Dear reader,
I'm so terribly sorry to have neglected this space for a while. There have been some interesting developments in our lives as of late. Nick was offered a transfer/promotion to his company's Joplin, Mo facility in January and what has ensued is a virtual whirlwind of activity. Packing, spending our last moments with our sweet Atlanta friends and coordinating logistics has kept me away from blogging, but I now have a bit of time and space to pick it back up and loop you into our new adventure.
As of February 27th, we now live in Joplin, Missouri! Crazy, I know. And yes, this is the town that had the horrible E-5 tornado in May of 2011. We know. This didn't scare us off. :)
Until we can close on a house, we are living in a corporate studio apartment type place... with a toddler. The first night was a challenge, figuring out how to block noise and light out of Collin's doorless room so that he could sleep and we could actually have a life past his 7pm bedtime (i.e. watch TV, run the water, talk above whispers). To say it's been interesting is an understatement. I have had my share of "What did we do and why are we here?!" moments, especially with a stir crazy eighteen month old on slushy, cold days when Nick is working.
So, my days thus far have consisted of exploring every inch of the apartment complex's parking lot with little man (highlight- yesterday we found a lady bug and it crawled all over his hand-- he loved this!), driving to parks, grocery shopping, tidying up toys and counting down the hours until Nick gets off work. :) Being an extrovert, I'm feeling like a total recluse. On Monday I'm going to go to a local MOPS group. I need people. It's seriously bad. I get ultra weepy and lame-o without people. Probably an introvert's dream, but a personal hell for me! :)
Nevertheless, God has given me more and more reason to hope for good things here. He is so faithful. A key verse for me during this time has been a portion of Psalm 23. "Surely your goodness and your love will follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." What a comfort. We cannot get away from his goodness. It follows us and ultimately our home is not here on earth-- it is in the house of the Lord. I know he will bring us friends-- a community, a good church, a nice neighborhood and the rest. He delights to give good gifts to his children!
Oh, and if you are wondering how we are all faring when it comes to naps and bedtime-- we are great! Our solution to the pseudo one room living issue was to put up a black out curtain over the doorway and download a noise machine app. I realize so many people around the world live in one room quarters and have never been more thankful we haven't had to thus far. Collin has done so well, it's made me reconsider what we think we actually "need."
So, over the next season, if you are interested, I'll be updating the ol' blog with our adventures in home-ownership and renovation. The following is a detailed account of the adventure thus far. Feel free to stop reading if the minutia will bore you!
We have been on a bit of a home-buying roller coaster thus far. Our first love home-- a cute 1920's craftsman bungalow was looking like it was in the bag when the inspection revealed a number of issues. This caused us to "freak out" and pull away. Then, after a day or so, we more level-headedly decided to investigate the cost to fix these issues. The bids came back and, while none of them were too terribly pricey, they added up to being a substantial chunk of change, so we initiated a termination of negotiations.
We then moved on to place an offer, contingent upon release from the craftsman contract, on a 1950's ranch style home-- not nearly as charming and frankly kind of cosmetically ugly, but the fixes needed were interior, not structural, and we knew could really do some fun stuff with this house for cheap.
During this time, the seller of the original, craftsman home came back to us and asked if there was any way we would reconsider. We said no and were happy to move along and dream up what life could be like in the ranch home.
Last night, the craftsman's owners came back to us with a ridiculously low price. I mean, ridiculously low. They wouldn't, however, cover the closing costs at that price. So, we have made a bit of a higher counter offer with closing included. We'd prefer to keep some of our liquid assets to use on fixing the issues upfront, but aren't against paying closing if we can settle on a good price. Now, it's a waiting game.
If you know me, you know that I have both homes totally decorated in my head! The picture up top illustrates a sneak peek of the direction things could go depending on which home we end up with.
I honestly, equally love both Mid Century Modern and Deco/Traditional decor styles, much in the same way people love each of their unique children. Odd? I know. Maybe I'm a chameleon, but I can see endless possibilities with each style!
So, stay tuned! Thank you for reading. We'd appreciate your prayers for a smooth transition. We'll know something before long!
Find out which house we ended up with here!
