Thurs. 1st--You can't beat starting the month off with the temple marriage of your first child! It was a beautiful day. Not too stressful. Definitely hot and muggy. Super grateful to have my parents with us and Jared's brother's family as well as Karole to share the day with us. And of course, it was extra special having Cooper attend the sealing as a future missionary.
Jake giving us pre-sealing hugs. First up, Grandma Lee.
Yay!! They did it!! This picture doesn't show it, but we waited a looooong time for the couple to exit the temple. Haha.
One super handsome group of groomsmen. Left to right...Gabe Brown, Tyler Bush, JJ, Carter Bush, Will Donovan, Jake, Cooper, Cole Hough, Connor Hough, and Calvin. My kids are short, haha!
Phew...it was a HOT morning at the temple. Fortunately, our family got pictures done first so that we could head to Torchy's Tacos (we were feeding the wedding party lunch) to make sure everything was ready for the incoming group. Our extended family and guests were able to eat first which allowed them to be done and leave about the time Trina's side of the family was heading over. It went fairly smoothly. We didn't rent out the space, so there were other patrons eating there when we were. I helped make sure guests received their orders because there were a lot of us that needed food. We just kept a running tab at the bar until everyone had gone through.
When Jake and Trina were heading out, we got in one of our vehicles to get Jake's bags out and drove them to Trina's car before they left for their wedding night hotel. There was a reception the next night so they couldn't go far just yet. :)
Fri. 2nd--While at work, Jared had seen a house for sale in Snyder...4-5 bedrooms and 3,000 square feet for $199,900. We couldn't believe it. We had our realtor, Teresa, walk through it for us and send video. It's big and while there are a few cosmetic issues, it appeared move-in ready and we could update it in stages. We were really disappointed we couldn't get the Fonville's house. But our perspective changed pretty quickly when we "lost" the house. At that point, it was clear that this would be our "get out of debt" move. We were moving to Snyder to get our student loans paid off so it only made sense that we needed to buy a house that we could pay off as soon as possible.
*Jake and Trina did a photo shoot the evening of their reception in Montgomery, TX at the air bnb that her family was staying at. The pictures turned out beautifully. Trina wore her mom's wedding gown.
The reception was fun, especially since I didn't have to do anything except show up. They served pizza, salad, and wedding cake. There was dancing. We enjoyed that, as well. Trina and her dad danced together. It was very touching, her dad cried during most of it. Then Jake and I danced together. Then Jake and Trina. Then Trina's parents danced to a song together and then Jared and I danced to "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" by U2. It was a joke--we don't really have a song--but it's a good song, so we went with it. Will asked Karcyn to dance, but she was so shocked, she declined. In her defense, she has never been to a church dance, so I feel bad about not preparing her for that. I didn't think she'd have an opportunity to dance though either. Calvin and Cooper preferred not to dance with their mom or grandmas, but JJ danced a little bit with me.
The happy couple cut their cake and then changed clothes to leave. Jared gave them his car to drive to San Antonio. Trina's car needed to get them back to Utah, so the less they drove that vehicle, the better. After we all saw them off with cheers and clapping, Christina left with her crew and we asked my parents to drive our kids home in the suburban so they wouldn't have to wait for us. Jared and I hung around to help tidy up and make sure we had everything before leaving. We were in charge of gathering up the gifts and the clothes the newlyweds left behind and drove Trina's car back to College Station.
When we got home, the suburban was not in the driveway. My parents had plenty of time to make it back before us, even if they got lost. But it was a pretty straight shot to the house. I texted my mom to see if they were okay. They were. They just took the kids to McDonalds for an ice cream treat before going home. Which was super sweet. Dad told Jared how much he enjoyed driving the suburban. Yeah...that's the power of a new engine. :)
*I had previously inquired with one of the recommended house cleaners in the stake about her services, and her rates. After messaging each other back and forth for about a week, I decided that I only needed her to clean the things I didn't want to such as: the oven, the window blinds, the baseboards, the inside of light fixture bowls, and the sweeping and mopping. I wasn't going to pay someone to clean the things I was fine with and good at cleaning myself like the bathrooms and fridge, as well as the vacuuming. I certainly was not going to leave behind a dirty house. Then there was the issue of when to have the house cleaned? If I waited until we were completely out of the house, I couldn't pay her. And we were getting the carpets cleaned, so she'd have to clean before then and I'd have to arrange for someone to let her in to the house, etc. It was a logistical puzzle for a bit until the thought occurred to me that since I'm hiring someone to clean the house, I should have it done when it benefitted ME, like before the open house for Jake and Trina on the 6th. Such a brilliant idea. But I thought it had to be cleaned upon vacating. I triple-checked the documents from the buyers. It just said that we had to have the house professionally cleaned (yes, my friend has a cleaning business) and to provide a receipt at move out (we could do that). There was no stipulation about when it had to be cleaned or what had to be done. So it was all set. Santos would do the things I dreaded and she'd do it while we were driving my parents to the Austin Airport, the afternoon before the open house. We actually got home right as she was finishing up with her daughter. The house smelled INCREDIBLE! And look at this oven! It's like new. Never mind it hadn't been cleaned in, oh, seven years. True story! The women did joke that it took three applications of oven cleaner to get it looking that good. Haha! It was worth every penny. They did a wonderful job and even dusted our furniture for us. Makes me wish I had hired her every 6-12 months to just do a good once-over on everything.
