Sat. 1st--This was a super busy day! It was Calvin's 13th birthday and he previously decided to sign us up to clean the branch building on his special day because that would mean donuts afterwards (our family tradition after cleaning the church).We were up super early because we had to do his gifts first before cleaning (and a one hour round trip drive) and then get Calvin to bowling league by 10am. It's not a normal practice for us to have kids open up their birthday gifts first thing in the morning, but we bought Calvin a rolling bowling bag that holds up to three balls and his shoes, so we really wanted him to have it before heading to league.
He loved it! This is Billy--his spare ball. Yes, that's a fake skull. Someone gave this ball to him. Actually other bowlers have given him all three of his balls AND his bowling shoes. Super generous people!!
He also got a gift card from Aunt Kelly and Uncle Steve to Amazon and these super cool binoculars from Grandma and Grandpa Lee. I am so uncreative when it comes to gift-giving, and they know exactly what things to give. How did they know that Calvin had recently kifed Jared's expensive binoculars? Haha!
We cleaned the branch building, got our donuts, spectated at bowling, and then we had to go home and do our own family (cleaning) contributions. Jared and I hadn't said anything to the kids yet about moving, but I did reach out to my friend, Peggy Eckman, who is a realtor and used to be in the Caldwell Branch. I wanted to see if she'd give us an idea of what we could sell our house for. She said she and her husband, Curtis, could meet with us later that afternoon around 4:30pm.
There have been two other times in Jared's career with St. Joseph that we seriously thought we might be moving. I would talk about it with my neighbor, Crystal King, and she would always tell me, "Let me know because we'd be very interested in buying your house." They have 5 kids of their own, two grown, and three the ages of our youngest three. But they got custody of one of their grandchildren about five years ago, and the six of them are living in a 3/2 with 1800 sq. feet. However, one of the adult sons recently moved back in with his girlfriend and their two children, which brings the current total living in their house to ten!
I let Crystal know that we were serious about moving this time, already got a job offer and that we were going to leave that next weekend to take a look around Snyder and officially accept the offer, etc. She said she totally wanted to buy our house. I laughed at her eagerness and replied, "Okay, but why don't you see what we plan to sell it for first." :)
Back at home, while we were grabbing lunch, Jared got a text from a co-worker who told him, "We saw your daughter's artwork at the district art exhibit." Jared was puzzled and asked me if I knew anything about this. I said no. We asked Karcyn if she knew anything about this. She said no. The art show was almost over, so she and I jumped in the car and headed to the middle school to go find her piece that made the distinguished display! Thank goodness for Jared's friend who tipped us off, otherwise, we would have never known!
This is our little Rolo. Karcyn created the piece by scratching off the black parts of a board with the tip of a paperclip, leaving only the white parts exposed. She did admit to me that this was her second try. Her first attempt made Rolo look like a baby cow. It really does look like Rolo, too! And the vinyl plank flooring really adds depth. I was super impressed. You can't erase these strokes. Once you make them, you're committed.
We gave the Eckmans a tour of our house. They said that it was impressively clean and in really great shape for seven years old (and raising five kids--four of them boys). Peggy said that we could certainly sell the house to our neighbors and she could be the agent for both of us in that transaction, but that we should probably plan to move forward and list it, just in case things don't work out with the Kings. Curtis said there were a couple things that needed to be fixed--a hole in the boys' room for one, and the master bathroom light fixture was dangling down by a few wires. He said his team would fix those free of charge for us to get it ready to put on the market. But other than that, we wouldn't do anything prior to the inspection report (except take pictures off the walls). Then, when that long to-do list comes, Curtis said his team can fix items A-W at an inexpensive rate that they'll just bill us for at closing, and then we say no to X, Y, and Z. But by doing a majority of the requests, it puts us in a position to say, "Hey...we did 23 things for you. We're only saying no to 3." Sounded good to us. I really loved that we had a contractor already built-in for those repairs that needed done initially and for what might come.
