Wow, what a week!! It seems like months have passed instead of only a few days.
Last weekend the (little) boys and I flew out to Arkansas to visit my sister. She lives in a small town about a hour and a half outside of Little Rock. I must admit, I was expecting some small, almost hick-ish, town, full of overalls and people I can't understand. I joked with her that I almost brought my passport to visit her foreign city. I was actually surprised to see how large it was, and the accents were (mostly) quite easy to understand. It took us nearly 11 hours of flight and drive time and two airplanes to get us there. We left around 7:30 a.m. Mountain time on Thursday, and arrived at her house at 7:30 p.m. Central time. B2 and D were just THRILLED to be with their Aunt Rinz and Uncle J again. B2 would fearfully ask me every few hours if we had to go home the next day, and was so happy to hear that the answer was no. In the Little Rock airport, once D heard that we were done flying and that Rinz was going to pick us up, he started running through the terminal to see her. I couldn't keep up! He was just so excited, and confirmed that it IS possible for him to walk faster than he does 99% of the time when I'm in a hurry.
On Friday we went and met Rinz's co-workers. She works for a paving company, and I thought for sure that this is where I'd meet the rednecks--after all, what do you picture when you think of truckers and construction workers from Arkansas? Not only were they not rednecks, they were hilarious! We were there for probably a half hour, during which time B2 and D took turns putting on a football helmet and ramming each other, and B2 played football down the hall with one of bosses. We also met some friends of Rinz's. That evening I got to watch them coach their club volleyball team. They are coaching 8th grade girls, so it was definitely not the same as watching Rinz's college team play, or even the club team she was on as a senior. But, sadly, those girls probably would have beat our Relief Society volleyball team. That night they had a really cool thunder/lightening storm. It reminded me of my days in Nauvoo, IL. I laid in bed with the blinds pulled all the way up, watching the lightening completely light up their backyard, and trying not to let myself get freaked out by the potential horror-story scenery. Part of me was glad when it was over so I could put my blinds back down...
On Saturday we went to a park to let the boys run around and get out some wiggles. It was rather cold, and some parts completely soaked from the previous night's storm, so we didn't stay too long. We ended up just hanging out the rest of the day at Rinz and J's house. Once the boys went to bed, Rinz and J and I stayed up late playing games. It's the simple times like those that make me really miss my sister. I think she felt a little bad that we spent so much time lounging around her house, but I personally loved it. I got to relax, I didn't have to worry about my kids destroying stuff (too much, though D did seem intent on touching every single thing in Rinz's house), and I got to just hang out with my sis. Good times!
Sunday we went to church with Rinz. B2 was pretty depressed all morning when he realized that we would be going home that day, though I was surprised that he didn't cry at all. Anyway, I was a little worried about my boys in church, because we have a VERY VERY loud congregation since we have so many young children in our ward. So, I was worried that my kids would either be really loud, or it would just seem that way because everyone else was quiet. Sure enough, during a very quiet part of the service after taking a drink of water, D smacked his lips and said, "Ah!" I heard quiet chuckles all around, and was glad that a.) most people found it funny, and b.) that's the worst he said. Well, sure enough, a few minutes later he picked up his Tigger stuffed animal and in his cute little voice said, "Bun cheeks, bun cheeks, bun cheeks!" I closed my eyes hoping that no one else would understand what he was saying, but when I opened them I found that the shoulders of the people in front of me were shaking with laughter, and I internally groaned--of course everyone would understand that!! Thankfully, that pretty much WAS the worst that he said, and we had an enjoyable meeting. We left immediately after that, had some lunch, and drove to the airport. We then spent the rest of Super Bowl Sunday on airplanes and in airports, with me trying desperately to herd my children, two suitcases, two car seats, two stuffed animals, a diaper bag, my purse, and my ginormous self through the crowded and unfamiliar terminals. And, unfortunately, I had two children who were not terribly excited about putting more distance between them and their beloved aunt and uncle, which only added to the difficulties. But, we made it back without injuries or beatings, so I consider the trip a success. But that doesn't mean I'm doing it again any time soon, at least not without another adult to help me.
