i'm guessing the last three weeks would have played out QUITE differently if we had little ones (present) to consider. most certainly, our hope for said "little ones" influenced how the last week went. Here's a timeline that i figure i'll look back at someday and remember - WOW. that went by so smoothly. incredible. thanks, God - our provider, our helper.
Sunday July 24 - lunch and starbucks with friends after church, followed by a drive in my favorite ("someday...") neighborhood; see lovely tudor home, pick up flyer, tell my husband i would love to see inside (hint, hint...) and the price has just been reduced. hmmmm....
Wednesday July 27 (after conversations throughout the week reminding ourselves that we'd never be able to afford selling our house and buying a new one, etc... but.... maybe we could rent out our home.... and promising we'd only do that if we found the perfect renters...) we schedule a walk through with the listing agent.
Thursday July 28 - we see inside. i fall in love even more.
Saturday July 30 - i put an ad on craigslist to look for renters, get two really serious inquiries, schedule a showing for the following day with one of the couples.
Sunday July 31 - walk through our house with prospective renters. They need the house by August 4th and are visibly in love with our little home. We explain that we are not prepared to be out in 4 days, but possibly with another week, we could make it happen. But we have to first speak with our lenders. We will let them know the following day if it's possible, but we encourage them to keep looking. (and i'm crossing my fingers that it will work because they seem so great).
Sunday July 31 - i talk to the other prospective rental couple who live in another state and don't need the house until November, which seems a bit more feasable, but they seem a bit pushy. this stresses me out. we tell the inlaws we looked at a house and are considering making an offer. they are skeptical but we all go to see it again together, and our agent (so generous with her time) meets us to let us walk through and dream some more...
Sunday July 31 - i call our lender on her cell phone, tell her the situation, figure out what paperwork i need to collect, and schedule a meeting for the next morning to get the process going for our new mortgage.
Monday August 1 - meeting at the bank, waiting for information, texting prospective renters who really want to know if they can rent our house and feeling bad for keeping them waiting... and finally, getting approved for our mortage. we make a verbal offer on the "new house", and get a verbal acceptance within the hour. we decide we better start packing.
Tuesday August 2 - the offer/acceptance on the "new house" is put in writing and we are officially moving.
we pack for the next few days...
Friday August 5 - the POD arrives at our house and we start to fill it. how do two people have so much stuff? thankfully some wonderful friends help us with boxes, meals, lugging things, finding places for things... including their house.
Saturday August 6 - Sunday August 7 - i go out of town for a friend's wedding. wonderful! but Jeremy opts to stay home and start working on packing up his garage.
Monday August 8 - spend the morning at the new house with the inspector. find out a about a few issues but nothing too major. we feel pretty good about it; we drop off all our documents (additional) to our lender and get back home to pack until the wee hours of the morning with some great friend support. so blessed.
Tuesday August 9 AM - the POD leaves. all 4000lbs of our stuff. and we still need a uhaul. seriously? how do we have so much stuff?!
Wednesday August 10 - fill a U-haul, clean the house to "spotless", meet with the renters to walk through and answer any questions. turn over the keys. (after they leave, we still have a few things to move out but we're pretty close to "out". we finish little projects and packing at 2am and head to the inlaws to get some rest.
Thursday August 11 - Our tenants move in to our "old house". we now live with my husband's parents until we close on the house... but we're encouraged that that could happen faster than our Sept. 1st projected date. we're happy to put our feet up for a few days!
Today is Saturday. We're settled into our temporary housing. I have some peace and quiet with Brodie sleeping at my feet (this moving thing has taken a toll on him... if only dogs could talk?!?) and my husband mowing his parents' lawn out back. we couldn't have a cozier place to call home for a few weeks and we are looking ahead with anticipation for the new home we will make next.
this whole process could not have been more pleasant. it has happened so easily, so smoothly. i'm so grateful for the way my husband and i have been able to work together to make it happen. i am so happy about how our marriage has grown. it gives me so much hope about the home, the sense of family, that we will be able to share with children. like i've said before, we're "just getting started", and it's great!
