Thursday, April 28, 2011
Sunday, April 24, 2011
RELIEF! .....oh sweet relief.. A week before I leave for Houston and only two days after officially putting the house on the market, we received a better offer than we had imagined possible - no contingencies! I can go to Houston ahead of the family knowing that I don't need to worry about Megan being overwhelmed by dog, kid, constantly keeping the house in show-able condition, the unknowns about how long we'll have to be apart. A simple "do you mind if we see your house" has led to a level of relief that I didn't know was possible. In this moment, I am truly happy and at peace. Much love to all our friends and family.
Some things are just meant to be...
Lots of news the last few days...
The house went on the market Friday morning and we already had our first showing that same morning.We weren't quite ready for a first-day showing scenario, we had been storing stuff in the basement/garage in our maniacal staging/de-cluttering rampage. JT scrambled around to get it in a showable state.
Friday evening, as we were getting ready to leave to go to a friend's house, a quite bubbly woman came bounding up to our porch to get our attention. She and her husband were in town from St. Louis, had put in an offer on a house in Stapleton, and having JUST seen it for the first time, decided they didn't like it. They HATED it. At the same time, they got an update from their realty company with our new house listing. They couldn't get a hold of their realtor, who had just left for vacation in Moab, to schedule a formal showing, but wanted to know if they could just walk-thru the house. We of course, were fine with that. She beckoned to her husband, who must have been hiding out in the car or behind a bush or something, and we walked them through the house. We could tell they loved it. After talking with them, we found out that they had sold their own house in St. Louis in TWO HOURS and seemed very motivated to buy. They already seemed sold on the neighborhood, and after explaining what a family friendly block it was, they seemed pretty sold on our block. Since they still couldn't reach their vacationing realtor, we told them that they should call ours and see if she could walk them thru more formally. We called our realtor and explained what had just happened, hoping she wouldn't scold us for breaking some sort of unwritten rule about selling a house. JT spent that entire night trying not to let me know that he was as excited as he was, he was SURE they were going to write an offer. I was more reserved.
Saturday morning our Realtor, Jody, did call. The couple had called her and she wanted to know if they could walk-thru at 11:00. We were leaving to get breakfast and haircuts anyway, so we agreed on the showing. She called us a few hours later excited. They had expressed great interest in the house! She was now sure they were going to write an offer as well.
Saturday evening came and went with no offer. We kept ourselves occupied with James Bond movies, pizza and board games....I won both Clue and Life! I went to sleep not feeling very hopeful about it all.
BUT...
Was woken up this morning with "WE GOT AN OFFER! WE GOT AN OFFER!" The same couple had finally gotten a hold of their realtor, who was now on her way back from Moab, and submitted an offer. It was for $4000 less than our asking price, but $5000 more than our "Best Case Scenario" that we had worked out with Jody. So...
WE ACCEPTED!
AND CLOSE MAY 31!
It was just meant to be. JT was meant to get the job offer when he did. We were meant to put the house on the market when we did. We were meant to meet that amazing couple when we did (who was meant to fall in love with Stapleton and HATE the first house they found).
And the idea of living in Texas again was meant to become reality!
Our adventure has a much more compact and foreseeable time frame now. Which makes me, the uber-planner PRETTY DARN HAPPY!!!
The house went on the market Friday morning and we already had our first showing that same morning.We weren't quite ready for a first-day showing scenario, we had been storing stuff in the basement/garage in our maniacal staging/de-cluttering rampage. JT scrambled around to get it in a showable state.
Friday evening, as we were getting ready to leave to go to a friend's house, a quite bubbly woman came bounding up to our porch to get our attention. She and her husband were in town from St. Louis, had put in an offer on a house in Stapleton, and having JUST seen it for the first time, decided they didn't like it. They HATED it. At the same time, they got an update from their realty company with our new house listing. They couldn't get a hold of their realtor, who had just left for vacation in Moab, to schedule a formal showing, but wanted to know if they could just walk-thru the house. We of course, were fine with that. She beckoned to her husband, who must have been hiding out in the car or behind a bush or something, and we walked them through the house. We could tell they loved it. After talking with them, we found out that they had sold their own house in St. Louis in TWO HOURS and seemed very motivated to buy. They already seemed sold on the neighborhood, and after explaining what a family friendly block it was, they seemed pretty sold on our block. Since they still couldn't reach their vacationing realtor, we told them that they should call ours and see if she could walk them thru more formally. We called our realtor and explained what had just happened, hoping she wouldn't scold us for breaking some sort of unwritten rule about selling a house. JT spent that entire night trying not to let me know that he was as excited as he was, he was SURE they were going to write an offer. I was more reserved.
