weekend replay : goodbyes and uncertainty

This weekend began the end of our time in Louisville.

Things that happened:

the last time I turned dog sitter for my aunt's friend (yay house money!)

the first time to watch a movie in the new theater they have been building for a while before we move (Star Trek)

last time to browse estate sales in Louisville with my aunt

a going away party hosted by some dear friends from our first year here for us and another couple leaving soon (to go to Morocco)

Unfortunately we are no longer certain as to when our closing/moving is going to happen.  Very unhappy with our current experience with our mortgage group.  We feel like we are babysitting to get anything done.  While we DO have a little time to play with, (we planned on closing the 24th and being in our house on the 3rd but don't have to be out of our apartment until the 7th) the amount of uncertainty with all of it is creating a very uncomfortable state of limbo for me.  The 24th is looking more and more like a fairy tale ending that would have been the perfect time to allow work to be done on the house before moving the furniture in.  The uncertainty with all of it is keeping us from being able to book a moving truck or carpet cleaner (our lease says we have to clean them before we leave).  Both of which are better booked in advance.  And while worrying about this... I keep feeling the weight of how much there is left to do before I leave my job... and seeing as there isn't anyone to replace me or that has ever done what I am doing... it has to be done in the next 2 weeks so my boss can turn it into a paper.  This is exhausting. 

yay donuts.

How is everyone else handling the pre-move stress right now?

thankful thursday

This Thursday I am thankful for:

blog friend recipes.  This week I tried a new soup recipe my friend Amy posted about recently.  Turkey Sausage, Kale, and Tortellini Soup.  And it was DELICIOUS.  I tweaked it quite a bit... made it spicier.. added water so there would be more broth... improvised a little... but it was awesome.  I'm very thankful for the bountiful leftovers that I am currently enjoying.

signing the contract.  This was a little more complicated that anticipated.  We signed everything, and then found an error Monday evening on the amount we were financing (we would have been out an additional $2K)... so they had to cancel the contract.  And then it took 2 more days to get the new contract to us because they got busy with another account.  So basically we resigned everything 2 hours before the seller cancelled the deal.  Because they were annoyed with how long it was taking.  And boy, so was I.  But that part is over and inspections are scheduled for next week.

birthday weeks.  This week was my brother and I's birthdays (we are 3 years and 1 day apart).  We had our weekly church group meeting on my birthday... but that didn't stop the celebrations... They loved on me big time.  Carrot cake, Nord's Bakery cookies and donuts, cheesecake.  Those people know how to party, and about half of them just met me 2 months ago.  Thats love people.  How cute is that KY cookie?? My Russian friend told me I had to eat it all because I was leaving it.

This week I am linking up with

house hunting part 2

offer accepted

Wow.  That was fast.  We did our second look... and picked house #1 from this post yesterday.  Come to find out, it was in a different school district than we originally thought...its not in the crappy district, its zoned into one of the top 10 schools for the county!

After we finished looking, we went back to the realtor's office and decided on an offer.  Grabbed some lunch, and headed back to Louisville.  

An hour out of the city and our realtor called for a counter.  Another hour later, the seller accepted the offer!  So 2 hours out of Greenville, we had begun our path towards home ownership.

We are so excited!  The house is move-in-ready.  Its beautiful.  The neighborhood is adorable.  The seller told our realtor that the next door neighbors are a young couple with their first baby, and on the other side a 30 something woman with a dog.  Everyone looks out for everyone else.  And unlike the other house, this one has some room for us to grow.  We could buy a recliner if we want, have space for a cat tower, be able to put the litter box in the utility room instead of a spare bedroom.  We don't have to feel like our feet are in the shower when we are on the toilet... 

We can grow our lives a little without too much space to take care of.  I'm so extremely excited.  

Without further ado:  Pictures!

I can't believe I forgot to take my own picture of the outside....  Photo from realty site.

I also forgot to take a good picture of the awesome deck??

kitchen with new appliances

we have to buy the fridge, pantry on left skinny side and on the right

master bedroom (all the bedrooms (3 total) look basically like this...different window placement

through the door up in the bedroom photo is the master bath

spare bathroom, there is a tub shower with white tile walls, floor is same as master bath

utility room, window looking out to carport, (there's the laminate floor dad)

inside the awesome huge storage shed in the backyard, complete with electricity

So that, for the most part, is our future house!  (Assuming all goes well with everything that has to be done over the next month...)  Trying to be optimistic!

house hunting part 1

 The trip has been pretty good so far.  We took it slow and split the drive into 2 days which was fantastic.  It was a great start to Saturday getting to drive through the mountains in the morning.  Beautiful.  

The realtor had added one more house to our list that came on the market Friday night... flipped by a realtor.  It was gorgeous... but we had to accept that it was tiny.  Like we would MAYBE be able to put our Queen and Full beds into 2 of the rooms but no other furniture with them.  We need dressers.  

10 other houses later... with some characters thrown in... we have 2 clear winners.  In separate parts of town.

Which is the dilemma.  Because one is as perfect as you can get.  New stuff... great lot... laundry room, the only 2 car carport we saw.  Neighborhood is cute as a button.  But the overall location is just ok.  Nothing exciting about the part of town its in... schools aren't amazing.  Time to hospital?  Google maps says 20 minutes.  I hadn't even really wanted to look in this area because of the further proximity to the "happening" part of town.  But there really isn't anything wrong with the town either.  Its just not the location of the other.