Peggy said after doing hours of research and checking out comps, she suggested listing our house at $350,000. She said based on the size, it could go for $367,000, but figured we'd price it under and see what happens. We balked at the price she suggested. "Here? In our (starter) neighborhood? Are you sure?" She explained that there is a very low inventory of homes for sale in the area and between that and Covid, it put us in an interesting position. She said lots of homes are going for $10-20,000 over asking price right now. Since our home is the largest in our neighborhood and nothing our size has ever sold here before for reference, she decided to list it at $350,000. We were pretty skeptical, but decided to trust her. We didn't sign any contract to work with her, and she offered us 5% commission instead of 6% since we're friends. We also told her that Jared's mom would be coming to Snyder with us, therefore needing to sell her house as well, and pointed her in Karole's direction.
It was hard to believe that if we sold our house for $350,000, we'd be walking away with a substantial amount of equity. More than we ever dreamed we'd have after just seven years. Even still, we knew that it likely wouldn't go far in Snyder. That town is known for small, junky, overpriced homes.
When I let Crystal know the "listing price" to allow them first dibs on the house, she balked, too. "$350,000?? For your house?" They figured if we could sell ours for that much, they were going to sell their house and build a new one in another subdivision. One where her kids would go to CSHS (where we were previously zoned before they rezoned us to A&M Consol HS). They decided to list their house for $290,000 and then she confided in me that they needed every last dime to go into their new $420,000 home which was only 2300 sq. ft. (as opposed to ours at 2700 sq. f.t, which was also move-in ready). I didn't fully understand her need to be in another school. Consol is great. I've subbed at both. They have pros and cons. Yes, CSHS is newer, but that's about it. I also told her that Karcyn isn't in any extra curricular activity (like band or choir) and she's had a great year, with several new friends. I suppose there is also the prideful pull of a brand new house that you get to design. All I know is that we can't afford a $420,000 home and Jared makes more than both of them combined. We do have student loans we're paying off, but they have medical bills. I just don't get it and felt like they were making a big mistake, but Crystal's mind was made up. She could not be persuaded so we got our house ready to put on the market.
Karcyn and Rolo waiting to leave for church.
Mon. 3rd--I fought this thing in the car rider line this afternoon with my metal stop sign. I didn't win. But neither did he! The principal, Robyn Jones, happened to be outside with us. I pointed it out to her before the cars started advancing and she, I kid you not, SCREAMED. It was hilarious!!
Wed. 5th--It was Teacher Appreciation Week at school. They rolled out the red carpet for us and had us wear fancy clothes. I don't have a lot of fancy semi-formal dresses, but I inherited this cool, sparkly, mermaid type skirt and sparkly top from a friend, so I wore those. It was fun dressing up for a day.
*Later that night JJ and his friend, Phin, whom he invited, and I went to Primary Activities. We learned that in order to successfully create a piece of pottery using a potter's wheel, the clay must be perfectly centered on that wheel as it starts to spin faster and faster. Only then can the clay be molded into something beautiful. Otherwise, it'll just end up as a lifeless lump of clay. In a like manner, we, too, must center our lives on the teachings of Jesus Christ as the influences of the world spin out of control. Richard J. Maynes said, "If our lives are centered on Jesus Christ, He can successfully mold us into who we need to be in order to return to His and Heavenly Father's presence...The joy we experience in this life will be in direct proportion to how well our lives are centered on the teachings, example, and atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ." And then Jaa'lah taught the children how to use molds to make some yummy candies to give to their moms for Mother's Day.
We met with Ella Helms, the CEO of Cogdell Memorial Hospital, and had breakfast with her and some other big wigs in a reception area. We also met the husband and wife team (Doctors Peck) who run the walk-in clinic (urgent/express care). They were all very nice people to speak with and Jared shared his journey and experience in the medical profession that led him to this point.
