And Now It Really Feels Like We Are Homeowners Again:)

It has been so nice calling our property manager if absolutely anything goes wrong with our rental these past 3 years. I liked that aspect of renting:) And I admit it was really easy to get used to. Since we have been here the water heater, stove, dishwasher and fridge have all broken. All it took from us was a simple phone call and these big ticket items were replaced within days. We've also had many leaks and smaller things need fixed--again, all it took was an easy peasy phone call and all was right again.

We owned our Dover house for 12 years so I did know what responsibility was in store for us in this new house. I just didn't expect problems to arise quite this soon:)

The old owners were so kind as to leave us an extra fridge in the garage. The only problem is that we DON'T want that extra fridge. It has got to be the nastiest fridge I have ever seen. It doesn't look like it's been cleaned in over 30 years. We told these people that we didn't want their disgusting fridge and to take it out before closing...but it's still there:( Now we have to figure out what to do with it.

We also have to figure out what to do with all of the cans of paint that they left behind. Usually I'm all about paint!! I love me some color:) But this paint is all completely dried out. I have 20 cans of useless paint that I don't *think* I'm supposed to throw out with the regular trash. I need to look into that as soon as I get a free minute. Google is my friend.

Andy is trying to change the locks out and they are giving him a really hard time!!  We are nervous having our stuff over there as it is. No way are we going to be spending any nights in that house until those locks are changed. You never know who might have a key. Our realtor seems to think that our house was possibly even a rental in the not so distant past. There could be keys to our house floating all over the city. Wish I could call the property manager to come and fix this!!

And then another biggie. The house has a water filter system that feeds into a tiny faucet attached to the sink. It was unplugged when we went through the house. We asked them to hook it back up as part of our report to remedy conditions. And they did hook it back up. I think we figured out exactly why it was *un*hooked up in the first place:( Isaac treid to use it and it ended up flooding the kitchen. Yeah...it's unhooked again!! So now we've got to add this to our ever growing list of things to figure out/do:) Fun stuff right here!!

I'm still glad we are homeowners again though:) Even though I may miss having a built in fix it man:)

And the week goes on and on...

I am so worn out. It is hard enough just keeping up with our regular Summer baseball schedule. Add in VBS and a big move and it all equals up to utter exhaustion:)

Yesterday we moved a ton of stuff to the new house. Too much stuff really. I was very adamant that I didn't want to move stuff that we were never going to use again. You know, the stuff that should really be purged!! Turns out Andy got antsy--which I KNEW  would happen--and started just throwing crap in boxes and transferring it all over to the new house:)No rhyme or reason. Not organized in any way.  Oh well...I'll have to just purge once I start unpacking over there I guess. My plan was to only take the things we wanted and to unpack AS we moved boxes in. You know,  so that it wouldn't all get completely overwhelming for me? Because you KNOW I'm gonna be unpacking those boxes on my own:) I wanted to have the majority unpacked and THEN move in and set up furniture. Sounded easy peasy!! Best laid plans and all that I guess:) Such is life!

I still haven't gotten Maia's new room painted. Or the bedroom carpets scrubbed. Or the dining room table and chairs or Maia's bedroom set painted either. Time is closing in on me:) My goal was to get these things done before we actually moved in but I doubt that's going to happen. I always seem to have the very best intentions but actually being able to follow through most of the time is difficult:)

The kids have VBS this week. Their theme is "In It to Win It". Our church is very missions based. We have a strong connection with Lifeline Christian Mission, therefore, a lot of our missions tie in with them. The older kids at VBS are making pillowcase dresses to send to the Christian children's home of Ohio. They are also having a car wash and making/selling pizzas in addition to asking for specific items to be donated. Somehow I have a hard time picturing Isaac sewing, but he did proudly show me the yellow dress he had made yesterday:) I'm not quite sure how much of it he actually sewed:)

