Friday, July 29, 2011

Just the Beginning??

I feel like the flood gates might be opening a little more...
We are going to my grandmother's for the weekend
and I had started cleaning up a little around 3:30ish
I got a call at 4:15 telling me that we had our
FIRST OFFICIAL SHOWING
at 5:15!
That was 1 hour!!!
Thankfully we have worked so hard over the past few weeks
that it was pretty easy to do a quick run through the house.  

I have used an odd addage to describe selling a house...
Just like getting pregnant - it only takes once!  :)
- And I know, it has happened 4 times for me! -

It just takes one person to like your house...
I don't have high hopes that this person was "THE" person
but it was a START!  And that is HUGE to me.  

Meanwhile - I am at peace with all of this.  I know it will happen!
I know it will...

My sisters both subscribe to a couple of different blogs where Christian women 
write little devotionals and inspirations...

They both sent me the same one a couple of days ago talking about 
trusting God to take care of you and your needs.  
He has so far and I trust that He will continue.
And He has reminded me frequently that "I" 
am NOT in control.
HE IS!!! 

Thursday, July 28, 2011

At what cost??

I have spent a lot of time making phone calls, 
creating spreadsheets, 
doing research 
and trying to figure things out this week.

Things are starting to happen 
- nothing new on the move - 
but things are finally changing for the better...

I am calmer this week than I have been since this whole thing started.
I know everything is happening in God's time,
not mine...
I am a control freak and everything about this house is out of my control...
I can't just pack up everything and walk away...
I am seeing things happen on all fronts but the housing situation...

We know the best financial decision is for us to stay up here until the house sells 
and my husband stays down there,
BUT
what is the best financial decision that gets us back together as a family??
That is what I want to know... 

I know there are thousands of military families whose spouses are overseas 
and they don't know when they will get to talk to them again,
or when they will get to see them again.
But they do know it will be a LONG time.  
I try to remember that, I do...
But we don't HAVE to do this...

so what is the "cost" 
and 
is it worth it??


Tuesday, July 26, 2011

To Sell or To Rent? That is the question!

I had a long discussion with our realtor yesterday and the long and short of it is...the market STINKS!  Yes houses are selling...but our realtor has 17 houses listed right now and ONE got a showing last week.  

So we discussed renting the house - 
which sounds like the way to go, but if we rent, we can't buy out there.  
Which might not be a bad thing...
I have heard the rental market is pretty hot right now from many sources...
apartment buildings are flying up because people are a little more hesitant
to purchase and banks are making it harder to purchase.

The good news is - if we decide to put the house up for rent...
rumor has it that they only stay vacant for about 30 days before they are rented!
But do we want that hassle?  
We already have a volunteer for property manager...
(Thanks Dad!)

Do we just try to sell at almost any cost?
Do we try to rent and just push off the attempted sell for another year?  
Do the kids and I just stay here indefinitely?
What is the "smart" thing to do??

Decisons, decisions, decisions...

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Reverse Psychology???

Some people respond well to reverse psychology...so I have decided to try it!

Tomorrow I am signing the boys up for fall soccer (well trying to - we missed the deadline).  Next Monday I am signing my daughter up for preschool at the church my second son just "graduated" from.  I am going to attempt to sign my daughter up for a second class at the community center.  Maybe if I get us engrossed in life here, the house will sell...right??

My husband has finally decided he doesn't like being without us.  The first week was a vacation I guess.  :)  So our "worst case scenario" of November, he just moved up to September.  :)  But then there is the whole - what if the house doesn't sell scenario.  Which leads me to another item on my "to do list" for this week...talk to the realtor about how to get this house sold!  What are we doing wrong???  I know the market stinks right now - I know that.  I know it has only been 2 weeks, but it has also been half a month!  I know its all about location, location, location.  When we bought this house - we expected to be here for a LONG time...a REALLY LONG TIME!!!  Not forever, but close to it...

So now what?  We continue on with life here in NC.  I am going to immerse us in activities (that I can handle on my own).  And see what happens.  I can get everyone to soccer practice. I am getting my weekly menu back in line (no more "What am I going to make for dinner tonight?" at 4:30...)

When I told a friend of ours we were moving to Texas, she informed me that a very good friend of theirs just got transferred to Tennessee and their house sold in 3 weeks!!!  I gotta find out what they did!  :)

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Open House

I have worked tirelessly on this house for weeks - with the help of my mom, baby sister and hubby (before he left).  Today we had our first open house.  Guess how many people showed up...

NONE!!!  NOT ONE!  