After that, Ella gave us a tour of the entire hospital and we met several other doctors along the way.
Ella showed us more of the property where the rehab center is, Kevin's clinic, and realized that Jared wouldn't have a dedicated office space in the already small clinic and decided right there on the spot that they would wall off part of the waiting room and build Jared his own office space. (Whoa.) We got a tour of the new gym that's under construction--free use to all medical staff and families--and then she took us to the rental house.
This is the view from the driveway of the rental house they will hold for us. That's the south side of the hospital.
View from the hospital parking lot looking at the green space next to the rental.
The cute rental house.
Beautiful kitchen.
Looking into the kitchen from the living room (foyer to the left).
Garage--car not included. :)
Laundry room--puts our old one to shame.
Master bathroom. There's another vanity to the right around the corner there and there's a door into the walk-in closet that wraps around behind the shower.
Master bedroom.
Linen closet--which is already one linen closet bigger than what I had in College Station. A real flaw in that previous house of ours.
The closet in the boys' bedroom.
This will be Karcyn's room.
Her closet.
The living room. The house can be fully furnished if we'd like for it to be. It will be a huge blessing regardless, to know that even if we don't find a house right away, we won't have to live as a separated family, six hours apart in two different towns, nor will we be homeless.
Since it was our anniversary, we went out to eat at a new sushi house in town with Karole, Kevin, Christina, Nate, and Emma. At least there's a cuisine other than Mexican or chicken to eat in Snyder. Haha!
*My niece, Emma, had been looking for homes for us to look at while we were in town. She sent me a link for one that we were unaware of because it was For Sale By Owner. It was a big, historic home with 3,000 sq. ft. Lots of space. Only 3 bedrooms though. But with that much space, maybe a fourth bedroom could be created. I called and left a message with the owner to see if we could see it while we were in town. The homeowner, Shawn, texted me back and said we could come by on Saturday afternoon, so we took Kevin, Chris and Emma with us.
The bedrooms upstairs are huge. Unfortunately, the closets are not.
A nice big bathroom upstairs. This would be Karcyn's.
A second bathroom is right next to the other one. I'm not sure what that's all about either. But I consider this more of the dorm room bathroom and I would assign Calvin and JJ to this one. :)
We went outside to the yard and saw that there was an outbuilding. The first side of the building is a huge area for our attic storage, plus space for tools and what not. It's big enough to be a work out area. And around to the other side, is a smaller section but it's about the size of our shed, where all the yard maintenance supplies and tools are kept.
With the exception of bedroom closets, this house had no shortage of storage. There were also hanging shelves in the garage. Even though there were quirky things like the wallpaper on the ceilings and two bathrooms next to each other upstairs, and interesting spaces, we really liked the house. My sister in law, Chris, and her daughter Emma, who are both SO great at visualizing potential in things, gushed over the house. They wanted us to get it so badly. They could imagine decorating for Christmas and big dinners there. Kevin told Jared that if this house was on the market when they moved to Snyder, they would have bought it. I was still a little unsure though about the commitment. I asked Anna about utilities. It's an old house and I worried about that. She said electric was around $300 last summer. Water was pretty high too. They have a sprinkler system that we didn't know about. If we sold our house for $350,000 and bought this one for $335,000, it would be at the top of our price range. Especially because we're not sure how Jared's new income will level out with new benefits, retirement, etc. It seemed doable. Yet the utilities were what really had me anxious. I heard that Snyder utilities are high. Maybe I would have to work full time just to pay for electricity and water.
Sun. 9th--We attended church in the Snyder Branch for Mother's Day and I received a flower and a big chocolate candy bar in honor of the special day. Even still, I couldn't stop thinking about the house. We weren't anticipating finding one on this quick trip up to accept the job offer. But would that really be so crazy if we did? I asked Shawn if we could come look at the house one more time before we went back to College Station and he said sure. We asked Karole if she'd like to join us. So we left after Sacrament Meeting. I called my parents and asked if they wanted to see it on FaceTime while we went through again and they said yes!
