So, last I left off, I'd brought you up to speed on my nursing classes, our trip to Yosemite, and a few other things going on at our house. But there's still so much more! And if I don't hurry and catch you all up, I'll be months behind yet again....soooo.....grab a cup of coffee and settle in for some reading!
I told you about how I'm in the process of transferring out of the (drilling) Reserves. Well, before I did, I wanted to take advantage of a great Leadership class they offer. And this class is a requirement for all Officers, Active or Reserves, every five years. Since I will still be in the Reserves, even though I won't be drilling, at least for the time being, I didn't feel as if I was taking advantage of the situation. But the class is not offered in my area, so the Navy would have to pay for my travel to some other destination to complete the week-long course. It just so happened that there was an opening at a session near my hometown! So, while the Navy would have to pay for my travel, pre diem, rental car, and base pay while I was away, they'd save money on a hotel since I could stay with my mom!! So in late September, I was able to take a trip home. Hubs and I paid a change fee in order to extend my trip by a week, and I took Bunkey with me since Hubs would have class during the time I'd be away. My mom babysat my little guy while I was in class during the first week I was there, and her sweet friend (and fellow grandma!) lent her a bunch of toys and baby gear to make her house a little more toddler-friendly! I learned a ton during my class and met some really great people, and I'm so glad I had the experience!
After my class finished on Friday, Mama, Bunkey and I piled into my mom's new car and drove three hours north to the area where we'll be moving this winter for a quick house-hunting trip. I was at an advantage because we have a dear family friend in that area who is a real estate agent. Her husband worked for my grandfather in the late 70s, and since then, she's bought, sold, and rented several homes for three generations of my family!
M took us around for three days showing me about a dozen homes each day. On Day 1, I found two homes that I really liked, though I wasn't a huge fan of the neighborhoods, but at least I was seeing some things that I liked after a tough morning of disappointments...but these houses were both at the very top of our budget. I took pictures and emailed them to Hubs and tried so hard to figure out what to do next. On Day 2, I switched gears a little bit and ventured out of the main city in which we were searching, hoping for something more promising. The very first house we saw was perfect. The neighborhood was perfect. The housing association offered amazing amenities that fit our needs and lifestyle. I could imagine us living there, with people at the same stage in their life, and even bringing our new baby home to this house. Everything I was looking for (though lacking a couple of things Hubs wanted, but nothing major that couldn't be added later), move-in ready, and in colors and a style that were 99% of what I'd have chosen anyway! Though this house was far above our budget, I'd fallen in love and couldn't ignore it. After much begging and pleading, some tears, and even getting sick in the parking lot of my favorite mall of all time, I convinced Hubs that we should make an offer. We made a low-ball offer and I tried to keep my expectations low, but on the inside I was already placing furniture, picking draperies, and imagining my life in this perfect home. All I could do was wait.
In the meantime, Mama and I (and Bunkey, of course!) were back at my mom's house and spending my remaining week at home doing fun things. My mom took us to Dairy Queen for an ice cream cone for Bunkey, Chuck E Cheese, a famous local BBQ joint, and more! And yes, we even did some furniture shopping...
During that time, we went through a few rounds of counter-offers on the house I loved. By the time I made it back to the West Coast, we'd pretty much given up, since the sellers were being quite unreasonable, even though we'd come up considerably in our offer. I was heartbroken, but kept trying to remind myself that it wasn't meant to be and that we'd find something I loved just as much if not more. M advised us to leave our first (low-ball) offer on the books, since it was the only formal offer out there. That way, if the sellers had a change of heart, the only thing we were bound to was an offer that we'd be ecstatic to get. In the meantime, if we saw something that we liked better, it would be super easy to pull that offer back and submit a new one on a different house.
Well, about ten days after I returned home, I called M to see if anything new had come up. Apparently she'd sent me a new listing just a day or two before that I'd never received for some reason. She resent the details and the house was in the same neighborhood as the house I loved and had an almost identical floor-plan too! This house was nowhere close to move-in ready, but only in that the colors and features weren't in my taste. We'd have a lot of work to do, in the form of painting and replacing flooring and lighting fixtures, among other projects, but this house was priced substantially lower than the first house, giving us plenty of room in our budget to make things just perfect. That said, what this house was lacking on the inside, it had in spades on the outside. Basically, if you could take the house we had an offer on, and place in on the lot of this other house, it'd be the perfect combination. Hubs was a big fan, and after a lot of discussion and research, and countless phone calls back and forth to M, we decided to make an offer. I'll keep you posted on how things go!
Since all that, we've just been enjoying the last of our time here. We've had some fun adventures, I've been winding down my time in the Reserves, I finished one of my two online courses, we've received some news about the new baby, and now we're ready to enjoy Halloween with a toddler! I'll work on another lengthy post or two to follow up on those last few items...since I'm sure you need a coffee fill-up by now anyway!
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