Saturday morning our Realtor, Jody, did call. The couple had called her and she wanted to know if they could walk-thru at 11:00. We were leaving to get breakfast and haircuts anyway, so we agreed on the showing. She called us a few hours later excited. They had expressed great interest in the house! She was now sure they were going to write an offer as well.
Saturday evening came and went with no offer. We kept ourselves occupied with James Bond movies, pizza and board games....I won both Clue and Life! I went to sleep not feeling very hopeful about it all.
BUT...
Was woken up this morning with "WE GOT AN OFFER! WE GOT AN OFFER!" The same couple had finally gotten a hold of their realtor, who was now on her way back from Moab, and submitted an offer. It was for $4000 less than our asking price, but $5000 more than our "Best Case Scenario" that we had worked out with Jody. So...
WE ACCEPTED!
AND CLOSE MAY 31!
It was just meant to be. JT was meant to get the job offer when he did. We were meant to put the house on the market when we did. We were meant to meet that amazing couple when we did (who was meant to fall in love with Stapleton and HATE the first house they found).
And the idea of living in Texas again was meant to become reality!
Our adventure has a much more compact and foreseeable time frame now. Which makes me, the uber-planner PRETTY DARN HAPPY!!!
Before I leave...
I'm so glad are house has sold today because i get to see my family in no time. I'm going to miss may dad because every night we say good night to each other. Before I leave I'm going to put how tall I am, how old I am, and going to put all my family on the wall. I will miss my friends but I will make knew ones. Our house sold in 2 days!
Friday, April 22, 2011
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Hello, all! With introductions out of the way, so graciously provided by my beautiful wife, I thought I'd add my two cents...
A new position with JP Morgan Chase will be taking us to Texas, and although Austin was our goal, Houston will be just a quick road trip away. I'll be working as a Portfolio Manager in the Government, Non-Profit and Healthcare Group. I'm VERY excited!
The last three weeks have been a whirlwind. After accepting the offer it feels like we've been on fast-forward ever since.... We had new carpet installed last week; this past weekend (with the help of a very close friend) we tiled the floor of both bathrooms and re-landscaped virtually the entire yard; this week we met with our real estate agent who brought a professional stager that went to town on the house; and after a professional photographer comes in tomorrow,,,,, we'll finally have the house on the market.... It's been crazy!
My start date in Houston is May 2nd, which means I'll be down there for a period of time while Megan and Gaige are still here in Denver trying to get the house sold and wrapping up the school year. It's an exciting time, but I'm dreading being away from my family. The last couple weeks all I've wanted is to spend quality time with the family, but we've been so darn busy....
I guess that's it for now.. Everybody keep your fingers crossed the house goes quick!
A new position with JP Morgan Chase will be taking us to Texas, and although Austin was our goal, Houston will be just a quick road trip away. I'll be working as a Portfolio Manager in the Government, Non-Profit and Healthcare Group. I'm VERY excited!
The last three weeks have been a whirlwind. After accepting the offer it feels like we've been on fast-forward ever since.... We had new carpet installed last week; this past weekend (with the help of a very close friend) we tiled the floor of both bathrooms and re-landscaped virtually the entire yard; this week we met with our real estate agent who brought a professional stager that went to town on the house; and after a professional photographer comes in tomorrow,,,,, we'll finally have the house on the market.... It's been crazy!
My start date in Houston is May 2nd, which means I'll be down there for a period of time while Megan and Gaige are still here in Denver trying to get the house sold and wrapping up the school year. It's an exciting time, but I'm dreading being away from my family. The last couple weeks all I've wanted is to spend quality time with the family, but we've been so darn busy....
I guess that's it for now.. Everybody keep your fingers crossed the house goes quick!
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
and so the adventure begins...
I should probably introduce ourselves, although many of you reading this already know us. Maybe you'll learn something new....
