Shew.. What a whirlwind of a month it’s been.
So, we went swimming at our landlord’s house about a month and a half ago. When we were getting ready to leave, he asked if he could talk to us. He informed us that he was ready to get out from underneath all of his rentals, and sell our house. He is in his 70’s, so that’s completely understandable. However, where were we supposed to go?! I instantly panicked.
A week later, there was a For Sale sign in our front yard. We immediately started to make plans. We decided we were going to buy a house. We called the bank to get pre-approved for a mortgage. I applied as the main borrower because my credit is excellent; Donald’s isn’t great. We got a phone call back in about four hours. She told us that because I didn’t have any income, I couldn’t be the borrower. I could be the co-signer, but not main borrower. Crap!!
I found a house on Zillow a few days before that, that was perfect for us. It was six bedrooms, right across the river from where we were. So. we contacted a mortgage lender and told them that the house we were looking at was $99k. He said even with Donald’s credit, we would be approved for that no problem. Awesome!! We contacted a real estate agent to make an appointment to go look at it.
Under contract.
Dang!
Now, we were getting kind of flustered. Our landlord told us that if he can’t sell the house on his own within a few weeks, he was going to give it to my cousin, who has been selling houses like crazy. It’s already been a week. So, we sat down with my cousin and told him what we were approved for and what we were looking for. He immediately got to work. He found us about four houses within an hour.
I was so excited for the first one we were scheduled to look at. The pictures were so nice. It was beautiful. Then we got there. The outside was rough, but doable. Then we went inside. THERE WAS NO FLOOR!!! Literally, just like sheets of plywood; no carpet like in the pictures. No tile. Nothing. There was so much work that needed done. No way this would pass for an FHA loan. Bummer.
So, we went and looked at a few others. None were very promising. So, we started looking elsewhere: New York, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Tennessee, etc. We couldn’t find anything. Everything that we liked or that had potential was under contract within 24 hours.
Now what? We have looked everywhere and can’t even find a rental for less than $1,000 a month.
We talked, and decided that since we have to move, might as well make it a big move. So… Let’s go to South Dakota. Both of my kids are in college now. We have two of Donald’s kids in the house, and their mom lives in SD, so they would be able to see her. Plus, Donald’s parents and sister is here, and his niece. It seems like a perfect idea.
So, we started packing. And packing. I never realized how much crap I had until I had to pack a house worth of stuff. I mean, I knew I had a lot.. but man, there was so much!! It took about two weeks to get the house fully packed. I sold a bunch of stuff, and threw a lot away, too! But we were ready.
We went and got the U-Haul and loaded up the truck. Took all day, but we got most of it in. We weren’t able to get everything in, so we decided to keep our storage unit until we could make a trip back to Kentucky to get it all. We will probably go in the Spring, when Kendall graduates.
So, Donald left that next morning, August 11th, with Connor. Emma and I stayed behind because we had to take Kendall to college the next day. So, we took Kendall to college, moved her in, and headed on our way. We got about three blocks down the road and the truck was making a terrible noise, so I pulled into the mechanics shop. Turned out, the wheel bearing was bad, and my wheel was basically about to fall off. They fixed it so fast, and we were finally ready to go.
Roughly a day and a half later, we pulled up to our new home. Talk about anxiety. I just left what I’ve known for the past 10 years behind me. I left my kids. I left my parents. I left my family.
But.. I’m ready for this new adventure!!
We have been here a little over two weeks now, and everything is unpacked and its starting to feel like home. Donald says the only part of the house that doesn’t feel like home to him yet, is the bedroom. It’s a lot smaller than ours was, but it’ll grow on him.
I’ve gotten three jobs since I’ve been here. One at the restaurant down the road, one at the motel, and subbing. I won’t start at the restaurant until after Labor Day, but I subbed my first day today. I was only there half a day, but it was a good day. I am going to the motel tomorrow to do my training. That should go pretty smooth; I used to be a housekeeper at Innisbrook, so I’ve done this kind of thing before.
All-in-all, it’s been a pretty nice change. Everyone seems to be super welcoming and it’s funny to hear stories about Donald when he was younger. It’s also nice to be close to his family. I miss my kids, and my mom, but it’s getting easier every day.
What’s the biggest life decision you’ve ever made?
Welcome to the Chaos.. 