And, this has nothing to do with VBS but with Lifeline instead. Maia was involved in Upward basketball last Winter. At the end of the season they have a big mission with the goal to buy bricks for houses to be built in Haiti. The church has been doing this for quite awhile now. It's interesting to me that ALL of the house that Lifeline has built in Haiti, are STILL STANDING, even after Haiti's devastating earthquake. Most of the buildings around them are complete rubble, but the "houses that God built" are still there:) Awesome right?!?!?! I think so:)

So, I have to get our rental house spotless by this evening. That's my big goal for today. Get this house clean and ready to be shown. Our property manager is bringing a potential renter through later tonight. I am NO WHERE near ready:) I thought I would be able to work diligently on this task while the kids were at VBS this morning. You know, so I could focus without interruptions. Only Asher foiled that plan:) The poor guy is having some nasty reactions to the new carpet in the new house:( I can totally feel his pain because I'm having the same reactions:( I knew he was feeling really yucky when he told me needed to stay home from VBS. He LOVES VBS. That kid wouldn't miss it unless he was truly feeling awful. So my morning of no interruptions? Didn't happen. Asher is my most interruptiest kid:) Like my new word? But yeah, he is by far my neediest child:) So instead of cleaning, I have been hanging with him. Which has been kind of nice:) Until I start thinking about my looming deadline of course!! The I get quite panicky:) It always works out in the end though so I'm really not THAT worried.

In other news Isaac had a ball game last night. I wasn't supposed to be able to go because it was Maia's piano night but her teacher called last minute to tell us she couldn't come. I guess her husband was in the emergency room:( She sounded tired and teary and I'm honestly worried for them:(  I did get to go to Isaac's game though and I'm so glad about that:) Our team seems to have an every other game pattern. Win one, lose on, rinse, lather, repeat. Last night was our turn to lose:) The game started out awful. The other team scored many many runs in the first inning!! Things were looking bad and Isaac was very discouraged. I had a pep talk with him and we talked about being a good sport and a good team player. His team, even though they lost, ended up playing a GREAT game!! Those boys rallied and made a comeback:) We got to witness some amazing plays. One poor player, in the outfield, caught a pop up with his BARE hand!! Ouch:) Another boy literally ate the dirt during a slide!! And Isaac? He made an amazing play at 3rd base. Plus he had a nice hit where he made it to 1st. Then he stole not just 2nd base, but 3rd base and home as well!! All on his own:)And his slides were AMAZING. Isaac has always been a slider though:) Probably why we are already on his 2nd pair of baseball pants this season! It was definitely a fun game!! And so exciting!! We only lost because one of our poor players decided to steal 2nd. It was not a good choice:( He was tagged out and that ended our inning. I feel so bad for that poor boy because he felt AWFUL. He was so angry at himself. Our coaches and the other boys really tried to lift him up though. It was a GREAT lesson in sportsmanship:)

I should probably go work now!!

First Dinner in our New Home

This has been a pretty busy weekend for us. Lots of baseball games to make up AND moving boxes to transfer over to the new house. Our plan is to move a few boxes, and whatever else will fit into our van, throughout the week. We are trying to unpack as we go. Hopefully we can get a lot of stuff done this week, so that when it's time to move furniture, all we will have to do is set it up:) Of course things always work out way better in my head than they do in real life!! I also envision getting some painting done and the bedroom carpets scrubbed:)

So our unpacking efforts coincided with one of Isaac's ball games. Since we were running super low on time we decided to order, what else other than pizza of course, to be delivered to the new house before the game.

Like our new dining room table and chairs? We got a great deal at Home Depot!!

So there ya have it. Our first meal in our new home was an old stand by:)

 See all those boxes behind the kids? They are FILLED with old VHS tapes and books that no one in their right mind could possibly want. Andy kindly moved ALL that crap over. After I specifically told him that I wanted him to GET RID of stuff that he will never use again. I told him the same exact thing before we moved to Dublin in the first place. He didn't listen then and he's not going to listen now either I guess. The thing is, is that he just keeps moving the same old boxes from place to place but he really has no INTENTION of ever using anything inside those boxes again. I don't think he has even so much as peeked inside those boxes in over 3 years.  I don't know if he forgets that we have zero storage space or what. Over the last couple of years those specific boxes have become my nemesis!

