Monday, October 15, 2012

How we got the house

I want to write how we ended up getting the house we are moving to before I forget.  It doesn't take long for details to leave my brain these days.
About a month ago, I was picking Little Miss up from Activity Days which was at her leader's house (Sister S)  .  I noticed a house in the circle that was for sale, and the sign had one of those "I'm gorgeous inside" things on it.  Well...being the decorating fiend I am, I was curious about exactly what "gorgeous" meant to them.  It came up in casual conversation with Sister S and she mentioned that her daughter was a realtor and could let us in so we could all look.  Sweet!  So she went and got her daughter and we all went in to take a look around.  It was nice.  Really, really nice.  It had clearly been GUTTED and remodeled with all the nicest finishes.  And it was big.  There was so much space!  The wheels started turning in my head...we could really use more space...this would be such a great house for us...yada yada yada.  The only thing about it that was iffy to me was the pool.  It had a beautiful pool, and even though I would really love having one, they scare me with so many little kids around.  And the thought of upkeep wasn't appealing, either.

Well, I couldn't get it out of my head.  We weren't even thinking about looking for another place to live, because we have like our house.  But, thoughts kept playing in my head.  Our lease was going to be up in December.  We really do need more space, especially in the bathroom department.  (our boys have to go outside occasionally, because the bathrooms are always taken by the girls, LOL)  I asked a friend in our ward that I know owns some rental properties if she would consider buying that house so we could rent it.  (Yes, I am gutsy about things like this.  My philosophy is-you never know unless you ask, and there is no harm in asking.  This philosophy freaks DH out.  hehehe  I didn't even mention all this to him yet, because I knew he wouldn't really approve.)  She said she wouldn't, but to ask another friend in the ward (our Bishop)  because he might.  Well, I put off asking him, because I felt silly.  What would I say?  Finally one day I was coming home from the store and was alone, so I decided to just stop by and ask.  Bishop and his wife were both home, and so I went in and said something like this:

"I know you guys have some rental properties in the area, and our lease is coming up in December.  We would really like house with more space, but also really want to stay in the ward.  Do you happen to have anything available?"  Bishop said that he was actually in the process of buying a house that would be perfect for us.  He said it needed some work, but we could look at it.  I told him what we would be able to pay, and he said it was a little lower than he had hoped for but it would be worth it to him to have tenants he wouldn't have to worry about.  And if we could help with the work to be done, that would be even better.  I decided I had better tell DH at this point.  To my great surprise, he was open to the idea!!  So...we looked, we liked, we accepted!  We agreed to help with whatever we could--I agreed to do all the painting, and we would clean and demo and try to be helpful.

There was another issue to address.  Bishop wanted us to move in asap, but was willing to wait until January if he had to.  I really felt badly that he would have to wait, so we began praying that we would find someone to rent our house.  A couple of days later, DH came home from work and said his co-worker was interested in renting our house!  He and his wife came over to look at it and love it!  They have 2 kids, so it is perfect for them!  Our landlord came and met them, and they all got along very well.  They said as long as they sign the lease starting the day we move out, we could break our lease and leave early-no problem.  We couldn't believe everything was falling into place so easily.  Our prayers were being answered almost as we were saying them!  Moving day will be mid November!

So we are now in the process of working like crazy, trying to get that house ready for us in 3 weeks.  There is a lot to do, but things are moving quickly.  The yards are coming along.  I FORGOT to take a picture of the atrocious yards!!!  Darn.  The weeds were something else.  But the yard guys cleaned them out so fast and are trimming the trees up nicely.  We are going to put grass in the front yard and a small part of the back yard (due to the fear of a horrible water bill we aren't seeding the entire back yard.  bummer).  I am masking like a fool and hoping to get the ceilings, doors and trim painted this week.  I am feeling very overwhelmed about the painting.  I have done a lot of painting, but this is a LOT of house to paint and I will be using a big sprayer for the first time.  Wish me lots of luck with that one!  :)  I have been AGONIZING over the paint colors.  I only want to do this once!!

DH has been so grateful that I pursued this house.  It turns out that the rent at our current house was going to go up, so we won't be paying that much more for this bigger house than we would have here!!  What a huge blessing.  I know that Heavenly Father has his hand in all this.  I have felt guided more than once to do things.  We are in awe of the watchful care He has over us, and are so grateful.  We just feel so, so blessed!  More pictures and updates to come...

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