Thurs. 13th--As soon as we got home late Sunday night after driving home from Snyder, I barely stopped moving. It was a mad dash to continue our lives as usual and to begin the additional task of preparing to put our house on the market. We were still apprehensive about listing it at $350,000 but people could always offer less and see where it goes from there.
The boys' room.
The main bathroom.
After that, Jared had a lunch appointment with some doctors and I had an appointment to visit with the principal in the Ira School District. My nephew, Korbin (JJ's age) and niece, Ayzlynn, attend the Ira School (one class per grade, K-12). The last day to apply as an out-of-district transfer was that very weekend. I'm so grateful I was able to deliver JJ's application in person. I also gave him my resume and told him I'd be interested in subbing once we move there. He gave me a tour of the school and let me know that we'd probably know by the end of July whether JJ is accepted or not. They try to keep the enrollment numbers under 20 but the incoming 4th grade class looked okay at that point. He just asked that I send a copy of JJ's STAAR test results and report card to them once those are available.
Jared and I met up with Valerie Morris (a former Aggie whose husband is one of the local doctors) at the Junior High who is the public information officer for the district after school let out for the day. The principal, Jerry Russell, was with her. Mr. Russell wanted to know a little bit about Calvin. We didn't sugarcoat it and said he's really struggled with school. Super smart, but hates doing what the teachers assign. We told him it's been a little better since he started ADD medication, but mostly we've seen a change in his relationships at home. Not perfect but vastly improved. The assignments and projects are still either boring or overwhelming with all the writing. Mr. Russell said their school offered a computer program where the kids could either listen to the lesson and follow along with the teacher, or they could work at their own pace. If Calvin wanted to do 8th grade math in three months, passing the checkpoints and assessments along the way, he can. And then he can go on to 9th grade math. That sounded like a very positive option for Calvin. We got a tour of the school and learned they have a lot of electives, actually. They also have a dress code. Gold, white, black, or gray polo shirts. Khaki, navy, or black pants or modest shorts (no cargo pockets) or modest skirts. We wouldn't tell Calvin about the required dress code right away, but I really liked that, too! On Fridays, they can wear jeans with no holes and either a Snyder shirt or a favorite college shirt.
We then followed Valerie over to the high school. We learned that the school offers dual credit courses (that can be free of charge with 20 hours of approved community service) in conjunction with Western Texas College (WTC) which allows students to graduate with an associate's degree in addition to their high school diploma. I'm not entirely sure what that would look like in regards to course load, etc. But that's really cool. The other awesome benefit of graduating from Snyder High School is that you if you chose not to do the dual credit route, you can attend WTC tuition free. I'm kind of thinking that if they can attend WTC free of charge (minus books), why load yourself up with the dual credit classes in high school? Some of which are online and during the summer. I could see where some kids would love to take that route. But some of my kids just need to have a regular high school experience and not over schedule themselves. It may end up that we have children living at home longer than we expected so they can attend WTC (or maybe they can live with Grandma Hough :). But either way, that's a HUGE savings on two years of college! We are excited about that potential blessing.
Sat. 8th--These are the big wind turbines that surround the Snyder area. I think they're cool and majestic looking. Shows that there's meaning and purpose to this part of Texas.
Jared and I met with Teresa Ragland, our realtor, that afternoon, who had a few homes lined up to show us. Two of them were priced $440,000-475,000. Clearly out of our price range. I'm not really sure why we were looking at them. Because they were the size we needed, I guess. We probably should have clarified that Jared is not a physician. Even his brother didn't buy a house above $370,000. But we looked anyway and kept our budget to ourselves.
The first property at $475,000 was on 25 acres. The house was decent. I'm not sure I would have paid $250K for it though. There was an odd front room space--not the living room and not the dining room that we didn't know how to utilize. The garage had been converted to bedrooms. At least there was still a carport. And there was no en suite. The bathroom that would be used for the master had a tub only, no shower. Yeah, that ain't gonna work.
