Daunting task

When you haven't updated in over a month, that's what the blog becomes... A Daunting task...

I am finally rolling my sleeves up and getting dirty - here's your update.

Well, we've been living in our new home for a little over a month.  We really couldn't be happier.  Our closing was pushed back a full week, but we believe that was God taking control.  We had so much more help than we would have, had it been the week earlier (and trust me, we're pack-rats and needed a lot of help). 


On Thursday, May 26th, we closed at about 2pm and met the former owners of our cute little home.  Mary and Ricky.  (they're going through a divorce, but were pretty amicable for the closing purpose).  They were very nice, filled us in on a lot of the info we should know being new to Middleboro.  Their kids have been in the school system their whole lives, and are good kids, so they were giving us advice about the schools and the local area.  We actually joked around a lot with them and I felt like we'd totally hang out - if the circumstances were a little different.

We left the closing, went to our apartment and loaded up my car and Ryan's Dad's truck with as much as we could before we headed to the house. I took the paint that we had bought a week earlier and Ryan got a ton of other things.  I got to the house first and went around to the passenger's side door, opened it, and out fell two cans of paint; one of them pouring all over the driveway.... I stood there... What the heck should I do?  So I whipped my rings off and stuck my hands in the paint trying to grab the lid of the can and attempting to push it back on the can and flip the two over.  Welp, that didn't go over as planned, in fact; it only made the spill worse and let more out of the can!! Yikes... nice first day!!

Ryan pulled up just as I got the can upright... His face was priceless.  To that I said, "Welcome Home?!?"
After asking how it happened and laughing at me, his response:  "I am so glad that wasn't me that did that!!" 

Luckily, it was the paint for the spare room, and not the kitchen or other two bedrooms.  That night, we started painting.  We painted one full coat in Maddie's room, and one coat in our room.  Then went back to the apartment to sleep.  The whole time at the apartment, we just wanted to be at the house!  That next day, Ryan had to work and I had the day off.  I went shopping and bought some things that we needed and met Ryan at the house after work to continue painting.  Matt and our friend Erin came to help paint.  We got the second coats in the bedrooms painted and both coats in the kitchen done as well. They were so helpful.
We decided to put an airbed on the floor and sleep in our house that night!  We loved it, regardless of the fact that most of our things were at the apartment, we still were so happy to be in our own home.

The next day we got up at 7am and headed to the cape.  My parents had a bedroom set, couch, end tables, etc. that we needed to get.  We picked up the Uhaul in their town and met my sister and her boyfriend at my parents house to load up.  They helped us load everything and then we headed to the house.  Erin and Mike met us at the house and helped unload that first load.  Erin stayed at the house and cleaned my bathroom while we took the Uhaul to the apartment.  We loaded up a full truckload at the apartment (Justin, Mike G, and Matt met us at the apartment to load us up).  Seeing the back of the Uhaul completely full gave me such anxiety, I almost had a panic attack when we got to the house - thank goodness Erin was there and talked me down.  It just seemed so daunting especially knwoing we had so much more left at teh apartment adn we were getting things from other people as well.

after unloading that first load from the apartment, the guys went to Ryan's co-worker's house and got a sectional, two hutches, a desk and i think there was something else too!  Then they came back and unloaded.  The whole day, Erin and I were making pizzas and handing out beers so everyone had a little something to eat and drink (it was really the least we could do to provide some food for the awesome friends that took their Saturday on Memorial Day Weekend to help us!)
We were getting two reclining couches from our bff's parents, so after unloading that load, Ryan and the guys all went back to the apartment and loaded up the majority of the things that were left.  From there, they drove to Woburn to pick up the couches.  Mike and Erin were the lone survivors at this point. So Mike and Ryan drove back home and unloaded the couches into the house along with the remaining items from the apartment.  By this time it was about 10pm.  once we got things in the house and the Uhaul totally empty, it was about 11:30pm and Ryan and Mike returned the Uhaul.  Knowing we only had 60 miles included with our rental, I was dreading when that bill came in. 

Erin and Mike left at about midnight and Ryan and I made the bed and cleaned up a little (as much as you can with boxes everywhere!) and went to bed around 1:30.  The next day, we got up and started unpacking as best we could.  Around 10:30 we headed back to the apartment to get any leftover things (which there were a lot!).  Erin and Mike came by and asekd if they could help... Are you kidding, I figured they'd have steered clear after all they did for us the day before, but no, they came back for more!!! 
Mike and Tricia came back and helped us pack up the rest of everything and then helped us unload and unpack. 
We spent all weekend unpacking and getting settled in...