My friend, Sheri Keyes, drove over an hour to come to the open house to see me one last time before we moved. Sheri is a published author and it was so fun catching up with her. I haven't seen her in about 4 years after we were realigned into another ward boundary and then she retired from teaching and moved to Calvert, TX.
I wasn't kidding when I said that it was a super laid back, low key, majorly chill open house. We were in casual clothes and shorts. I felt bad when some of our guests showed up in church clothes. Oh well. Surely they would understand with an impending move just a week away. All things considered, for a Tuesday night, the open house was a success. Lots of people came to wish the bride and groom well. I'm grateful for my friend Rebecca, who came and picked up Rolo for us so he wouldn't be in everyone's faces for the night. She was a lifesaver!
And her bedroom.
The boxes began gathering in our dining room and living room.
Tues. 13th--The inspection for the 37th Street house got pushed back from Monday to Tuesday. No biggie, but we'd be cutting it close with our option period to back out without losing earnest money. I had to join Karole at the title company that morning to close on her College Station home. Jared and I are on the deed, so we all had to sign--Jared had done his paperwork remotely the day before.
Tues. 6th--Our realtor, Teresa, called to tell me that when she called the other realtor about putting in an offer, he informed her there was another offer coming in on the 37th Street house. Of course there was! I was actually a little skeptical about that, to be honest. Mainly because my trust in others with the home buying process has been violated. But there was nothing to do except play the game. Teresa wanted to make sure that we were happy with our offer or see if we wanted to increase it. We decided to offer $200,000--$100 over asking price. And then we waited.
*Jake and Trina got home from their honeymoon in San Antonio for the most laid back open house (and good-bye house) known to man! We hired our friends Allison and Ryan Strope to make their famous "stropecakes." Lemon Blueberry, Salted Caramel, & Chocolate Reeses. Delish!
When the guests left, we enjoyed watching Jake and Trina open up gifts. They got lots of wonderful items to help them start their new life together. This gift won the most unique award...two crocheted peas in a pod: a bride pea and a groom pea that my friend Jen Moeller made for them. So creative!
Sun. 11th--The last Sunday dinner together in our CS house. We rotated the dining room table 90 degrees for the open house and never put it back. I was starting to wonder if that's how it should have been all along.
Wed. 7th--Jared called that morning to tell me we got the house! Yay!! What a relief. The inspection was set up for Monday, the 12th.
*We thought we were going to have Jake and Trina with us til Friday or Saturday. But they decided to head to Utah a few days earlier so Jake could get back to work. He'd been gone for several weeks already. Unfortunately, I had taken his nice suit to the dry cleaners, thinking we had a few days. So it wasn't going to be ready until Wednesday night, which meant, the newlyweds hung around until then. Jake graciously agreed to drive the Mazda as far as Snyder for us, packed full of liquid items we weren't allowed to put on the moving truck and other awkward items, like bikes, a chain saw, and my cardboard can rotating boxes. Cooper was driving Karole's van up with her the following week.
Thurs. 8th--Karcyn had her 15-year well child check-up. She is 5 feet tall--no growth from the previous yea--and she failed her left ear hearing exam for the second year in a row. The pediatrician made an appointment for her to see the audiologist the next morning to make sure we weren't missing anything. I tried to think about any signs of her not being able to hear very well, but couldn't.
Fri. 9th--Fortunately, the audiologist was able to perform a more specialized test. He determined that the reason Karcyn was failing this exam is because her ear canals are super tiny and the regular ear phones aren't the greatest. He had some super ear buds that he used for the test where the sounds could travel easier. And she passed. She will likely always fail if they don't use the ear buds. So that was a relief to learn. Though Karcyn's still not happy about being short.
*Those of us 13 and older watched the long awaited Marvel movie "Black Widow." Calvin had been binge watching the Marvel movies since his birthday, the beginning of May, so that he'd be ready to watch and understand Black Widow. We were excited to watch it with Jake because some of it was filmed in Budapest, Hungary, while Jake was serving there in fact. But he and Trina left for Utah earlier than they had previously planned. It was still fun to watch and see those places in Hungary and imagine his excitement.
*Some pictures of the 37th Street house.
Sat. 10th--Jared said good-bye to College Station and left for Snyder.
*Jared's hospital badge, all ready to go for his first day of work on Monday, 7/12.
Mon.12th--One box at a time. Slowly but surely, things were getting packed away. This is all that was left of Karcyn's walk-in closet.
*The kids and I went to the pool later that afternoon, for the last time. We spent a couple hours there and the kids played really well with some other kids who came later. It looked like a storm was building so we left before we got pounded.
We got home minutes before the storm hit us. This looks like Rolo running. It's not. It's Rolo sitting, facing the crazy wind accompanying the storm front.