The property size was too much for us, obviously, but it had a shooting range which would have been fun and plenty of space for my parents to park their 5th wheel. The owners had raised longhorns.
The second property at $440,000 is a newer home. I liked the feel of it better. It had vaulted ceilings, a sun room, beautiful cabinetry and built-ins. However, every square inch was covered in carpet. And the carpet wasn't in the best shape. It was in the kitchen. The bathrooms. The laundry room. I like carpet and it has it's place, but not where there can be water.
The other major flaw was that it just had one big room right off the kitchen. So that would be our living room with piano as well as our family room for entertainment. For that price (which we couldn't afford anyway) we would have liked at least one more living space. It sat on almost an acre of land in town. Not far from Kevin and Chris actually. There was a dedicated backyard space that was fenced and plenty big for Rolo. The rest of the land was cleared but right smack dab in the middle was this ginormous 60x40 foot (or bigger) slab of concrete just sitting there. And it wasn't even level. There was a ridge running down the entire length of it. It looked as though perhaps they were going to put a big storage building on the slab. But never did. Because of that uneven ridge, nothing can be put on it. It was unusable space.
The third house we were going to see, more in our price range and a smidge smaller than we were hoping for, had actually caught on fire the night before and it was no longer on the market!! How awful!! Our hearts go out to those homeowners. I can't even imagine. But it was kind of hard not to feel the irony in that turn of events--the one house we could afford and that might work, was suddenly and horribly off the market.
3101 Avenue X sat on a well manicured corner lot listed for $335,000. Considering the size of the house, the condition, and the property, that was a great price! There are four garages, two on one side of the house, and two that face the other, like a parking lot, on the other side of the house. We met Shawn and his wife, Anna, and they invited us inside their beautiful home. Pictures just don't do it justice. This is the front room when you first walk in. There's the dining table, a piano on the far wall, a desk near the door, and the living room area on the far end.
This is what we would use for the dining room off of the living room. They've added beautiful built-in shelves.
This is straight ahead from the front door, past the stairs. I'm not sure what you would call this area, but it's the only room with original wood floors. Shawn has done most of the upgrades and renovations himself. He bought the house from a lady ten years ago who was a family member of the original owner. Someone along the way had stapled all the wood floors and they were unable to be salvaged. Except for this small area. We would put our computer desk in this area. I guess the lady before Shawn had her breakfast table in there. I didn't know the glass above the doors were called transom windows. They're cool. The wallpaper is not original to the house. Everything original used to be pink. This paper was added in the 80s sometime.
Ahh, the kitchen. Don't look up, you might get vertigo! Patterned wallpaper on the walls and ceiling! That stove, however, is from the 1940s and still works. They just needed more space, so they added a built in oven to the left.
The space opposite the stove and fridge. There's a lot of counter space and plenty of cabinets.
Jared is standing in the laundry room off the kitchen and I'm standing in the pantry.
There is a ton of space in the kitchen when there's a pantry like this for food and other big items. Plus it has a window.
The laundry room off of the kitchen. SUPER roomy. I don't even know what to do with all that space.
This was probably one of my favorite parts of the house. The breezeway from the original backdoor of the house that now connects to the garage. This would be the future home of the ping pong table we promised the kids we would get. It has windows, blinds, electricity, a space heater, and fan. And through that hallway at the end, is another closet and a half bath before going to the garage.
A big closet off of that big flowered foyer area.
A full bathroom that was added in more recent days. Not sure what was there before. It was in the hallway between the room with the fireplace and computers and another large sitting room.
We'd use this as the family room. The sitting room that is next to this one is separated by the bathroom in the previous picture. After some thought, we would either wall off the fireplace room from that bathroom and sitting room to turn it into the master or we'd put a heavy duty door that only had a knob on the master side.
