That time we unexpectedly sold our house, changed our lives

Life has been busy happening all around us despite this little memory space being relatively quiet.  It has been the wildest spring our family has ever experienced.  To quote Fresh Prince: "Now this is a story all about how my life got flipped-turned upside down".  

We've mentioned before, on this old blog, our desire to shorten our commutes, but there were so many other factors in play in our lives to make it simply about mileage to work.  So many pieces have been moving in the past few years and its really amazing to look back and see small opportunities we pursued or doors that were opened to us that have lead us to where we stand now.  

Backing up a little bit...this story gains some traction in 2011.  Before I got pregnant with Fiona, Pat accepted a position within his current company that would put him more in line with where he wanted to be in his career journey.  It came with some significant drawbacks, but after prayerful consideration, he went for it despite a significant pay cut, a huge commute (over 30 miles each way), and leaving the comfort of a job he'd been good at.  We kept our eyes focused on the future and what his experience in this position could ultimately provide for our family down the line.  But, let me tell you, this was a rough period for our family.  There were so many new stresses in this new job, added into the mix of Pat going back to school a few classes each semester, and Fiona entering the mix.  It was rough all over.  Things were stalling out at Pat's job and frankly we were all tired of how much time he had to spend at work.  

When Pat happened upon his current position, it seemed too good to be true at first, but after the longest interview to hire period ever (okay, it just felt that way), Pat had a new job as of June 2013.  This job was a little closer to our house, but still significantly farther that one should want to commute.  The upside to this job was not just closer proximity, but more financial freedom and a more realistic workload.  We were pumped!  So, last summer, we began to toy with the idea of making a move closer to his job (and also mine since I'm south of Minneapolis, just like Pat).  We'd had this small dream of living in an urban area that we decided to explore.  We attended an open house in the Fulton neighborhood of SW Minneapolis and I could totally picture our family living in this adorable neighborhood.  We'd been itching to simplify life, anyways (less house, less yard, less commuting, etc.).  

{that cute little house that wasn't meant to be}

Cue us meeting with a few realtors only to discover a recent short sale on our block which would skew our home value negatively and the overall timing of the market in our neighborhood to be not quite right.  We were bummed, but ultimately had just been looking for a "sign" about whether or not to move.  We settled into life again and didn't think seriously about moving again until this spring when the metro housing market had serious shortages of homes for sale and houses were selling quickly and for more than last year.  We met with a third realtor the first week in May and he gave us really positive news.  We'd decided that we loved summer in our current neighborhood (parks, splash pad, beach, neighborhood get-togethers!) so we'd think about listing our house after Labor Day.

While laying in bed on Thursday May 15th, Pat got a text from a realtor (#2) we'd met with last year.  He simply asked if we were still interested in selling our home and if so, he had potential buyers that would like to see our home the next day.  We thought, "why not?"  At least it would give us some ideas for projects we'd need to complete before actually listing and we'd get some free feedback.  Luckily, I was hosting a baby shower that weekend, so the house was pretty clean : )  

On our way home from work, Pat got a call that they liked our house, but not our price!  Pat explained that it wasn't something we were willing to move on because we hadn't even really listed our house/put it on the market.  A few minutes later, we received notice that the buyers wanted to see the house again and by dinnertime we had an offer that we couldn't refuse.  Plus, I knew from the one morning of frantically making beds, wiping down showers, and cleaning up breakfast crumbs that the value of not having our home on the market was certainly worth something.  The only hitch was a closing date of June 12th, just under a month from then.  Ahhhhhhhhhh!

The few major fixes we'd been contemplating needed to be done ASAP and in a week we'd fixed projects that had been neglected for the past year.  Funny how that happens.  We coordinated movers, PODS, closing dates, a temp living situation, and found a new home all within 2 weeks.  Ugh, it was stressful.