Andy met one set of our new neighbors last night. He said that they seemed very nice. I guess the husband has done a lot of the remodeling work on our house so he knows it pretty well. That's always a good thing in case we ever have any questions. The best thing Andy found out though, is that the BMW that has been parked in their driveway, right behind our basketball hoop, is not their's:) Which means that it will only be parked there for a short period of time. Thus allowing Maia to actually use the basketball hoop without fear of ruining a very expensive car!! We basically told her that as long as that car sat there she could forget about even looking at that hoop...let alone ever actually tossing a ball in it's general direction!

More good news is that we spied, with our stinky eye as Asher would say, a lot of families walking down our street. It looked like they were all enjoying the nice weather!! Looks like even though the neighbors on either side of us are older, there are lots of families in close proximity. I'm hoping Maia finds a friend close by.

Must get back to work now:) I will be back later to share the color Maia picked out for her bedroom!! 

We Are Officially Homeowners Again

After a long, stressful month...we are finally done:) We went to the title office and signed a million and one papers. Well, Andy signed a million and one papers...I signed like 2 papers:) And the deed is now officially in our name!! It's not my dream house. I worry about the size or lack thereof of the bedrooms.  And the neighborhood? Not my first choice. Don't get me wrong, it seems like a good neighborhood. It's hopefully a great neighborhood!! It's just not the one I was envisioning:)

But it's ours!! And I am soo excited and thankful about that. The truth is that even though we THINK we know what we need...God really DOES know what we need. And right now...at this time in our life...this is the house that we need:) God ALWAYS gives us what we need. Maybe not what we want. But definitely what we need:)

So after we got the keys we were able to go explore our new home all on our own!! Exciting right?!?! We thought so:) When we walked in the door for the first time after signing all the papers...it felt just like coming HOME!! After 3 years of feeling like we're in some odd transition phase...we are FINALLY home:)

The only downside was not having our friends and family to share that special moment with. When we bought our 1st house it was so much fun showing it off right away!! Hopefully we end up getting some visitors soon:) 

Getting So Close!!

Services and utilites switched over into our name--CHECK

Final walk through scheduled-- CHECK

Closing time confirmed--CHECK

We are getting SO close to being homeowners again!!

Some things on my mind:

How in the world will we handle 2 dogs and NO FENCE!! I LOVE our current yard. Part of what makes it so great is that enormous fence that surrounds it:) So nice for kids and dogs alike. Keeps my family in and keeps creepy strangers out. Must start saving for a fence asap:)

Speaking of dogs...they are going to wreak havoc on all of that WHITE carpeting aren't they?

What if our new neighbors are awful? What if they hate us? What if the neighbor kids are total heathens? These questions keep me up at night:) Our current neighbors are mostly good. Or they used to be mostly good. They've gotten kind of strange lately. Cursing loudly at each other in the driveway...yeah, not gonna miss that!

What colors should I paint?!?! I LOVE color:) Should Maia's room be more blue or more green? That orange? must GO:) And quickly!! The boy's room...Gray or latte? The first level was JUST painted but I would LOVE to see some bluish gray on those walls. Hmmm...wonder if I could talk Andy into doing some unnecessary painting?

We need not one, but two new sets of furniture. Plus a couple of chairs for the nooks and bedrooms. An extra dresser to make up for lack of closet space. A new dryer is a must as ours is almost dead. Our tv is on it's way out as well:( I would LOVE some ottomans and sidetables and a small buffet:) oohhh...and towels. Both bath and kitchen!! Ours are very old and would be better used as rags at this point:) And Fiestaware in bright colors. Oh how I want some Fiestaware. I may need to get a job to support all of my decorating fantasies!!

Should we go with a theme shower curtain or just stick with dots or stripes?!?! That submarine curtain at target was pretty cute. So were those trees...and the owls...oh how I love owls!! Isaac would probably revolt though. And who is really going to see that bathroom anyways as I NOW have a powder room for guests!! That's right. We're moving up in the world:)

I can't wait to say good bye to mauve countertops and pearl pink walls. Blech!! So not my thing. And all the 80's vinyl tile...hasta la vista to you too baby!!

