One Room At A Time...

My main goal yesterday was to completely finish organizing the kitchen and get all the counter tops cleared off. This was what it looked like in the morning....

And this is the picture I took after the kids went to bed!
Hopefully tomorrow there will be at least one more room to show you! Oh, and I thought you might like to know that the train waited until 9:30 a.m. to come through instead of 3 a.m.!!

It's A Mess!

My house is a mess. My emotions are a mess. I really don't like change. It's not exciting for me - or an adventure. It makes me sad. It's hard. It even makes me a bit angry. I don't want to have to find new places for everything in the kitchen, and the rest of the house. I don't like that I have to read the instruction manual just so I can figure out how to wash my piles of laundry. I don't like the train that comes through town at 3 in the morning, blowing it's whistle at every intersection. (We didn't know this when we bought the house!) I was sad that no one even acknowledged our existence at the new church we visited yesterday morning. (Except for Sara and Sky's teachers in their classes.) I don't like how everything is so quiet. The phone doesn't ring anymore. We have not seen or heard ANY neighbourhood children.

I know, this too shall pass. I know I'll get to know people and that the phone will ring again. I know we'll finally get unpacked and everything will find a place. I know the house will eventually feel like home. I know the Lord will lead us to the right church family in time. So, don't tell me all that - please! I just need some support and love and prayers until the storm passes.

Sara and Sky are actually doing very well with all this "newness." They love their new rooms! They each unpacked their own boxes and put all their things away by themselves! I was proud of them. I'll have to do some organizing and sorting later... :-) They got to spend Saturday afternoon with Grandma and Grandpa (Joshua's parents), so that was fun for them. They even had fun at church yesterday, so I was grateful for that. This morning they are doing well playing with each other. It's certainly different not having the playground right outside our front door or neighbourhood kids in and out of the house. Neither one of my sweet children have complained a bit. I can learn from them. In a few days I will attempt to have a bit of schooltime and that will help to curb any boredom that may erupt.

Well, I'm off to unpack some more boxes... Once I find my cable for the camera, I can post a few pictures.

The Last Day

Today is the day we move. My heart is full of many things. The tears have come often the past two days. We've said goodbye to a lot of close friends. Yesterday the packers came and boxed up my whole house in only 5 hours! I wasn't sure whether to be excited or worried about that! The moving truck will be here in an hour to load everything up and take it to our new home. The last two weeks have been a whirlwind of activity. Visiting the places we'll miss the most. Heritage Park, the zoo, our favourite mall, Daddy's work. Lots of visiting and eating with friends. LOTS of eating! We had a garage sale somewhere in there too, and it turned out to be the biggest flop ever. Then, I spent a week trying to get rid of stuff any other way I could. This morning I'll make a trip to the consignment store and be done with it. Anyway, there are a few odds and ends I need to pack up, so I'll check in with news and pictures in a few days.

It's A Done Deal!

Our house is officially sold! Yesterday was the house inspection and apparently all was well. The buyers signed the waiver last night for the conditions to be lifted. When I came home from dropping the kids off at music camp (they've had that every morning this week), the "SOLD" sticker was on the sign! YAY!! I'm so happy to not be cleaning up my house for strangers anymore! We can finally relax! I'll have to think of a good way to celebrate tonight.

News Flash!