{the last few boxes...never moving again!}

{put a 2 year old in a box with markers - this was nearly 2 hours of fun while we packed up the kitchen}

Here we are, on the other side of the move, and we're still alive!  We are lucky enough to be staying with my parents in New Brighton.  Space is tight, we still haven't found random items we know we packed, and of course it's a change for our girls.  We've kept them at the same pre-school/daycare in Blaine for the summer so we are essentially double commuting (boo!) but trying to maintain some consistency for them.  

What does our future hold?  After looking at online profiles for nearly every home within a 15 mile radius of Pat's work, we were a little disheartened.  There was only 1 house we considered looking at further.  But then, we saw a listing for a new construction neighborhood in Shakopee (a suburb about 15 miles south of Minneapolis).  We drove into the neighborhood, and it was literally the first time in the whole first week of moving craziness that we exhaled.  The neighborhood was so charming with tons of kids.  The builder had an amazing promotion going on which ended May 31st, so we quickly got our ducks in a row (while packing up our house) and signed the purchase agreement 30 mins before the model home closed on May 31st.  

Hopefully, by the beginning of October, we'll be all moved into our new home.  This may be the first summer we'll be wishing for the time to fly by!  We'll update more on the house as stuff starts to actually begin happening, but we've picked out our lot and everything inside.

  

{our lot!  Finley says: "Mom, can I swim in the pond!?"...I didn't have the heart to explain what a holding pond is : ) }

All along, our decision to move was always mirrored by the tough decision to leave neighbors we loved.  At times, I wouldn't even discuss moving because I didn't think I could ever leave our street - it really was all that I ever wanted in a neighborhood and so similar to where I grew up.  But, it came down to our time together as a family and when we realize how much more we could gain if we moved, we knew this was the right choice.   Hopefully our new neighborhood can compete on some level with our old one, but I also know that our friends in Blaine will still be in our lives - with a little more creativity to pull it off.  

This quote really hits home for us.  Our dreams are coming true all in His timing.  

Summer Time

Life has been chugging along and I'm trying to keep up with the old blog! We've been trying to consciously slow down, simplify, and not sweat the small stuff while purging lots of clutter.  The girls are growing and changing quickly and we have also had a lot of life changes lately.  

For starters, Pat started a new job in the middle of June.  It's at a completely new company that is slightly closer to home, but offers more financial security, an interesting client base and workload, and a great work/life balance thus far.  It is such a great opportunity for him and we are so proud of the work he's done to get to this point.  

We also traded in Pat's car for a mini-van!  I never thought I'd be excited about a van, but the stress it saves me is fully worth the less than pleasing exterior.  The automatic doors/trunk, DVD player, captains chairs, and blue tooth are all responsible for making this mama happier to be around during all of my taxi-ing around.  

Finley will start pre-school at the end of August and we can't believe how fast time flies.  She cannot wait for it though and talks about it constantly, wearing her backpack around and "going to school". 

Fiona is busy moving around exploring nooks and crannies of our house and yard.  She can climb up/down the stairs, get off the couch, and loves to pull her sisters hair.  She isn't walking consistently yet, but takes steps between the couch and ottoman.   

As Pat now has a new job that affords us a little bit more flexibility and stability in the future, we've begun to start thinking (albeit not seriously at this point) about making a move to ultimately be closer to our work, since we now work pretty close to each other.  

The logistics of this are quite complicated given the housing market (which is quite improved in the Twin Cities), daycare/preschool/elementary school, and overall timing of when this might be right for us.  Or, if it even would be right for us.  While we adore our neighborhood and treasure our neighbors, and feel so comfortable in a house that fits us just perfectly, we can't help but wonder what it would be like to live within miles of both of our jobs.  

There would be gains and losses and pros and cons if we stay put or move south.  And we're taking our time trying to figure out what makes the most sense.  But at the same time still dreaming and listening to our hearts and what feels right for our family.  Summer has been slow enough for us to ponder these deep thoughts : )

We have had the best time the past few weekends - you know the type where you have absolutely nothing to do except explore your own backyard.  

Summer seriously rocks - and we have the second half still to go!!