Wed. 14th--Our realtor texted at 11:30 asking if we'd gotten the inspection report yet. Jared, working at his new job, had just received it and forwarded it on to me and Teresa. It was not good. Everything was deficient, except the dishwasher, which was new, and the stairs--because there aren't any! The plumbing, the electrical, the AC/Heating, the foundation has shifted well beyond what is acceptable. The doors don't line up in the doorframes, there are cracks in the floors and walls and ceiling and there was evidence of wood destroying insects. Not to mention there had previously been a fire at that house, which wasn't in the report, but was brought to our attention by someone at Jared's office. As soon as I read the report, I had a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach and immediately knew this is not where we were supposed to be. We needed to back out and that was our last day to do so, blessedly. I don't think the sellers were going to negotiate repairs or an asking price well below what they were offering to get these things taken care of. Teresa felt like there were too many big items to address as well and agreed that this wasn't a good place for us. We were doing this communicating all by text messages and Jared had yet to chime in. He had just been there. Teresa was already getting the termination documents prepared when I got ahold of him by phone. Apparently, he had missed that whole conversation because he was being a good employee and seeing patients. I felt awful that he hadn't even been in the loop. He was, understandably, a bit stressed that we were backing out of a house that was in our size and price range. He said that maybe we could have negotiated them down to $170,000. I told Jared that even that low price likely wouldn't have paid to even fix the foundation (we know because his brother has had major foundation/plumbing issues these past few years). And we don't have the advantage of working at the ER to pick up extra shifts to pay for such house issues. I still felt that the decision I made (though I did think Jared was there, too) was the right one. But on the flip side, I felt truly awful that I did it without Jared having any say. In Teresa's defense, our initials are the same. So if she has us entered as Jared Hough and Jenn Hough in her phone, she's going to see JH every time one of us texts her.
There was also a complication with the fact we no longer had a house to move into a few weeks after moving to Snyder. We were moving into a hospital rental home, fully furnished. They could have kept the furnishings out, but we said it was fine to leave them since we were moving so soon after we arrived. But now we weren't so we'd have no place to put our furniture and boxes in the meantime, outside of the garage. And we were arriving in Snyder in a couple days. The hospital couldn't pack up the house with that short notice. Nor could we pick and choose what furniture to keep. It was an all or nothing deal. I told Jared it would be fine. We'd just put what we could in the house and put everything else in the garage. The hospital very graciously said we could use the garage next door to store our things in it as there was no one, currently, living there. That would be a huge help. We'd just pray to find a house sooner, rather than later, but would deal with moving the things out of that garage when and if it came to that.
*Speaking of moving, it was moving day for Karole and Cooper. But first, Cooper needed to sign one last page of his missionary paperwork. We're so grateful that Bishop Kimber caught what we missed and met us in one of the A&M parking lots, signing on the back of his Tesla, before he headed to work. :)
*The other thing that Cooper needed to do was pick up his diploma! Since I didn't get a chance to present it to him at graduation, we had tried a couple times previously to pick it up and figured I'd give it to him right there in the front office, but they were either closed or the person in charge of diplomas wasn't there. Then life happened and we almost forgot. Cooper drove over to the high school quickly and was finally able to get it...in a high school cinch bag. Haha!
*Karole had two moving trucks and filled them to the brim. In fact, there was a recliner and her vacuum that still needed to be loaded. They held their mouth right and somehow got the vacuum on the last truck. But the recliner didn't make it. It was so big, between me and Cooper, in an empty house with no tools, we couldn't even move it into the garage. So it stayed with the house. Lucky new home owner. It's one of those recliners that is automated and lifts the person to a standing position.
Once the trucks were gone, Cooper and I moved Karole's bags and boxes from the living room out to the garage so I could start loading the van for her. And then we were hit with another storm with a crazy downpour, complete with lightning and thunder that struck very close! It was coming down so hard, we had to close the garage door and wait it out.
After the storm eased up a bit, I was able to finish getting all their things loaded. They were kind enough to drop me off at home before getting on the road around 4pm. A lot later than we were hoping and expecting. But Karole had Cooper with her and I had one less house and one less kid to worry about.
*Jared said that President Davis from our new branch had spoken to Kevin and told him that he was SO relieved to hear we didn't buy the house on 37th Avenue. Rumor has it that the house next door is a drug house--there are so many cars there, at all hours, coming and going. That right there was solid proof that the Spirit was speaking a firm warning to me when we got the inspection. That house and location was not right for us. I'm so grateful I listened!
Fri. 16th--My poor kids...it was a pretty boring week for them. They played outside when they could. But mostly watched TV and kept an eye on Rolo while I packed and packed and packed. This box had frying pans in it, so I had to write "Frying pans--who knew?" A quote from the Disney Movie "Tangled."
*Will came over to say good-bye. We ate lunch together while he shared some funny memes with us that made us laugh and laugh. He was a doll and helped me disconnect the desktop in such a way that would help us put it back together easier.
We will miss Will!!
More boxes were added to the growing collection and the garage overfloweth with boxes and other items. The movers were coming the next morning, bright and early.
*Karcyn slept downstairs on the couch so she could sleep with Rolo while I continued to pack that night.
Sat. 17th--Moving day was finally here! The trucks were coming at 8am. I was up at 5:30 to get the final things done and the kids over to Jeff and Annie Hatala's--who graciously agreed to watch the kids and dog for me while I helped the movers and cleaned the house as rooms were available. Our four bathrooms were already cleaned and ready to go. Everything was boxed up and the house was clean including the fridge and cabinets/drawers, minus the vacuuming and final sweeping after the movers were done. When we first got the estimate from the moving company, we weren't sure if the kitchen would be packed up or not. But it was. I didn't want there to be any delays, especially since it was $250/hour for packing. (Maybe I should go into the packing business).