The huge staircase--with over 20 steps. That pink velvety wallpaper IS original to the 1914 home.
I love the original doors and doorknobs. They remind me of my grandparents.
We spent quite awhile talking to Shawn and Anna Fonville. They were very sweet and kind and forthcoming. We learned that Anna is Olivia's 7th grade English teacher at Ira School. When we couldn't think of anything else to ask, we said goodbye. Kevin and Chris and Emma went back to their house while Jared and I went out alone in celebration of our anniversary. We went to Amore...a crazy good Italian restaurant.
When we got back to the house, everyone was expectant and wanted to know if we were going to put an offer on the big yellow house. I said we still weren't sure. It's a lot to consider. Even though it's in great shape, it IS over 100 years old. I just spent seven years living in a brand new house with very few issues. All our equity would go into the house and then we wouldn't have any kind of safety net if something came up.
I texted my parents all the pictures I took of the house and asked them what they thought. They loved it, of course! And said it was a great home for the price, considering there was nothing else on the market in our price range or size that we needed.
Sun. 9th--We attended church in the Snyder Branch for Mother's Day and I received a flower and a big chocolate candy bar in honor of the special day. Even still, I couldn't stop thinking about the house. We weren't anticipating finding one on this quick trip up to accept the job offer. But would that really be so crazy if we did? I asked Shawn if we could come look at the house one more time before we went back to College Station and he said sure. We asked Karole if she'd like to join us. So we left after Sacrament Meeting. I called my parents and asked if they wanted to see it on FaceTime while we went through again and they said yes!
I neglected to get a picture of the outside the day before. Isn't it lovely and cheery? I can picture our family sitting on those front steps getting a family picture taken every year. And that black pole in the foreground? That's the original hitching post! The house was originally white on the outside. But Shawn did some extensive research and learned that the yellow house paint and green on the shutters where actual colors used in the early 1900s. He put a lot of care and thought into keeping the charm of the house while updating it.
Notice the roof...it's very unique. It isn't flat, but curves, like an oriental roof.
My parents loved it and I liked it even more after seeing it again. My parents assured me that if something went wrong, like pipes need replacing or a similar issue, they would help us out. However, these pipes went through Snow-vid in February just fine. So that's saying something! With my parents becoming our financial safety net for any big house repair that might be needed, we decided to go ahead and give them an offer. I thought about going to $330,000 or $325,000, but in this market and under the circumstances that we are headed out of town, I wanted them to know we were serious. We offered full price and because we love the house for what it is and don't want to make any structural changes, they accepted. Of course, it was contingent upon our house selling. That meant that the house could continue to be for sale, but if they got another offer, we got first dibs to move forward on it.
Jared said he loved the house too even though he joked that it would be a haunted house. And we were excited about the future we'd have in it. We started to mentally put our furniture in different parts of the house and the kids said it was their dream house!
I did a quick search of homes with our specs--4 bedroom, 3.5 bathroom, 2700 sq. ft. And these are what I found. Maybe $350,000 was right where we needed to be. Some of these have a little more yard/land, but not much.
My neighbor, Tony, sent me this picture and it all started to make sense. JJ and his little friends created a little corner band. ;)
Sun. 23rd--We had an open house scheduled so I tried going the extra mile to show buyers we really did care and to set us apart from others. But it rained and rained and rained and one person came. At least we were at church and didn't have to spend three hours somewhere else.
*This Sacrament table was built by the young men of the Caldwell Branch. We had been using an old, shaky card table with a torn top and rusted legs. We're super proud of all the hard work they spent on it. Such a labor of love for the branch and the Savior.
Mon. 24th--The following pictures are JJ's proof that he actually DID put his clean laundry away. I was too busy to verify it myself.
Wed. 26th--Time to make the master closet look LESS cluttered. Because other realtors had that as a "flaw" with our show ready house.
*If you go out the front door, Rolo will be there watching until you are out of sight.