This is Megan, the mom. aka Dork. aka Excel Queen. aka "mom" (this one is still growing on me, the kid has recently transitioned from "mommy" to "mom", at first it was a joke because he knew it upset me, but it's starting to stick, and well, I've moved on to "acceptance).
There's Gaige, the kid.. aka Knucklehead. aka The Kid (that's how he's saved in my phone). The funniest, most outgoing, kindest, sweetest, smart-assed, yo-yoing, ten year old artist that I know. He makes me laugh every day. He's ticklish just about everywhere (just like his Uncle Ben was when he was a kid). And even though he's growing up way to fast, he will always be my baby (and I tell him that all the time).
There's JT, the dad. aka Nerd. aka Wishes he was the Excel King to my Excel Queen (honey, your skills are sub-par). My Big-Strong-Strapping-Manly-Man (except when there's a spider in sight). He is the father to my son. He makes me want to be a better mother. He has a laugh that is contagious and a smile that can melt my heart. He gets me. He is my lobster.
And then there's Rufus and Sophie, our other "children". Sophie is a black lab and "Daddy's Little Girl". She's polite and well-behaved and getting to be kinda bitchy in her old age, but that's part of her charm. Rufus is a chocolate lab. He's clumsy and obnoxious and eats poop, but that's part of his charm.
That's us in a nutshell.
We live in Denver (for the time being).....foreshadowing, what foreshadowing?!?!? JT moved out here in May of 2003. Gaige and I made our way out here in January of 2005.
We bought our first home in 2008 in a fabulous neighborhood in NE Denver. Stapleton. We love our neighborhood, our block, our neighbors.
AND....
We're in the process of moving back to Texas. Where I grew up. Where Gaige was born. Where JT and I first met. Where it's HOT and HUMID and HOME.
And that's the adventure we're embarking on. Moving to Texas.
Putting our house on the market and moving to Texas.
JT getting a new job and moving to Texas. Ahead of us.
And that's why we've created this family blog. So that we can keep in touch with each other (we're not much for talking on the phone every night), share our progress with our families and friends, and keep track of everything that's going on in two different states.
.....and so the adventure (and our blogging) begins.
This is Megan, the mom. aka Dork. aka Excel Queen. aka "mom" (this one is still growing on me, the kid has recently transitioned from "mommy" to "mom", at first it was a joke because he knew it upset me, but it's starting to stick, and well, I've moved on to "acceptance).
There's Gaige, the kid.. aka Knucklehead. aka The Kid (that's how he's saved in my phone). The funniest, most outgoing, kindest, sweetest, smart-assed, yo-yoing, ten year old artist that I know. He makes me laugh every day. He's ticklish just about everywhere (just like his Uncle Ben was when he was a kid). And even though he's growing up way to fast, he will always be my baby (and I tell him that all the time).
There's JT, the dad. aka Nerd. aka Wishes he was the Excel King to my Excel Queen (honey, your skills are sub-par). My Big-Strong-Strapping-Manly-Man (except when there's a spider in sight). He is the father to my son. He makes me want to be a better mother. He has a laugh that is contagious and a smile that can melt my heart. He gets me. He is my lobster.
And then there's Rufus and Sophie, our other "children". Sophie is a black lab and "Daddy's Little Girl". She's polite and well-behaved and getting to be kinda bitchy in her old age, but that's part of her charm. Rufus is a chocolate lab. He's clumsy and obnoxious and eats poop, but that's part of his charm.
That's us in a nutshell.
We live in Denver (for the time being).....foreshadowing, what foreshadowing?!?!? JT moved out here in May of 2003. Gaige and I made our way out here in January of 2005.
We bought our first home in 2008 in a fabulous neighborhood in NE Denver. Stapleton. We love our neighborhood, our block, our neighbors.
AND....
We're in the process of moving back to Texas. Where I grew up. Where Gaige was born. Where JT and I first met. Where it's HOT and HUMID and HOME.
And that's the adventure we're embarking on. Moving to Texas.
Putting our house on the market and moving to Texas.
JT getting a new job and moving to Texas. Ahead of us.
And that's why we've created this family blog. So that we can keep in touch with each other (we're not much for talking on the phone every night), share our progress with our families and friends, and keep track of everything that's going on in two different states.
.....and so the adventure (and our blogging) begins.
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