I'm happy to report that our house is conditionally sold!! We were amazed at how quickly it all happened! Our house got listed last Thursday, and 7 days later we had an offer! No one asked to see it over the weekend, and we were feeling very disappointed and discouraged. Then, Monday we had a showing in the evening. Tuesday, we had 2 showings in the morning and one in the afternoon! Phew! What a day! Thanks to my sweet neighbour and friend, Jennifer, who let me take refuge at her house during the showings! Then, to top it all off, she had us over for dinner that evening! Thanks J family! You guys are awesome! On Wednesday I was preparing for a surprise 30th birthday party for Joshua (more on that later), when we got the call that a couple from one of the Tuesday showings wanted to come for a second showing! I left for the grocery store when they came, and was back in a half an hour, thinking that would be long enough. They were still in the house! So, the kids and I hung out at the playground until they left - they were there for an hour! We didn't hear anything all afternoon, so I was kind of disappointed. Then, in the middle of the birthday party, Lori called to say the people had made an offer! She came by right away and we got all the paperwork signed. God is so good! I know many of you were praying for a quick sale, so thank you! I'll get even more excited when the conditions (financing and home inspection) are lifted by next Friday. It's been so nice to be able to relax in my house again and not constantly trying to keep it perfect. The last two days have been so nice... Stay tuned for my birthday tribute to Joshua...

We're Moving - AGAIN!

Yup, that's right, you read it right - we are moving after only being in this house for 10 months! Many of you have already heard this news, but I'm going to answer the most frequently asked questions in this post. So, here goes my self-interview!

Where are you moving to?

St. Albert, Alberta - a suburb of Edmonton, about 3 hours north of where we are now.

Why in the world are you moving?

During the last week of June, Joshua was invited to be included in an audit to learn about the process. The bank branch that he ended up going to was St. Albert. While there, he really connected with the branch manger, Jeff, who offered Joshua a job there. At first mention of this outrageous proposition (at least that's what I thought!), I was sincerely hoping it was all a joke. But, alas, it was not, and the discussion turned serious very quickly. Right now, Joshua's title wit the bank is retail account manager. He has wanted to get into the commercial side of the bank, as he moves towards his goal of eventually being a branch manager. This new position that he was offered was for commercial account manager. Long story short, he decided to go for it. This move jumps him ahead about a year and half.

When do you actually move?

We already bought a new house in St. Albert (on July 19th!) and the possession date is September 5th. Because we are moving with the bank, they pay for us to have movers! It feels so weird to not be packing right now. I feel like I should be doing something! The moving company packs everything in one day - can you imagine?! So, they'll come Sept. 4th to pack and then we'll be moved into the new house the next day.

How do you feel about this?

This was pretty tough for me to swallow. I cried a lot during the decision making process. I'm still accepting everything - it happened so fast. I would not say that I'm excited, but the last few days have been more positive for me. I would say that I'm mostly apprehensive, sad and stressed out at this point. Change is usually not exciting for me. I am a very loyal friend and it hurts so much to say good-bye. I am spending my summer, hanging out with friends as much as possible, and visiting all the places I will miss most in the Calgary area. I am thankful for the movers, so that I can truly enjoy these next 5 weeks.

Have you sold your current house yet?

Not yet, but we are hopeful! We listed it 6 days ago. Last night we had our first showing. Then there were 2 this morning, and another one this afternoon! Please pray that we will soon have an offer. Showing a house has got to be one of the most stressful things out there. While we were cleaning up the house for the showing yesterday, I kind of lost it. I was screaming at Joshua because I was just so frustrated and mad. Mad that I even had to clean my house, so that I could show it to someone who might buy it. Deep down inside, I don't even want to sell my house. I know it's just a house, but Joshua and I are both having a hard time letting go of this one for some reason. It is "just a house," but it's a house full of memories and maybe that's the difficulty. We have a lot of great memories from this home.

How are the kids taking this?

Sara and Sky are being way more mature about this than their mother at this point! They are excited to move close to Grandma and Grandpa, who live in another suburb in Edmonton. They love the new house and can't wait to move in and have new rooms. They even seem to be O.K. with the fact that we will have to make new friends. I'm grateful for their positive attitudes. It might get tougher for them once we actually move, but for now they are their normal, happy selves!

What is the new house like?

Well, it's beautiful and I just happen to have pictures from the MLS listing! Here are a few of them. There's not a good picture of the backyard, but it's amazing! There's a stream that flows over rocks and runs into a pond. Lots of mature trees, a gazebo, and even a hot tub! We will be quite comfortable, and I know that over time, it will feel like home again.