I feel like all the wind has just been let out of my sail!  Everything with this "move" has happened SOOOOO fast!  We were praying that this would follow suit.  I know it just takes one person to walk in and love it.  And it has only been 2 weeks, but when not one person has even come to look at it...

And what doesn't help is the daily questions from the kids about when we are going to Texas. 

I don't have an answer - I am not in control AT ALL on this!  It is so hard to hand this over to God.  I am a worrier by nature and by lineage (yes we get it from our mother).  But I have honestly been trying not to think of all of the "what ifs" lately.  I will make myself crazy.  I am one who needs to have a plan B if plan A doesn't work out.  I have tried to let go of that "worry" lately.  But today I am not doing a very good job!

Thursday, July 21, 2011

How long???

Today I took my 2 1/2 year old daughter to a mommy & me Music & Motion class.  It was AMAZING!!  I haven't done something like this in literally YEARS!  She had a BALL!  So did her little brother (and me).  


As a matter of fact, my youngest made a friend...





It was a great day...and it wore both of them out.  


We finally got signed up for benefits with the new company and these are honestly the best benefits AND the best price we have EVER had!  It was a HUGE weight lifted off of my shoulders when my husband told me were not only signed up but also told me how much it was going to cost us.  I was jumping up and down on the inside!!  I immediately made a dentist appointment for my oldest 2 boys.  We have recently started a chore/reward chart.  After 10 stars they get something out of the prize box (Dollar Store items), after 25 stars a movie (this weekend), and my oldest asked today if they could go to the dentist when they got 30 stars!!  Who asks that???  A 7 year old with 2 permanent teeth and at least 2 loose ones who hasn't been to the dentist in a year plus because we haven't had dental insurance, that's who!

This afternoon I went to put something in the garage.  When I came back inside, I closed the door to the garage behind me and my daughter came RUNNING and HOLLERING for her Daddy...
"Daddy, Daddy, Daddy"  
I felt so bad that #1 - it was just me 
and
#2 - that it wasn't her daddy!

We are surviving - I *can* do this by myself!  I just don't *want* to.
How long until we are all back together again?  I know it hasn't even been a week yet...but when?  I know - again - all in God's time.  He has weaved this master plan for us and I wouldn't go back and change a thing...but I can't help but ask:

"How long til we are all back together again??"

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Timing is EVERYTHING...

As I stated yesterday, my husband got laid off on July 11, 2008 and when he got this offer in Texas, they wanted him to start on July 11, 2011.  Coincidence?  I think NOT!!


We have had his car listed on Craigslist for weeks, we have gotten some interest but no one has come to look at it.  He has only been in Texas a few days, but NEEDS a car...so he started looking and doing a little wishful thinking.  :) Then he found one that would work and the price was right...meanwhile, back here in NC, someone contacted me about the red car sitting here and asked to come and look at it.  (I was of the mindset that if he made it over here - he wasn't leaving without the car - just cause I didn't want to have to deal with it anymore.)  Well we negotiated a somewhat reasonable price and the car was sold.  That night, I get an e-mail from my hubby saying he had already bought a replacement!  Really??  The money wasn't even officially in the bank yet?!?!  But what timing!!!  Again, coincidence?  Again...I think NOT!!


We have our first open house this weekend for the house.  As I said yesterday, we have had 166 hits on the website for the house - most of which I am SURE are family and friends.  But that's ok.  I have looked at it too!!  The realtor said that the showings will come.  I am praying for God timing to be QUICK.  Everything else about this has happened so quick but I know He does things on His own time...and not on ours.  I know many people who can attest to that!

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Texas, Here we COME!!!

Considering everything that is going on in my life right now, I think I am holding it together pretty well!  I just felt I needed a place to put my thoughts down and share the events of the day with whoever will listen!

