie’s dad says so often that special ed teaching positions often go unfilled in his area. So we thought maybe it was time to move south.
Also, there are more opportunities for me to advance with my job in the Olympia area, so we decided that would be a good place to be. Ernie will have a large radius of school districts to apply to (or to sub for if a permanent position can’t be found).
It turned out that there was a position open in the Tacoma office, to work for the manager who trained me originally. I decided to jump at the opportunity. Unfortunately, I will have to start working in that office sooner than we expected. I start in Tacoma on April 1st. So, while Ernie stays at home and finishes the school year, I will be traveling between home and Tacoma for the months of April and May. Ernie’s parents have graciously offered to let me stay with them during the week. I’ll be working 4-10 hour days, and coming home on weekends.
Also during that time we will be trying to sell our house. Our house went on the market today. We have been busy the last few weeks getting it ready to show. Now we just need people to show it to (and for one of them to fall in love with it and buy it). So, if you know of anyone who is interested in a 4 bedroom, 2 bath house in Ferndale, please let us know.
Then in June I will return home to have baby #2. We will all have the summer off together. Then in late summer we will make the move to the Olympia area.
We are praying that Ernie will be able to find a permanent teaching job in the greater Olympia area. We are praying that our house will sell in time to buy another home in the Olympia area that we can move right into. However, if neither of those prayers are answered in the affirmative, we are grateful that Ernie’s parents have offered to have us move in with them (are they saints, or what?), that Ernie will be able to substitute, and that I have a job we can be secure in.
While our lives are definitely in upheaval right now, we have a real sense of peace that we are following God’s plan. Looking back we can see times when God has tried to nudge us in this direction and we just didn’t listen. Well, now He is shoving us in this direction! We are excited for new opportunities, scared because we don’t know what the future holds for us, and sad to leave our comfort zone and many good friends. All of these changes are really uncharacteristic for us, and we are leaning on God to light the path for us. Please pray with us as we make so many transitions in so little time!
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