Second house... Size is fine... No real dining room but the front room could become that.  Lot/yard is great.  Closets are big.  Kitchen has great potential for personal upgrades.  Older appliances but newer than what we have now.  Wood burning fireplace.  Only a laundry closet in the living room, no covered parking for even one car, driveway is gravel.  Master bath is TINY.  Neighborhood isn't as cute as any of the other houses we looked at.  So why are we looking at this one at all?  Its cheaper than the other, and the town it is in is notoriously popular because it has the BEST schools in the county.  House is well maintained, lots of good storage.  And it is closer to the "happening" part of town... e.i. shopping. We really do like it.  Google maps says 20 minutes to the hospital. 

The realtor is torn as well.  And what we were hoping wouldn't happen, happened while we were at dinner last night.  The 2nd house already has an offer on it.  Thankfully we get to see it again today and make a final decision.  We will go over these places with a fine tooth comb.  This is hard you all.  I'm a major ball of nerves.  

But I LOVE this city!!!

a weekend to find a home

Its here.  The day we are leaving to check out homes in our next city.  The camera bag is packed, the suitcase is packed.  We will leave once I get off work (perhaps a little bit early), and stop about 2/3 of the way there.  Because I really hate driving through the mountains at night.  During the day its fun, but what's the rush?  So we will stop, and then Saturday morning at about 1pm start trying to find our home.

We have a list of about 10 homes to check out this weekend... still not sure how long we are staying... if we figure out what we like pretty quick (with a backup plan in case it falls through), then we might head back to Louisville Sunday.... if not, or if we just want to explore and take it easy, we will be back on Monday.

So what do most of the homes we are looking at have in common?

hardwood floors... or more importantly... limited amounts of carpet.  Some carpet is ok... it really is... but we have 2 cats and have hated having an apartment with nothing but carpet.

cabinet space... or the room to add more.  Our kitchen is overflowing with gadgets and pans.  We want more room.  So for the most part the homes we are looking at either have similar space to what we have now...more room... or have the space to add more... its nice to have a kitchen designer/builder for a father.

the Ranch.  All of the homes we are looking at are of the Ranch style.  I like the idea of everything being on the same floor.  It simplifies things.  And thats how I want to try to make life in our new city... as simple as possible... for having a husband in Gen Surg residency of course...

3bed 2bath.  Because why would we want any smaller than that?  And why would I want to take care of anything bigger?

more space.  Our current apartment is a little over 1200sqf... everything on our list is on average 1500-1600. I want to spread out a little bit.

close.  To the hospital (within 15 minutes usually (at least our online favorites are)).  To the mall.  To anywhere I might want to frequent.... Sonic... Homegoods... Lowes...

established.  All of the homes on our list were built in the 60s and 70s.  I don't like the huge pop-up cheaply made homes that anything is anymore... and I like some trees.  Not the tiny 4 ft tall things that the builder put in to watch grow... and not in the woods... But some real trees in the yard to watch blossom and fall year round... even if it creates extra yard work for me.  Leaves=compost.  Better yet.. these older homes on our list have been updated.

the yard.  Most of the homes on the list are on 1/4 to 1/3 of an acre.  A manageable size for us.. (me).. with enough room to throw in some raised garden beds.

safe.  I used a crime map online to help decide the areas we wanted to look... and had the realtor drive around a couple I wasn't sure about.  And utilized Google street view to check out a few for myself.  Nothing will beat seeing it in person, but this has definitely helped weed out a few.

What I can't completely tell from the photos but hope to end up with.

light.  I want windows.  I want to have sunshine light my days.  I don't want to feel like I'm living in a dungeon.

open spaces.  What I love about our apartment and our parents' homes is that the kitchen opens up to the living area.  We can cook and still talk to our friends... we don't have to feel like we are slaving away alone while everyone enjoys themselves somewhere else... or feel crowded in by everyone standing in the kitchen.

laundry room.  I want a room for this if we can.  Or at least not have the machines behind a closet in a narrow hallway like we do now.  This might be asking too much but I can dream.

So wish us luck.  I've already read all of the horror stories from others about buying a home during residency.  But you aren't stopping us.  Maybe we are idiots... but we are also a medical couple that isn't in debt.  And that helps in our decision.  My husband has no student loans.  The only thing we are in debt for is a small monthly car payment.  He did the military route for med school... so at the end of these 5 years (also a big reason we are buying) we don't have to freak out about selling quickly.  Because our next location there will be either free housing on base or enough of a housing stipend (on top of pay) to cover an apartment. So we can take our time selling... or rent out our house.  We have thought about this a lot.  Maybe we are still naive but we have to learn our own lessons.  So please just wish us luck.  Say a prayer that we find what we are looking for this weekend and it all goes smoothly.  Be happy for us.

Because we are about to live here:

   And this is downtown...

thankful thursday

This Thursday I am thankful for:

image source

graduation presents.  This one is only indirectly for me... Kyle's family for his graduation present (early) made it possible for him to FINALLY get Lasik.  I've had to listen to him talk about it for years.  And it finally happened.  Like, he is playing a game with sunglasses on right this moment.  He needed it really bad... like his astigmatism was so bad he constantly had to touch his eyes to reposition his contacts to his eyes.  Not a good habit to deal with as a surgeon.  Not at all.  Thank you Kyle's family. 

image source

travel.  This is it.  This is the weekend we hop house to house in our future city and hope to find our home.  I don't know how I feel about this yet.  Am I just overwhelmed with the whole prospect, or am I actually excited about it, but the idea of being in the car for 7 hours is dampening it?  Not sure yet.  But either way... its here, and this is really Kyle's first chance to really see the city we prayed for...we were only there about 24 hours last time and he spent his whole time in the hospital for the interview.  So I am excited for him to see it, and to get to see even more for myself.  

image source

good news.  A good friend of mine got some great news for his future career in this country... and I am beyond excited for him and his family.  Sometimes dreams do come true... albeit a little late... but God's timing is perfect and good.  

What are you thankful for this week?

I'm linking up with