This quote seems to fit our family perfect right about now.  We started out this year with simple plans that pretty much kept us on the same path as we'd been on.  We handled the big daycare change without much ado and thought that was all the boat rocking this year would contain.  We had vacations planned out in our heads, expenses divided up in appropriate places, basement designs to consider, all while continuing to work hard at what we do and enjoy Finley getting older. 

Well,our path came to a fork about 3 months ago.  It involved a position change for Pat at work - a department switch.  Pat had been hoping for an opportunity like this for a long time, but each one that appeared to come along panned out differently than we'd hoped.  So, when the opportunity for Pat to join an advisor team arose- we had some decisions to make.  The biggest challenge is the location of Pat's new office.  It is about 35 miles south of where we live.  And involves some dicey commutes espcially come winter.  Also, this means that Pat can no longer pick up Fin from daycare, so we needed to extend our current daycare by 15 mins so I could get there.  And lastly, it involves a somewhat different compensation structure that will put us on a shorter term budget until he learns the ropes.  But, all of these challenges aside, the opportunity has seemed too great to pass up. 

As of 2 weeks ago, Pat started his new position.  We have arranged daycare and I now do mainly all of the drop-offs/pick-ups.  Pat has experienced rush hour that still pales in comparison to Chicago, but is no treat!  Pat gets home later and often I'm fighting to spend time with Fin and get dinner on the table for her and our family together.  We have cut back our spending and I haven't been to Target in over 2 weeks.  (but I'm planning a supervised trip soon!!).  And lastly, my dreamy basement has taken a back seat.  We are attempting to finish the drywall stage prior to the TC marathon in Oct since we will have a house full of Morgans and the basement bunkhouse will be put to good use. 

This isn't at all what I thought our year would unfold like, but I can't wait to see what the life is that is waiting for us! (a smart car, a move, cancelling our cable, more financial freedom...who knows!!)

Ch Ch Ch Changes

Remeber this post about daycare closing...

Well, today Fin started her new daycare and everything went great!  We weren't really nervous about her adjusting as thus far she has been easy-going especially around other kids.  Mostly Pat and I were anxious about getting used to new routines and how things are done at this particular daycare.  I think it's going to be great, though. 

Here's the backstory and proof that God's plans are so much bigger than my own:

Rewind to almost 2 years ago when we started looking for in-home daycare.  We interviewed about 12 ladies and some of them I wouldn't even want to leave my dog with.  But, then we met Renee.  She was located a few miles from our house and the minute we walked in I just knew it was a perfect fit.  She had everything color coded and there were bins and hooks and hand sanitizer and colorful folders with newsletters and travelling tots and faith based activities and kids artwork and to be honest I wanted to go to daycare there.  So, like any new parents we took the next 2 days to call every reference (all good reports!) and called her back once we'd heard from everyone.  Well, in those 2 days, the infant spot was filled.  Cue hormonal emotional pregnant women who cried in the shower for 2 days.  I was dev.a.stated. 

So, we took a month off from the search because I just kept comparing everything to Renee.  We then stumbled upon Julie and it turned out to be a wonderful nurturing environement for Finley's first year.  We are so happy that she had that experience.  But when Julie announced she was closing, I went to the website for open daycare's in our county and a Renee was listed.  I couldn't remember her last name, so I emailed her and yes, it was the same lady!  We met one evening with Finley and Pat brought a signed check to hold our spot if it was a go - no more spots getting filled this time around.  She told us that previously the spot was filled by a friend from church and it didn't go very well and that the current opening for Finley would be the spot she would have been in a year ago.  So we gave her the check and the rest is history.  It should also be mentioned that Fin is home with me on Tuesdays, which turns out is Renee's busiest day so she was happy not to have her that day and the cost was the same as Julie!!   How crazy, huh?

I couldn't have written a better story myself...

random picture of Finley cashed out at Grand Old Days, because who wants to read a post without pictures?

P.S.  We are shaking things up around here with a new position for Pat starting sometime at the end of the summer (more on this change later) and needed daycare to be open 15 mins later so I could pick her up and this was a-okay with Renee.  HUGE :)