We got started right around 8:15am. I showed them all the rooms and everything that needed to go. Our attic was also empty, so it was just the boxes in the house, in the garage, the furniture (including our big piano) and the canoe and smoker out back. I had hoped that we could be loaded by noon and on our way, so the kids and I could grab lunch on the road. This was our garage by 9:05am. It was practically empty! The team of four guys, two per truck, one of which had to move Karole a few days ago (haha!), were making good time.
We have moved what feels like hundreds of times over the past two decades. We've never had movers load us though. We've always packed our own things. I'm a bit of a control freak when it comes to that...I want to know how my things are being packed and where things are and that we're using the maximum box space. Plus, my mom said the one time she had movers pack her things, was the only time something broke in the move, so I take pride in making sure everything is organized by room/category and packed well. And with the exception of moving to Texas from Oregon, we've always moved our own things. Loading the truck with well meaning and helpful members of our church has always been greatly appreciated and has never taken more than a couple hours from start to finish. Which is why I expected the professional movers to be done by noon or 1pm at the latest. I didn't expect them to wrap every piece of furniture in saran wrap and blankets to ensure safe passage without damage. THAT took a little bit of time. As did disassembling the two queen beds, which, in their defense, we've always done before.
The crew had been working hard and it was SO HOT. I had leftovers from the dinner my sweet friend, Stephanie Boivie, and current Relief Society president (former counselor to me when I was RS president :) had brought to us the night before that needed to be eaten. It was delicious BBQ pulled chicken, coleslaw and rolls. Around 11:00am, I offered the guys some food. They graciously accepted and sent their compliments to the chef. Which I passed on to Stephanie with this picture of them partaking. :) While we were making some progress, I knew we weren't going to be done in the next two hours. So I talked to Jeff, who had my kids and dog, and asked him if I ordered some pizza for their family and my kids, if he'd be willing to pick up the order. He said he would but it wasn't necessary. I told him I had promised my kids pizza for lunch, so if we couldn't leave when we had hoped to, I could at least get them the pizza. And it was the least I could do for his family for their kind service that day.
Packing up Karcyn's bedroom furniture. I kind of thought they might pack up one room at a time, so I could vacuum and clean up behind them, checking off rooms as we went. But they would pack up certain things, load them, then go get something from another room, etc. So it was hard for me to make any cleaning progress when it seemed like everything was going to be out mostly at the same time. I wasn't sure what was on their radar, so periodically, I would remind them about the backyard items that needed to be moved, like the Traeger smoker/grill, the canoe and throwback net. They said they remembered. Cool.
Packing up the game room. The other thing I neglected to factor into my truck loading time estimate, is that 85% of the furniture we were moving, we *bought* for this house after moving to College Station. We didn't have it all when we came to Texas (our bedroom set, Karcyn's bedroom set, the living room couch, the 2 large screen TVs and consoles, recliner, bench from Karole, etc.) and it made for more bulky items to wrap and prep for the move.
Candy bar wrappers, Snickers specifically, behind Cooper's bed.
With the help of Todd Graham, our home teacher when we came to Texas, Jake used one of the doors Todd didn't need anymore to create and build this corner desk to utilize dead space and provide a work bench for his many projects. It stayed. Sure hope the owners liked it. This picture shows what the color of the carpet looked like when we first moved in up against the walls where the beds were. Crazy how "dirty" or discolored the open carpet became after seven years.
There's no doubt where our bed was in the master. Haha.
Ahh, the laundry room where the washer and dryer sat for seven years. Honestly, I expected this floor mess to be much worse. Not bad, all things considered. The bad part was that the washer hose leaked water so whatever dirt/dust was on the floor, became mud. This was around 2:15pm. We were getting there! Down to the nitty gritty.
At one point, one of the movers said they had bad news. Oh? They forgot about the canoe and said they had no place to put it on the truck and they were really sorry about that. I said, "Well, that isn't good. What are you going to do about it?" His response was a shrug indicating they had no way to fix the problem and that we had to leave it. I kind of chuckled and said, "That's my husband's canoe, so I'll let you call him and tell him that" (knowing full well that leaving it behind, unless they wanted to pay the $800 to replace it or make an extra trip to Snyder and back to bring it to us later, was not an option). I guess one of the other guys working the other truck told them that they'd been saving room on their rig for the canoe all along. And it's a darn good thing, for their sakes.
Annie brought my kids and a big bag of ice for my cooler to my house around 3:30pm for which I was so grateful. I was exhausted and still had a 6 hour drive ahead of me. We walked through the house one last time, making sure we had everything. I turned the A/C off, like I do whenever we go on trips. I certainly wasn't going to pay for four days of cooling a house that no one was going to be in. And left the keys and receipts on the counter. We got Rolo in the car, took a farewell picture, said goodbye to and hugged the Uptons, and got on the road at 4:30pm. Four hours later than I expected. It was a gross miscalculation, but we'd survive. Felt kind of surreal.