Moving In

We've been sleeping in our new home now for 10 nights! I wish I could say we're completely unpacked, organized and decorated, but, I can't! We're getting there slowly, but surely! I'm just so happy to not have the stress of showing a house and keeping it perfect all the time! Now I can go at my own pace. I've found myself wearing out and becoming overwhelmed very quickly in this unpacking process, so I've had to take it easy. The last couple of months were way too busy and stressful, and my body is finally screaming, "Enough!" Anyway, there's not much else to report about unpacking boxes, so I'll let you get on to the pictures! Moving day! Still smiling after a very long day!
Sara on moving day! She spent the day making new friends at the playground across the street! She's my social butterfly!Sara's first night in her new pink, princess room! She was simply glowing with excitement that night and for once, I didn't have to tell her to clean up her room! She already had everything put away just like she wanted it!Sky posing on the first night in his room. We've since decorated with dinosaurs and other animals.

We did something a little crazy and made one of Sky's walls into a blackboard! There's actually special "chalkboard paint" comes in black or green. Sky's favourite colour is black, so there was no question what the choice would be! This is the first day they could draw on it, because the paint had to cure for 3 days first. It's been a lot of fun!
This is the bonus room above the garage. This was like the first day, so a lot more has been done since. I just love the windows!
Here's the new living room right after we placed the furniture. We decorated it on Sunday, but it's a wreck right now and I couldn't take a new picture!

So, there you have it, Karen - even more than just one picture! We have to have the house cleaned up nicely by Sunday because we're having a huge party. I'll be going downtown on Thursday morning to be sworn in as a Canadian citizen. Because it's at such an inconvenient time, we're having a celebration on the weekend when everyone is more available. Joshua decided to take over all the inviting and planning and even the food preparation! What a guy! So far, everyone he has invited, has said they will come, so we're going to have a very full house! It'll be fun, though, and I'm really looking forward to it!

So... We Really ARE Moving!!

It's crazy, but we went from casually talking about moving and looking at houses on-line, to meeting our realtor on Thursday evening, to actually viewing some homes Sunday morning, to putting down an offer on a house Sunday night! Double YIKES! The owners accepted our offer Monday afternoon, and if the inspection goes well tonight, the house is really ours! My head is still spinning! So, why are we moving? The new house is in Airdrie, a smaller town about 20 min. north of our current home in Calgary. Most of the people living in Airdrie actually work in Calgary, but they love the smaller community and are willing to commute a few extra minutes. We actually already have quite a few friends living in Airdrie. But, for us the draw is more than just a smaller, less hectic place to live. Joshua's bank is opening a branch there next year, and unless a really major surprise happens, he'll be one of the managers at that new branch. All the "higher ups" in the bank have told Joshua that's the direction they want for him, and when they found out we were considering moving to Airdrie right away, instead of discouraging us from that, they recommended a good realtor to us! One of the big reasons we decided to look and buy now was where the housing market is right now. Houses in Airdrie are quite a bit cheaper than Calgary, but there is some new development happening between Airdrie and Calgary in the next year that is supposed to cause the housing market to spike. We think we made a smart decision! So, that's the scoop! Like I said, we go for the home inspection tonight. A very good friend, who also happens to be a contractor, is doing that for us. I'll ask our realtor if it's O.K. for me to take a few pictures, so I can post them! We'll see what she says! Our possession date is August 31st. Our realtor is coming tonight to measure rooms and take pictures so she can list our current home. So, I'm trying to make all the cluttery spots look decent! The housing market is pretty hot in Calgary, so we don't think it will take too long to sell. Anyway, just wanted to let you know what was occupying my attention and energy these days! I'm just glad that we can get moved before we get into Grade 1 with Sara, instead of getting interrupted in the middle somewhere. I'll keep you posted! Hopefully pictures and details tomorrow....