I am a Carolina Girl born and bred - I have never lived more than 15 minutes from my parents (even in college). I am 33, on August 12 will have been married for 11 years and the mom of 4 AMAZING kids!  (7, 5, 2 1/2 & 10 months).  They keep me busy!  As if that weren't enough, just over 3 years ago my husband got laid off.  I happened to be 3 months pregnant with our third child (now 2 1/2) and was (by the Grace of God) working part time from home.  When my husband came home from work that July 11, 2008 and told me he had been laid off, I immediately called my manager and asked if I could go full time.  Thankfully, she said yes.  So there I was 2 kids at home, one in the belly, hubby now at home and working full time from home!  I wouldn't go back and change a THING!  :)  My husband put out tons of resumes and started looking HARD to no avail (the beginning of the downturn).  He decided (with my support) to start up his own company.  Luckily overhead was not needed and he worked out of our home office.  So November 3, 2008 we officially started our own small business.  I continued to work full time and my husband was attempting to do his own thing.  Baby #3 arrives in late Jan 2009 and I am SO thankful that we were all able to be home together.  It was an amazing time in our lives, it worked!  When my husband got laid off, we started slashing expenses...QUICK!  First our membership to the Y, then we took the kids out of preschool...just started trimming where we could.  I continued to work from home for another year.  My contract ended on Dec 31, 2009.  Our main goal was to pay our mortgage, second goal was survival of the company.  We took on a partner in Feb 2009.  2010 was a great year, but again we were putting as much back into the company as possible, meanwhile our finances were taking a hit and we were struggling.  My husband and I look back over the last 3 years at what a humbling experience it has been and how much we have learned from this.  We are closer than ever, we don't fight...period.  We discovered we could work together not only as a couple in the home but running a business as well (I was accounting, HR and did invoices & accounts receivable - among other things).  After 3 years of struggling financially and just being exhausted from living like that we decided to look at making a change.  Just for grins and giggles he threw a couple of resumes out in San Antonio, Texas (where his dad and his dad's family lives).  He has always dreamed of moving to Texas (he will say moving "back" to Texas - cause that is where he is "from" - but I tease him relentlessly about that - he was born in Texas and lived there for 2 years...).  His dad just brainwashed him with how amazing Texas was and now my husband is brainwashing my children with this same love of Texas - which is fine with me...its neat to have a place to love. I will ALWAYS proudly tell people I am a Carolina Girl!!  

Anyways - he sent a bunch of resumes out almost as a test in Texas.  We researched a LOT and saw that Texas seemed to be the place to look for jobs.  And San Antonio and Austin kept popping up on all these "lists" about best places to work, best place to find a job...so we figure what the heck, we will try it...One worked!!  He was offered a job and they wanted him to start on July 11, 2011.  (For those of you paying attention - that date should be familiar - that was the date the exact date he was laid off from his previous employer!!!! - if that is not God saying "HERE!", I don't know what is...and I don't take hints very well, so God has to open barn doors for me - no cracked doors, or windows, - He better make them FLY open if He wants me to see and pay attention!)  Anyways - after lots of talking and thinking and talking and telling my parents through tears, we decided to go for it...we decided that we were ready for a change.  I was ready to be a mom again, a mom FIRST, not an employee first.  So he accepted the job.  That was 2 1/2 weeks ago.  He is now in San Antonio and has just finished his second day at his new job.  The rest of the family is up here trying to get things in order so we can go down with him.  I wanted to keep things as normal as possible for our kids and the whole reason we were doing this was for financial reasons...so the smart financial thing to do, was to send him ahead let him stay with his dad for a few weeks, me and the kids stay here.   This has been a WHIRLWIND to say the least!!!  Yes it is HUGE, yes this is a big change for this Carolina Girl...but I can do it.  With him, my husband, and my kids by my side, I can do anything!  

So what has happened since he accepted the job???  We have gotten the house ready to put on the market - thanks to the hard work of my baby sister, my mom and my bestie!  They helped me pack and purge and clean!  The house went on the market 1 week ago.  We have had 166 hits on our website but no showings - YET!  We have purged and sold a TON of stuff on Craigslist the past few weeks, made NUMEROUS trips to Goodwill and it has been EXHILARATING!!!

Last week I started my oldest 2 in school, one in second grade and one in Kindergarten.  I took my little girl to the park for the first time in MONTHS!  Almost brought me to tears thinking about how long it had been since I was able to take my kids to the park.  I have been stuck behind a computer for the past 3 years!!!!  Yes I have been home, but I have had to work!   Those days are numbered though!!  

Today I took my daughter to the park again, walked a mile (second day in a row for both)!  Cleaned and sold my husband's car (we decided it was not making the trip to Texas...)  Went to the grocery store before carpool, made a failed attempt at Eggplant Parm for dinner (well the meal didn't fail, my kids liking it failed - it turned out pretty good, but the kids were less than impressed - but at our house they have to eat it anyways...my 10 month old even tried it!).  I got all 4 bathed, fed, read to and in the bed before 8!  And the older 2 and the baby even got to talk to Daddy on Skype.  (baby girl went to bed early cause she skipped a nap due to the car stuff today)  And somehow managed to get some work done too (I am still working for "the company" to attempt to smooth the transition while I am still here.)  Then for whatever reason felt I needed to start a blog to tell people about this adventure.

So yes - "We Are Really Doing This!!!"