We're At It Again
I started this blog eight years ago to keep family and friends up-to-date on the house that we had just bought and were remodeling. We spent weeks, months, and a couple of years in the remodeling phase of our current house getting everything just right. We have loved living here!! The house is great, the neighborhood is great.... It has been a fantastic eight years!
But....For years we've talked to Tom's parents about where they want to spend their remaining years, in Ohio or near us so that they can enjoy their grand kids more than twice a year. They chose taking a huge leap and move to AZ to be near us! Hard decision for them having spent their entire lives in Ohio.
We all agreed that just having them in AZ is not enough. We want to share a property so that we can "do life together" and help them in the years to come as health needs arise (thankfully right now they are both in good health).
Our current house has no room for Tom's parents. Because we are one of the largest houses in the neighborhood, we felt like adding on a guest space for them wasn't wise. We've been looking for raw land or a house that could work for us but also allow for the addition of a space for them.
After a year and a half of looking, we finally found something. It isn't exactly what we were hoping for (we were praying for something backing forest service), but it was a great price and God pretty much orchestrated the purchase. Long story, short: saw it Monday night on Zillow (first day on Zillow), called Tues morning to see it; looked at it in the afternoon, three offers already in; we offered, we were turned down saying there was an offer of about $10k over ours; we didn't want to go that high so we left thinking the place was not to be; on his drive back to work, Tom got a call from the realtor saying the sellers went with our offer. Crazy, I know!!
We're calling this house a temporary move - a place to live for two to three years (or less) that we can fix up, build a guest house for Mom and Dad C. and keep looking for the perfect spot.
The new house is a 1930 square foot home (yes, it's about 800 something square feet smaller than our current house - not the direction we were hoping to go) in desperate need of some TLC. It's on two and a half acres in a nicer neighbor than our current house (i.e. we can add on and still get our money out of it when we move to the next house).
The great routine that I mentioned in my last post, five weeks into school, is out the window (we're still getting some morning school done - especially me with Ben, but that's about it). The kids and I have spent several afternoons over at the new house ripping up carpet, padding, tack strips, banging down walls, and ripping out the kitchen cabinets. Tom's been burning the midnight oil (plus some) tearing down cabinets and walls the kids and I couldn't, re-wiring and re-plumbing the kitchen trying to get the kitchen ready for new cabinets.
But....For years we've talked to Tom's parents about where they want to spend their remaining years, in Ohio or near us so that they can enjoy their grand kids more than twice a year. They chose taking a huge leap and move to AZ to be near us! Hard decision for them having spent their entire lives in Ohio.
We all agreed that just having them in AZ is not enough. We want to share a property so that we can "do life together" and help them in the years to come as health needs arise (thankfully right now they are both in good health).
Our current house has no room for Tom's parents. Because we are one of the largest houses in the neighborhood, we felt like adding on a guest space for them wasn't wise. We've been looking for raw land or a house that could work for us but also allow for the addition of a space for them.
After a year and a half of looking, we finally found something. It isn't exactly what we were hoping for (we were praying for something backing forest service), but it was a great price and God pretty much orchestrated the purchase. Long story, short: saw it Monday night on Zillow (first day on Zillow), called Tues morning to see it; looked at it in the afternoon, three offers already in; we offered, we were turned down saying there was an offer of about $10k over ours; we didn't want to go that high so we left thinking the place was not to be; on his drive back to work, Tom got a call from the realtor saying the sellers went with our offer. Crazy, I know!!
We're calling this house a temporary move - a place to live for two to three years (or less) that we can fix up, build a guest house for Mom and Dad C. and keep looking for the perfect spot.
The new house is a 1930 square foot home (yes, it's about 800 something square feet smaller than our current house - not the direction we were hoping to go) in desperate need of some TLC. It's on two and a half acres in a nicer neighbor than our current house (i.e. we can add on and still get our money out of it when we move to the next house).
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| Front |
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| Back yard |
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| Rear |
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| Side yard |
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| Living room |
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| Kitchen |
The great routine that I mentioned in my last post, five weeks into school, is out the window (we're still getting some morning school done - especially me with Ben, but that's about it). The kids and I have spent several afternoons over at the new house ripping up carpet, padding, tack strips, banging down walls, and ripping out the kitchen cabinets. Tom's been burning the midnight oil (plus some) tearing down cabinets and walls the kids and I couldn't, re-wiring and re-plumbing the kitchen trying to get the kitchen ready for new cabinets.
I'm excited about how the kitchen will look, but we're all a little nervous about down-sizing. We're all, especially the kids, very sad to be leaving this home. I think if this was the dream house move then I think we would all be a little more at ease, but God works in ways sometimes contrary to our ways. It's our job to follow Him with a willing spirit and see where He takes us.
Our official move date is November 12th - yes, a little less than two weeks. Plenty of time to knock down the remaining unwanted walls, build the new walls, wire the house for the modern century, paint, have carpet installed in the bedrooms (we'll live on slab everywhere else for awhile until we have time to redo the fire place and have tile laid), install the new kitchen cabinets and counter tops, and install an invisible fence for the dogs. Oh, and pack, fix up, and clean this house for the renters to move in on November 18th. Piece of cake!
Oh, man...I can't believe we're doing this!
I will try to do a better job of blogging so that any that are interested can keep up with the latest progress that we are making. I know it'll be good fun for me, Tom and the kids to look back in years to come and remember all of our hard work.
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