So we have been looking at apartments, condos, and houses for months and months now- about a year actually. After the last fiasco didn't work out, Jon and I decided to rearrange some of our plans and priorities. We're going to hold off on trying to own a home right now. We have gone back and forth over whether or not we were willing to relocate and whether or not Jon's masters would take priority over him trying to find a good full time job. If there is one thing I can be greatful for this semester it is that it really helped us prioritize our goals and figure out what we're willing to sacrifice and what we're willing to wait for.
I can't tell you how many times I've reduced what I wanted and expected in terms of what our home would be and the lesson I learned is that as long as we're safe and together, we can make our home comfortable, happy and stressfree (or as little as possible)!
As far as location, initially we intended to move from Cranberry back to Wexford, due largely to the fact that almost everything in our lives is here (my school, my work, the girls preschool, our church, and most of our family), as well as the belief that those 20 minutes would bring our family over more often. Now we know that it wasn't the distance, but everyone's lifestyles that kept them at bay. So we're not letting that weigh too heavily on the location decision.
I spent the better part of today researching apartment complexes. I am now of the opinion that good quality, fairly priced, clean, updated, safe apartments are not a reality. And no one will take a family with 3 cats. Currently, we have some appointments set up for next week to look at places to rent in Bellevue. Jon and I both have some friends in the area who love it there, its only 20 minutes away from wexford, and it's closer to the better Target (that is important). Here's to hoping it goes well and we find one we love!
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Saturday, May 7, 2011
in a nut shell
Sorry seems to be the recurring theme to this blog this semester. I am sorry. I have actually been done with classwork since about April 25th, thanks to having to work six straight days to cover Erica's vacation at work, with the exception of one class. It was great to get ahead for once, but that one class was hanging over my head until today May 6th when the final was supposed to become available. I'm actually killing time right now, waiting until after midnight before I give up hope. This will definitely throw a wrench in my plans.
Things, of course, have been crazy chaotic. Not in a good way. It seems like I never leave work, which is pretty acurate. In April, Jon and I went on vacation to Washington DC (I'd never been) for long weekend. That was wonderful. The best part was being able to sleep in a bed, without two kids kicking me all night, uninterrupted by anyone crying, talking in their sleep, alarms, dogs barking or anyone falling out of the bed. All of these things occur every single night. I don't want to talk about it.
Almost immediately after we got back, I found out my Great Grandmother had just been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, on top of congestive heart failure. It only takes one family crisis to highlight just how much the communication sucks. Anyway, we went down to South Carolina to see her, the next weekend. This was the most disasterous trip. Our trip was delayed and we wound up driving through Virginia and North Carolina as 87 tornado touchdowns hit. We drove through two personally, which caused us to hydroplane off the road and almost into a tree. It was confusing, scary and memorable for sure. More on that another day. I had intended to see Grandma for 3 days. It was cut down to one short afternoon.
On the way back, I fell asleep and Jon got pulled over for speeding. The absurdity of this is that I could not get him to drive faster than 65 mph on the roughly 19 hour drive down (yes it took us that long) to SC. Did you know that driving 20 mph over the speedlimit or over 80 mph ANYWHERE in VA is considered reckless driving and is therefore a Criminal Offense? We didn't either. It's new. So we are now trying to hire a lawyer to fight his case at his court hearing to avoid having a permanent criminal record. Court date is May 19. I'd appreciate all the prayers you can spare. I am officially blacklisting Virginia from my map of places (states first!) to see in my lifetime. Forty-nine may not flow off the tongue as nicely as 50, but then neither does a criminal record. You're dead to me, Virginia.
Once we got back, I worked the next six days straight over Easter weekend. I got caught up in my classes, got ahead even. Then, a couple of days later, I found out on Facebook no less, that my Great Grandmother had passed away the morning before. It came as a shock to probably no one but myself; I saw firsthand how badly she was doing. but it was still surreal.
The funeral was a few days ago- Thursday.
I will try to write again soon, better, more in-depth entries about each of these experiences, but it might be awhile. Jon still has classes until May 18, so he is desperately trying to find time to get caught up. We are trying to figure out where we will be moving to come June 1st. I work 5 days straight, starting Thursday, so that I can have the following weekend (May 20) off for Lorelai's second eye surgery. I really don't have any details on that yet. Hopefully, she will be mostly recovered by the Monday or Tuesday. More soon.
I'm holding on rather tightly to hope and optimism, though to be frank, this year has sucked so far. A recent bright spot is that Osama bin Laden was finally taken down, so there is a little less horror and evil in this world. I have never been more appreciative that God demands justice. Amen!
Things, of course, have been crazy chaotic. Not in a good way. It seems like I never leave work, which is pretty acurate. In April, Jon and I went on vacation to Washington DC (I'd never been) for long weekend. That was wonderful. The best part was being able to sleep in a bed, without two kids kicking me all night, uninterrupted by anyone crying, talking in their sleep, alarms, dogs barking or anyone falling out of the bed. All of these things occur every single night. I don't want to talk about it.
Almost immediately after we got back, I found out my Great Grandmother had just been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, on top of congestive heart failure. It only takes one family crisis to highlight just how much the communication sucks. Anyway, we went down to South Carolina to see her, the next weekend. This was the most disasterous trip. Our trip was delayed and we wound up driving through Virginia and North Carolina as 87 tornado touchdowns hit. We drove through two personally, which caused us to hydroplane off the road and almost into a tree. It was confusing, scary and memorable for sure. More on that another day. I had intended to see Grandma for 3 days. It was cut down to one short afternoon.
On the way back, I fell asleep and Jon got pulled over for speeding. The absurdity of this is that I could not get him to drive faster than 65 mph on the roughly 19 hour drive down (yes it took us that long) to SC. Did you know that driving 20 mph over the speedlimit or over 80 mph ANYWHERE in VA is considered reckless driving and is therefore a Criminal Offense? We didn't either. It's new. So we are now trying to hire a lawyer to fight his case at his court hearing to avoid having a permanent criminal record. Court date is May 19. I'd appreciate all the prayers you can spare. I am officially blacklisting Virginia from my map of places (states first!) to see in my lifetime. Forty-nine may not flow off the tongue as nicely as 50, but then neither does a criminal record. You're dead to me, Virginia.
Once we got back, I worked the next six days straight over Easter weekend. I got caught up in my classes, got ahead even. Then, a couple of days later, I found out on Facebook no less, that my Great Grandmother had passed away the morning before. It came as a shock to probably no one but myself; I saw firsthand how badly she was doing. but it was still surreal.
The funeral was a few days ago- Thursday.
I will try to write again soon, better, more in-depth entries about each of these experiences, but it might be awhile. Jon still has classes until May 18, so he is desperately trying to find time to get caught up. We are trying to figure out where we will be moving to come June 1st. I work 5 days straight, starting Thursday, so that I can have the following weekend (May 20) off for Lorelai's second eye surgery. I really don't have any details on that yet. Hopefully, she will be mostly recovered by the Monday or Tuesday. More soon.
I'm holding on rather tightly to hope and optimism, though to be frank, this year has sucked so far. A recent bright spot is that Osama bin Laden was finally taken down, so there is a little less horror and evil in this world. I have never been more appreciative that God demands justice. Amen!
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