We didn't really know what to expect from Rolo. His past experience is that he's thrown up in the car just driving to and from the vet. But that didn't happen the first few times, it was after he had his vaccines, so I think that was the main culprit. His foster family said he did really well in the car before we adopted him. The other thing that had me on high alert is that he didn't go pee or poop at all when the kids were at the Hatalas. They were there for eight hours. I'm glad we had him in his doggie bed. I think that really helped comfort him.
We needed to stop for dinner but the last place to stop was around 6pm near Waco. Which was a horrible time of day. Fortunately, Jared was able to locate a Chick-fil-A for us so we didn't get too far off the beaten path. And for those who didn't want Chick-fil-A, there was a McDonalds right next door. So that worked out well. Took us about 45 minutes though to sit through the two drive-thru lanes and get back on the road we needed. But all things considered, it went very smoothly. The kids did really well in the car as did Rolo. We stopped to get gas a few hours later and got Rolo out to go potty. While he was happy to walk and stretch his legs, he would not do his business. Which was a little worrisome. He had to stay on his leash and in all the times we've taken him for walks, I had never witnessed him going potty while on the leash. So maybe that was the issue. Oh well, if he had an accident, we had pee pads in the burb and his bed was washable.
*On the way to Snyder, Peggy, our realtor in CS, texted around 7:45 to ask if anyone was still at the house. I said no. She said that the agent and vendors wanted to come through on Sunday between 11:30 and 12:30. I texted back and asked what kind of vendors work on a Sunday? She said that technically they wanted to do it on Saturday but Peggy said no way because that was moving day for us. The buyers wanted their flooring and painting vendors in so they could order supplies and get started right after they fund the house. So I said fine. My mom called shortly after that to see how we were doing. I told her about the vendors wanting to come in without us being there and she said that we shouldn't have to let them do that until after they buy the house. I told her it wasn't unusual for this type of thing to happen. She doesn't trust them as far as she can throw them either, so she suggested Peggy or someone to represent us as sellers should be there with them. Because we left all the keys and such on the counter. I didn't disagree with that. I called Peggy after my conversation with Mom to express my concerns about them being alone in our empty house with no one there to supervise them. I hated to make anyone work on Sunday though to help with this. She said she understood and would ensure that someone would be there.
*We rolled into Kevin's driveway in Snyder around 10:30pm. Jared met us in the driveway and I handed him Rolo saying, "He hasn't gone potty all day." So Jared took him to the back yard while the rest of us got out and grabbed our overnight bags. Much to my relief, and Rolo's too, I'm sure, Rolo did his business in Kevin's backyard. Yay! It was actually just Kevin at the house, sleeping, when we arrived. The cousins were all out west in Utah/California on a trip.
Jared asked if we wanted to see the rental, so we all went around the corner to see it. They had left a cute little welcome basket for the kids on the counter. Very thoughtful.
We got everyone settled in a place to sleep for the night and Jared and I went to sleep in Garrett's room. Kevin's dog Kobe was somewhere in the house and Rolo was very aware of that fact. He wouldn't stop barking. At all. Didn't matter what we did. I felt like he was going to wake the dead. So after about 15 minutes of dealing with his incessant barking, we packed up our stuff, including Rolo, and went to the rental to sleep. He settled right down.
Sun. 18th--MOVING-IN DAY. I felt bad making the movers work on Sunday and that we had to miss church at 10am. But it couldn't be avoided and hoped the Lord could see that on my heart. Not everything was going to fit in the rental or the garage. I was grateful we could use the garage at the rental next door. Fortunately, the moving company was just fine with unloading some things in one garage and some in the other.
Almost done! Only took three hours--the time I was estimating for our move-out. But there were no beds to put back together either. So we're stuck doing that ourselves. Oh well. The garage looks great! The other garage has all the furniture that we couldn't get in the house.
Overall, we are very grateful and happy with Sarge's moving services. The things that we decided we didn't want or couldn't keep, we donated to Sarge's who put the items back on the truck to later donate them to veteran families which I think is pretty neat.
*Around 10:30am, Peggy said she'd leave after Sacrament meeting at 11:30 and go to the house to grab the keys and check for anything we might have missed and sit in the car until the vendors/agent leave then go back and check on the house.
As it turns out, the buyer's agent called Peggy all in a tiff when they arrived at the house. They were very, very concerned that we had turned the A/C off in "this heat" and they are worried that it will break if it has to cool off the house after three days of not running. I told her that it's our house and still our financial responsibility. We don't run our heat and A/C when we're not physically in the house. But if they want to start taking over the electric bill, that's totally fine by us. Peggy said she was calling her A/C guy to see if this is really a concern or not and that we'll just have to have it turned on the morning of closing on the 21st so they can see that it's working and it will help the carpets dry faster. She said they'll walk around in socks. I said that's fine, I could have my neighbor turn it on to 78 degrees when she lets the carpet cleaner in. We were not going to be bullied by these buyers.
Mon. 19th--With no pantry, I had to find a new home for my cardboard can rotators. The cabinets in the laundry room were a perfect spot for them.
While unpacking the kitchen and trying to figure out where to put things, I found some mail one of the drawers. It was addressed to Kevin and Christina Hough. My brother-in-law and sister-in-law who lived in this same rental three years ago. I can't believe these were still there for them after all this time. I gave them to Chris. She got a kick out of it.