Once back from Arkansas, we tried to get back into our normal routine. Things were relatively back to normal until Wednesday, when we got a call from a neighbor. She had had her condo on the market for about five months, and out of the blue got two offers that were involved in a bidding war. She knew that the buyer that would most likely lose really wanted a bottom floor unit in our complex, and knew that B1 and I had kicked around the idea of putting our condo back on the market in the spring. She wanted to know if we were already working with an agent and, if not, if her agent could give us a call. I said yes, but didn't really expect it to amount to much.
The next day I got a call from her agent around 12:30, and she said that the buyer was still interested and when we could be ready to show. I told her all the things we had wanted to do before we listed it (paint, decorate, fix some stuff up, clean, de-clutter, etc.), and said that I could have it in good show-ready condition, if not in staged condition, in about a week. She said she'd talk to the buyer's agent and call me back. She called me back at 1:00 and said the buyer wanted to walk through at 5:00 that night. I explained that the house was messy (I hadn't even done the dishes from the night before), and that there were some large items I wanted to remove to make the rooms look better. I said I'd do my best, and asked if she could come early and let me know if I would be doing more harm than good by showing it in its current state. She agreed. I called B1 and let him know, called my in-laws and asked them to watch the kids so I could clean, put out a plea on Facebook for help cleaning, and called my sister Beez and asked for her help. B1 ended up getting off work early, my father-in-law loaned us his truck (and offered space in his basement) to move extra items out, and the neighbor who sent us her Realtor with a buyer and my sister came and helped clean. It was nuts--we got the house super clean, removed a queen bed and dresser and quite a few boxes and bags of extra items and odds and ends, and walked out the door promptly at 5:00 p.m. as the buyer's agent was pulling up. I never could have done that if not for Beez, B1, my mother- and father-in-law, Beth (the neighbor), and Erin (another neighbor who watched Beth's daughter so Beth could help). You guys are awesome!! We were afraid that this guy would see our condo in its quickly-cleaned state after seeing Beth's show-ready condo and not want it, but he made us an offer late that night which we accepted on Friday.
We then sat in shock as we realized what this all meant--in less than 24 hours, we went from maybe thinking about considering the possibility of selling our condo to almost-definitely moving (assuming the contract goes through smoothly). After nearly 7 years, we will be selling our condo, moving out of our wonderful ward and away from so many friends, and going to live who knows where. It's horribly depressing and super exciting, all at the same time. After all the complaining
we've I've done about our HOA and the restrictions and blah blah blah, I'm seriously going to miss this place. It's been a great home for us, and we know we made the right decision to move there in the first place.
Yesterday we went and found a home that we are really excited about, and have our first offer of our new buying season in. I know, it seems crazy that we're bidding on the first home we walked through, but keep in mind that we really started home shopping a year and a half ago when we put our condo on the market last time, and haven't really stopped. We kept watching the MLS, getting sad at homes we loved going under contract and secretly hoping that some homes would stay on the market until we would be ready to buy again. Plus, the one we saw is a little bit of a fixer-upper, but has so much potential and has just about EVERYTHING we want: a big backyard (bonus: it's already almost completely fenced in), cold storage in the basement for all my food storage, a garage, a decent-sized kitchen, a pretty porch, and a good neighborhood. But, we know we are going to be one of many offers made on this place, and we also know we won't hear anything for at least another week (if we can survive the anticipation). On the one hand, we think it too good to be true that we would buy the first house we find that we really love, but on the other hand a week ago we would have never thought it possible to sell our unlisted condo within 24 hours. So, we will just have to see. We are going to keep looking at other houses as they become available and hope we find something quickly, as we will most likely be moving in with my in-laws until we find a house. While I so appreciate our in-laws taking us in, I know it's in both our and their best interest that we don't stay too long. :)
So, that's our week. Sheesh! Absolutely crazy, but at least it's a good crazy.
We then sat in shock as we realized what this all meant--in less than 24 hours, we went from maybe thinking about considering the possibility of selling our condo to almost-definitely moving (assuming the contract goes through smoothly). After nearly 7 years, we will be selling our condo, moving out of our wonderful ward and away from so many friends, and going to live who knows where. It's horribly depressing and super exciting, all at the same time. After all the complaining 