Thurs. 27th--The LAST day of school and after school car duty for me.
*JJ saying goodbye to his favorites:
*Calvin and his buddy taking a little nap after school.
Fri. 14th--I wouldn't believe it if I didn't see it myself. Our College Station home for sale. The home we figured we'd be in until we retired. I don't know why, but we went live on the market later that evening instead of waiting until the morning. We didn't expect to get any requests for showings until Saturday. Fortunately, Peggy would be the contact who realtors would be calling for showings, then she would text us to find out if that was okay. I actually really appreciated that. Fielding phone calls in hopes that they would be for showings, was not something I had time nor the heart to do.
Sat.15th--JJ decided to do the summer bowling league at Grand Station. Just to see how he liked it. Adam is a wonderful coach and mentor. He's worked with Cooper and Calvin both. Now it was JJ's turn.
JJ did really well for his first time and no bumpers! Sometimes my scores aren't even that great.
*We all went to league in case a call came in for a showing. And we had to leave the house "show ready" every time we left to do something just in case we couldn't get back before then. It's enough to make you crazy!
Sun. 16th--This is awful, but the way things seem to be heading.
*Shawn texted to ask if we'd like one of the pieces of furniture that came with the house (from the family of the original builder). I said, "Yes, please!" before I even knew what it was. But it didn't matter. This is what it was.
Mon. 17th--Shawn asked if he could call us this evening. He said he looked up our house online and noticed it was very new and beautiful. He wanted to make sure we knew that his house was nice, but very old and to make sure we understood that repairs would come up and if buying the house might over extend ourselves, he wanted to give us an out. We told him we appreciated, very much, his concern. We had felt the same way originally. But after talking with my parents about it the week before, they assured me that if a big repair were needed, they would be able to help us out. They wanted us to get this house just as much as we did. Historical charm aside, this was the best house for the size and price. As we were talking with Shawn, he abruptly stopped talking and said, "Um, hold on. It's hailing...we've got some big hail, I've got to call you back."
He wasn't kidding. This picture was floating around FaceBook the next day. Snyder got pounded with softball sized hail. Shawn called us later to say the same thing...broke a couple windows and damaged their roof. But he said we'd be getting a new roof out of it!
Tues. 18th--Calvin had his end of year choir concert and was selected to be one of the em-cees. He did great. One of my favorite songs the boys sang was "In the Still of the Night."
Thurs. 20th--JJ chillin' with Rolo.
*JJ came inside from playing with his friends. And then was gone a few minutes later. But left this mess on the table. It was a pile of Jake's old piano sheet music.
And even earned money from their performance! This was his cut. So far, JJ is the highest paid performer in our family. Haha!
*One of Rolo's many sleeping positions.
Fri. 21st--Again with the no name! Good grief, child. It's two letters! And the SAME letter. 
*It was looking like rain, but a very WET field day for JJ went on as planned.
*My principal at River Bend Elementary...Robyn Jones. She is the best. Like she was BORN for this.
*I'll never tire of these beautiful Texas sunsets. I hope they're just as lovely in Snyder...
Sat. 22nd--Jake and Trina flew to Dallas for a special birthday/endowment weekend with her family. Then he had to fly back a couple days later for school. But Trina, bless her, decided to drive down and spend a weekend with us. Without Jake as a buffer. :) We were all impressed that she held her own and fit right in! She and I had a lunch date at Ohana. Such good food!!
Mr. Bradford
His homeroom (science/math) teacher, Ms. Baird.
His music teacher, Mrs. Bratcher (who is from Lubbock and one of the few people we know in College Station who actually knows where Snyder is).
His English teacher, Mrs. Gideon.
His amazing principal, Robyn Jones.
My friend, the amazing Jennie Voiles who teaches the young autistic class.
My co-worker, and fellow instructional assistant, Pegan Heyman.