*Speaking of setting up new spaces, the following pictures are of Jake and Trina's 1 bedroom apartment converted from a studio that they were able to secure before getting married at $825 a month. Sooo expensive and it was a miracle they even found it. Trying to get married housing at all, let alone within a student budget in Provo, Utah is virtually impossible. Fortunately, they got one and it's right across the street from campus. I remember the first married apartment Jared and I had in Ogden, Utah when I was finishing my degree at Weber State University. It was two bedroom, so a little bit bigger, but it was definitely old without A/C and had many patched up holes in the bathroom. We also had to seal the windows with tape and plastic wrap to keep the drafty wind/cold out in the winter. The only updated part was the carpet. It wasn't great, but it was at least clean. I loved setting it up though and making it into our home. These pictures take me back...
In the words of the genie from Aladdin..."Itty bitty living space" or kitchen anyway. ;)
Tues. 20th--This is most important to remember!
*For $165, we had a mobile notary come to our house from Odessa so we could sign the closing documents on our house. It was pretty quick and painless. The notary, however, had a 3 hour round trip drive. Bleh.
Wed. 21st--When we left College Station on Saturday afternoon, I posted on Facebook that Snyder is on the way to Lubbock, so for anyone traveling, our doors are always open. Well, wish granted! I got a call from a branch member, who I had met once before when Kevin and Chris first moved to Snyder. Her name is Ronda Cowley and her husband serves in the branch presidency. Somehow, she had been contacted by a member of the stake regarding a young engaged college couple driving back to College Station, who could really use a free place to stay for the night, Tuesday evening. They were traveling back from school before getting married and were trying to save up as much money as they could. Ronda was in between trips and wasn't sure she could put them up, but when she realized they were from College Station and we had just moved to Snyder from College Station, she called me to see if I could help. I didn't know the young man, but I knew his mom from serving in the stake. They live in Bryan. Of course, I was happy to help. Ronda called the young man back and gave him my number so we could connect. Chris Magby called me and we made the arrangements. He and his fiance didn't arrive until about 11pm. I put Karcyn in on a mattress in the little boys' room and gave Mikaela Karcyn's room. Chris got the couch with the gold comforter from our bed because I had no idea where any of our blankets were. Haha! They didn't care and were most grateful. I totally get it. On Wednesday morning, after pancakes, bacon and orange juice for breakfast, we took this picture together out front. I posted on Facebook that three days after moving to Snyder we already had our first overnight guests and how I meant what I said about our doors always being open, especially for sweet kids driving back and forth from college. Helping someone in need, even strangers, brings me such joy.
*My sweet neighbor, Melanie, went over early that morning to unlock the door for the carpet cleaner at 7:30 and turned the A/C on to 78 degrees upstairs and downstairs. At 9:59, I got a text from Peggy. She asked if we have a lock on the downstairs thermostat. I said no, I've never heard of such a thing. She said the thermostat won't go any lower than 78 degrees so the buyers thought we had a password lock on it. I said nope, my kids raised and lowered it all the time. I said I didn't see why this was such a big deal, they skipped the inspection, we did everything they asked of us and if there are issues with the A/C that's what the home inspection is for. They're just paranoid. Peggy explained that the A/C is fixed to the house and is required to be in good working order. She was trying to get her HVAC guy out there to look at it while the buyers are signing the documents. I told her it was working fine. It will probably take a little time for it to come down because it's been a few days. That's what Peggy told the other agent.
At 11:20am, Peggy texted to say that FedEx messed up and sent our title docs to Tennessee. She did verify with title that the money is there and ready to fund. The buyers have signed and everything looked good on all the documents. Title just requires all docs in hand before they fund. Peggy said since the utilities are already in their name, the buyers are requesting a one day lease so that they can have access to the house. I said that was fine for the lease and asked how much they'd be paying. She said it's anywhere from $0-$50. I said $50 was fine. Turns out she had to send $25 and the other agent sent $25. I thought it was dumb that Peggy had to pay. This was for the buyers, not the sellers. So I just said, don't worry about it because it was stupid. I didn't want her to have to pay for anything.
*Jared had been keeping watch on the Snyder housing market by the hour to see if anything new popped up that fit the bill for our family. There was a house south of the park that we had seen before. It was okay. Not my favorite, not awful. But it was 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 2100 sq. ft. and listed at $240,000. Way more than we could pay and way smaller than we needed. Although, because four bedrooms in our price range that weren't also super dumpy were impossible to find, we started to rethink our options. We might not have any other choice but to get a 3 bedroom. Except that if things didn't work out with Karole (like she passed away or something) we'd have no place to put Cooper and that was a little disconcerting. For now though, we really did only need 3 bedrooms. So that opened things up a little more. We saw one that seemed doable, but while it said it was for sale, it was really under contract. We found another outside of town with some land, but it was under contract too. Right before we closed on our house in College Station, Jared noticed the 2100 sq. ft, house south of the park again...the only one in that neighborhood for sale. He noticed the price had been lowered from $240,000 to $219,000. Hmm. That might be worth a walk through. So we went to see it that evening. It was a cute little house on the outside. What I thought were blossoms covering the front yard is actually river rock. It smelled like old people when we walked in. The flooring was newer, but everything else was original 1973. Popcorn ceilings, mustard yellow counter-tops, old wooden cabinets, wall paper in parts of the bathrooms, shower ceilings that were lower than 6 feet. The backyard isn't much, but there's some grass and a storm cellar smack dab in the middle of the yard. The layout was very similar to our Oregon house in that all the bedrooms were off to the left and the rest of the house was off to the right. I liked that there was a dining area off the kitchen and there was a separate living room at the front of the house and a family room in the middle--three separate living spaces. There is also a sunroom they added on at some point, which obviously takes up a good chunk of the backyard. But there's enough space for Rolo to run and do his business.