I wonder if the current owners are going to take the rest of their stuff out? I really don't want that bizzare chair nor the ugly lamps. But I would happily toss them if it means I get to keep the table, mower, extra fridge and gardening tools...

Will I like cooking on a flat top? Wonder if I need special cookware to use my new stove?!?! I must google that. Does my fridge have a water dispenser tucked inside? What about ice? I hope it makes ice.
I really should stop thinking and start packing. Because if I don't pack, none of the things I'm thinking about will mean a darn thing anyways:) The boxes are calling my name!

Starting Over!!

So much of our past 3 years have been about starting over. Much of it has been sad. But as time has gone on a lot of the change has been really great. One of my friends from Dover was moving at the exact same time we were. She was telling me that she was excited about her move because she had a theory that she wanted to test out. Her theory was that it takes 4 years for a new community to feel like home. That really stuck with me because at the time, I was positive that NO community, except T-county, would ever feel like home.

So here I am, 3 years later, happy to report that I do indeed feel like I am at home in my new community!! That awesome revelation came to me when we were house hunting this past Spring. We looked into several communities, but when it came right down to it? I couldn't leave where we currently are...because it FEELS like home!! We have friends and activities that I wouldn't change for the world!! We have a great pediatrician and dentist. My kids are all about their sports teams!! We have a daily routine that we are all really happy with. It was a long hard road to get here and there was no way that I was going to start over from scratch again:) And besides, they just built a brand new Chik-fil-A almost on my front doorstep!! Who could leave that?!?!

So exactly 3 years after our first big move, I am sitting in the middle of stacks and stacks of boxes again!! This move is nowhere near as hard as that first move was. Moving is always lots of work but there is no house to sell and no heartwrenching good-bye's this time around. Just lots and lots of packing.

 I will admit that I had a rough couple of weeks after we went into contract on our soon to be new home. Notice I said "home" and not house:). Finally!! So back to my story, I had panic attacks and crying jags to rival any drama queen's worst meltdowns!! My poor husband:) Anyway, the purchase of our home here cemented the fact that we aren't going back to Dover and that was a hard realization for me to come to. I guess maybe somewhere in the back of my mind I thought there could be a possibility that we may end up back there again? Then one of my new friends made a simple, small gesture that changed my whole outlook. Isaac had lost his official Boy Scout uniform's neck thing-a-ma-jig!! Like my official terms? My friend had made a post on FB about how her son lost his and I commented that ours was gone as well. That night Isaac had Boy Scouts. He came home with a new neck thing-a-ma-jig that our friend had given him. Seriously, that small gesture turned my whole thought process upside right!!

I didn't say upside down because my thought process has been upside down since we moved. I kept thinking of all that we lost instead of focusing on what we have gained. And really? We haven't lost anything. Our family is still there for us. Our best friends are still, and always will be, our best friends!!  I talk to my bff several times a day:) I may miss our Church but God is still. right. here. with. us!! And I can always go back and visit:) And we DO go back and visit. We make trips home to get good pizza and stop by all of our old haunts. It's fun and brings back so many memories. But we are still making wonderful new memories here!! In this place where God has placed us:)

So I am starting over. New outlook, new home, new blog and new schools for the kids!! Lots of new in our future. But it's all exciting!! I'm looking forward to sharing it all with you:) Even though it's all very mundane and ordinary...I feel like I have a lot of extraordinary things to share!! So grab some coffee and welcome to my new home!!

A side note...I realize that I have started and then abandoned several blogs since I lost access to my original blog. I miss blogging immensely. I am much happier when I can get my thoughts onto virtual paper. I miss journaling all the great things that my kids say and do. I have so many decorating ideas that I can't wait to dig into!! I plan on sticking with this blog :) Keep checking back because there are sure to be updates!! And if there aren't? Call me out on it:)