*Jennie Voiles had promised one of her students, our little neighbor, Nathan Upton, ice cream for successfully potty training. Jennie knew we lived across the street from Nathan and invited JJ to join her. She took him to a fancy ice cream shop and JJ declared it was the best ice cream ever!
*Karcyn trying on her new bridesmaid dress.
Fri. 28th--One last day with the River Bend staff. I cried a lot. 
Me and Pegan.
Me and sweet Amy Merritt (Kindergarten).
Me and McKenna Merritt (who followed one of my students during the day).
*Me and my new best friend, Rebecca Young, the Resource teacher I assisted. We clicked immediately and had big plans for the future. I found great joy in serving her and teaching with her. I may only be moving 6 hours away, but might as well be 6 days. I'm going to miss her SO much.
Me and Stephanie Arnold (1st grade). We bonded when Cooper asked her daughter, Lauren, out to prom last year.
Farewell, River Bend.
*Peggy was frustrated about the stall in our showings as well and reached out to some of the realtors to see if they'd offer professional feedback. Two negatives they mentioned were that the living room was too small and the master closet was cluttered with too much stuff. (Trying not to be too indignant here, but isn't it good to have lots of things organized in there so they can see how much the closet can hold?) Even still, we got right to work on those changes. We wanted to show the Lord we were doing everything in our power to make this sale happen. We reconfigured the living room to make it look bigger by taking out the TV and console.
And I "decluttered" my closet by packing up our winter clothes and now buyers can see the back wall.
*This was also the day of Cooper's long awaited high school graduation. But we had some severe weather that would be coming about the time the ceremony began. Not a big deal, except that it was an OUTDOOR graduation.
As a CSISD employee (for one more day), I would have the opportunity to present Cooper with his diploma. He and I arrived at 5:40pm. We got out to survey the area. Dark clouds were everywhere and lightning was flashing in the distance. I took a quick picture of him in his cap and gown before he reported to the gym.
*We had 5 showings the first week our house was on the market (May 16th to the 22nd) with an open house on Sun. the 23rd. The feedback thus far:
1st--didn't like the neighborhood
2nd--wanted 2 bedrooms downstairs not just one
3rd--loved the house, didn't like being close to the neighbors
4th--didn't get feedback
5th--they're thinking about it
It rained during the entire open house and nothing came from it.
Then we went an ENTIRE WEEK without ANY showings. Not even a nibble. We were at a loss. While we were hoping to sell the house within the first two weeks, we wouldn't have been surprised if we hadn't. But to go the second full week without showings was disconcerting to say the least. We sat the kids down and asked them what they thought we could do to help call on the powers of heaven to help this move forward. We knew we needed to go to Snyder. We felt good about it. It made sense financially and for our children to be close to family and with more opportunities within the schools living in a smaller town. And the children supported that decision.
They suggested we fast. And we agreed. Jared and I suggested we could double our fast offerings. That has always proved to be a powerful expression of faith that brings the blessings we seek. The efficacy of your prayers are dependent upon your generosity with others. So that's what we set out to do.
Peggy's photographer was coming back to take pictures of our changes which meant I had to get the house show ready again. So I took my own pictures for posterity.
As I headed back to the car, I noticed our suburban with Jared and Karole sitting in it, so I climbed in and waited with them. At this point, there was thunder and lightning directly on top of us while we continued to wait in the car. At 6:45pm, we got word that graduation was postponed until 9pm.
That took us to 8pm when we received word that graduation was postponed until 10pm. Are you kidding me? That is past my bedtime. It was raining pretty hard and didn't show signs of stopping. Not to mention the lightning. I thought maybe they'd move the ceremony inside the school.
We dropped Cooper off at the gym again and then took Karole home and checked on our littles at the house. At 9pm, Jared started putting on all his rain gear.
Sun. 30th--The last Sunday in May, we doubled our fast offerings and fasted that the right people would be led to our house and would buy it sooner rather than later. We did not want to be separated by distance or to leave CS without selling our home.
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