This is a picture from the dining area looking at the corner "kitchen nook" and back into the family room.
Standing in the kitchen nook area, looking into the kitchen. I like the really long peninsula/bar. Also reminiscent of our house in Oregon.
The laundry room.
As we mulled it over, we realized the house had potential. It would fit our basic needs. It wouldn't be our dream house and definitely needed a lot of work.
Thurs. 22nd--Karcyn made it to Snyder just in time to attend youth conference up at West Texas A&M campus in Canyon, TX. She and her cousin, Olivia, were roommates. Because of Covid, she was never able to attend youth conference until now. I was a little worried about her eating options. I've always been involved (as a stake YW leader) in the food options for the stake activities and made sure that additional choices were made available for those with allergies. Being new to the stake, by just days, I was concerned for Karcyn in this respect. Fortunately, my sister-in-law, Chris, is the YW president and was able to ask and verify that because the venue was a campus location, there would be salads and other GF options for her. And at least Chris would be there to help her. I sent Karcyn with a loaf of GF bread and peanut butter and honey and some GF cookies, just in case. It was only three days, but I didn't want her going to bed hungry. I was excited for this trip--they'd get to go to Palo Duro Canyon which is a talked about destination in College Station. It's 7 1/2 hours from CS and so if you're going to go there, it has to be while you're passing through or you have to spend the night somewhere. We hope to camp there or nearby in the future. I hear it's the Grand Canyon of Texas...the second largest canyon in the United States.
*The package with our documents that were supposed to go from Snyder, TX to College Station, TX and ended up in Tennessee, finally made it to the title company around 10am. At 11:30, Peggy learned that the title company sent the wrong page for us to sign and needed our wet signature. I was in appointments until 1pm and because our printer wasn't set up, I would have to borrow one and then go to Jared's office to have him sign it. So that meant the buyers needed to rent the house for another day. Peggy just went ahead and Venmo'd me the money for that.
*At 1:15pm, my neighbors sent this picture--our house with the carpets ripped up and piled in the garage. She said, "Wonder why you needed to clean the carpets if they were just going to replace them?" Good question. However, my bigger concern was that they violated the terms of the lease agreement--no changes can be made while renting. So I sent this picture to Peggy and asked what was up.
Apparently, the loan was funded a couple hours previously. The buyer's agent was notified but not Peggy. That's good because I just wanted to move on from this transaction. It was nice and very weird to see a large 6 digit number in our checking account. :) Despite the annoyances of the experience, the Lord blessed us immensely. We made five times more money on that house than we did in the same amount of time in Oregon.
*Rolo chilling in the dining room. He never curled up on the carpet in College Station and we could hardly blame him. That carpet was a little fabric laid over cement. The rental carpet, however, is like walking on a cloud. It's not soft, texture-wise, but the padding underneath sure is. It's amazing. We decided our house needed that same padding.
*Jared and I asked our realtor, Teresa, if we could go back and see the house on Garwood with the contractor she recommended to do the renovations to see what was possible. His name is Orlando and he's a very nice man. Most things seemed doable. We had considered piping heating and A/C to the sunroom and walling off part of it to create a very small room for Cooper and more livable space. But it was more work than we wanted. So we scrapped that idea. But said we could definitely knock out the wall of cabinets over the peninsula to open it up and add a desk with cabinet and counter space in the kitchen nook area. We were just going to reface the cabinets, but he said if it's about the same price to replace them completely, that might be what we want to do.
From living in our last two homes, we know that location is a big selling point. This house was the only one for sale in the area south of Towle Park, which is an older neighborhood, but good location. Karole bought a house just two streets north of us. Teresa said that she could sell houses in the South Park neighborhood all day every day. They always sell. So we decided that this was probably the best we could do under the circumstances. The housing market in Snyder is bad for buyers. Always has been. But we just need to get into it and then sit for awhile. Hopefully it'll be good for us as sellers when/if the time comes. We decided to offer $215,000 for the house with an inspection.
Fri. 23rd--I took some treats to Jared's office staff to enjoy for payday and noticed that the hospital had already added Jared's name to the sign out front. He hadn't even been there two weeks yet! And they were already working on building him a new office space. So generous!
*The boys doing the dishes together. :)
*Jared and Rolo chillin' in the living room.
*We found out that our offer on the Garwood home was accepted! Next step--the inspection. We prayed this one went better than the last one.
Sat. 24th--Jared went fishing with Kevin early that morning--one of the perks of moving to Snyder. When he got back around 11, we decided to take a trip to the big city of Lubbock. Cooper was already there watching some bowling pros at a PBA tournament and Karcyn was at youth conference. We packed up the cooler for our return trip and headed north. It's seriously, a straight shot from Snyder to Lubbock. It's more like a country drive. There aren't a ton of cars on the road. And there are some hills and plateaus and lots of windmills. We thought it would be fun to go out for lunch, a rare and special treat for our family. Since we didn't have to plan around finding a GF place to eat, we suddenly had so many options! The boys chose IHOP and we invited Cooper to join us. It was a yummy meal with most my boys! I laughed when, after Cooper's meal with eggs and pancakes arrived, he whipped out this small bottle of hot sauce. I had NO idea he carried it around with him.
After lunch, Cooper went back to spectating (and we later learned he was even asked to film for Packy Hanrahan for his YouTube channel--how cool is that?) and we took the two boys on our errands. First--haircuts before school starts. Had to tame the mullet.
Then we took the opportunity to find and see the Lubbock Temple. Can't wait to go!
We went to buy new school shoes, picked up some specialty items at the biggest HEB I've ever seen! It was ginormous. And then we went to SAMs club one last time before our membership expired the beginning of August. Sam's has been fine, but we missed Costco and now that we have the option, we want to go back. If nothing else, Costco has a much bigger variety of gluten-free and keto-friendly foods.
*Karcyn got home from youth conference before we did, but she was able to get into the house and relax a little. We heard she was quite the dancer. She went out to the dance floor and danced like no one was watching. I can only image. :) There were two dances that weekend and these are the first dances she's ever been to. I probably should have prepped her a bit for those. She was asked to dance a few times at each dance, by young men, so at least she didn't turn them down like she did poor Will at Jake's reception. She loved the classes, loved rooming with Olivia, learned a lot, and was super tired when she got home. Sounds like a success to me.
*Later that night, we went to the cousins to watch a movie. The one in the main room was PG-13. While Korbin, who is JJ's age, is allowed to watch PG-13, JJ is not. So they watched a movie in Kevin and Chris's room, which was very considerate of them to do.
Sun. 25th--Karcyn was asked last minute to share her testimony about her experience at youth conference in Sacrament meeting--along with her cousins Garrett and Olivia. They were the only three from the branch who went. Karcyn kept her testimony brief and on point. I was very proud of how well she did and in a new branch, no less.
*Calvin playing manipulation with Rolo.
Mon. 26th--I was sitting in my kitchen working on some things, when out of the blue, I got a text from my friend, Annie Hatala. They were going to be in Snyder within the hour and wondered if they could stop by. YES!!! They were on their way to a family reunion in Colorado. They were staying at an air bnb on the way there, but were still trying to secure one for the way back. I told them to forget it and stay with us, offering the disclaimer that you do get what you pay for!! They said they'd love that, so it was settled. They'd spend Saturday night at our rental and come to church with us the next morning. Yay!! I have now had MORE house guests in podunk Snyder in two weeks than we ever did in seven years in College Station. Too funny.
*Rolo eating his second dinner. Whenever he hears the dishwasher door being opened, he comes running.
Wed. 28th--I decided we needed to try out the Snyder public pool. It isn't open on some days and even then you can't get in until after 12pm. I offered to take the cousins as well. It's a nice big pool with diving boards and a slide. More than we ever had in our neighborhood. Not that I'm complaining. Water is water in the heat of the summer.
JJ coming out of the slide.
At the shallow end of the pool, the water gradually gets deeper and deeper, kind of like a beach, which is fun.
JJ trying the diving board for the first time.
JJ and Korbin swimming in the shallow end.
Calvin brought along his football and found a lone kid he could toss it with. Gradually though, all the other boys who were there together started to gravitate towards them in hopes of joining in--there were a dozen of them at one point. It warmed my heart to watch Calvin happily welcome and include each boy who wanted to play. Even the lifeguards got in on the action. It was a proud mommy moment to watch Calvin show his love for these strangers in deed and truth. We all have value. We can all play together. Reminding me of the scripture 1 John 3:18 which says, "My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue only; but in deed and in truth."
Calvin trying the slide.
Olivia, Ayzlynn, and Ariana Jazexhiu--a friend from the branch who came along, too.
JJ
Calvin trying some front flips. He's pretty fearless.
JJ going head first down the slide...I'm not sure that's even allowed.
Thurs. 29th--Karcyn and Calvin finally got their first covid vaccine and Jared had to go to Lubbock for a root canal. The kids did really well tolerating the vaccine and Jared wasn't laid up too much either.
Fri. 30th--We got the home inspection report. It wasn't awful. I think all inspection reports are meant to overwhelm buyers, though. We learned that the furnace was installed in 1992 and the A/C in 1997. Good grief. Those definitely need to be replaced. There was a small plumbing issue and some electrical that needed tending to. The foundation was good. The roof was new. But replacing the HVAC is expensive. At least a $10,000 job. We decided to negotiate the price down to $205,000 to make up for that replacement and any other repairs that need to be done, then the seller won't have to do anything. We know the owner is an 80 year old recent widow. We thought that this would make her life much easier to just walk away and not have to make any arrangements beyond signing papers. The owner and her kids countered at $210,400. We countered back at $207,900 and they accepted.
Sat. 31st--Jared getting ready to go out and mow the yard. We were excited to host the Hatala Family for the night when they came back through town on their way back to College Station.