The Monday night, Ryan went to the Red Sox game and I went crazy unpacking and setting the upstairs up!  He got home and couldn't believe how much I had done.
The next night, Bill and Cynthia came over and we went to dinner at this great little pizza place that is .25 miles away.  After dinner, they helped us set up "man town".  We were determined to get it done because on Wednesday there was a pretty important hockey game on and Ryan wanted to have the guys over to watch it in his new "man town".
We did, and it looked great for the game!

We still have a godo amount of stuff in boxes and in the garage, but we're slowly unpacking all of that.  We're going to have a Yard Sale at the end of July so we want to sort through everything by then.  I like having the deadline because it forces me to stick to it.

The pictures are on their way, I do promise. 

We're still fixing things up - it's certainly a fixer upper.  We are just finishing the back deck which was a project in itself!! Ryan messed up his back while building it, his dad smashed his thumb, I passed out due to seeing Ryan in pain... it's been quite the ride!!

We want to redo the bathroom next - however, the waterline from the street into the house needs to be replaced before we can do the bathroom - so that is happening in two weeks.  then we'll work on the bathroom.

The roof needs replacing and we have 2 of 4 estimates back - so we'll schedule that for the fall.

We're slowly making it ours and turning it in the house of our dreams. 

So that's the update...

Happy 4th of July... thank you to all who serve so that I may enjoy my freedom!!

new job, new house, new half-marathon

Clearly, there's been a lot going on.

Firstly, I didn't blog about this yet, because I was afraid to say too much... But we found a house in the beginning of April (well, as you read prior, we found many houses...) this one was not what we were wishing for or what we really wanted... instead it is what we need.  It has 3 bedrooms, a back yard, a deck, and a finished basement.  So, we put an offer in.  They countered, and we accepted.  We signed the first P & S in early April.  We had a home inspection performed, and due to the need for some repairs, we talked them down a few grand, and signed the final P & S in late April.
We went through a great deal of paperwork sending with our mortgage broker and due to a delay in some of that paperwork, our closing was postponed from yesterday to next Wednesday or Thursday.
We have been packing for what seems like months and now we're trying our best to not have to unpack too much due to the week delay.
We're excited - but this is certainly a "fixer-upper" so there's a lot of work that will go into it.

That's the house update...

The job update is that I'm finally just an Assistant Director and not an RD anymore.  My last few days were SOO busy and stressful.  I had a complete breakdown on Ryan last week after a few stress filled days.  I had tried to please too many and in the end, wound up missing a few steps and felt terrible about it.  Lately, with all the changes going on, the added responsibilities, the money worries, etc, I've felt like I just can't be a good mother, wife, friend, daughter, and employee all at the same time.  Its been a bit overwhelming and it all came to a head the other night.
Luckily, I have an amazing husband who listened, encouraged, and helped me wrap my head around things enough to see the silver lining in all of the challenges.
I woke up the next day ready to face my desk and all of the work that I left sitting there.  I also had a meeting with my boss that day and she was extremely encouraging and supportive.  so... I'm back to feeling good about things and ready to take each challenge head on as is my style!

As far as the half marathon... I did it... and I beat my time!!

I'll detail as best I can how it went...

We drove up on Friday night.  It's a three hour drive from here to my parents' friend's house on Lake Winnepesaukee so we left at 4 and stopped for some greasy dinner at McDonald's and got there at 7:30.  I am not ashamed to admit at all that I love McDonald's!!  The only time we ever go there is when we're on road trips, so I was actually looking forward to it!!  I didn't even consider, until the quarter pounded was almost devoured, that eating that might be a very poor life choice the night before a half marathon.... Oh well, live and learn, I figured!!

My two besties from work, Erin and Erin were doing the half with me.  Erin and her Hubby Mike, (whom Ryan gets along great with - but really, he gets along with almost everyone) got there about three minutes after us.  Erin had gone to the race site and picked up our race packets for us and then they went for dinner and met us at the house.  Erin K had dinner plans with friends in Laconia, so she arrived about an hour after we did.
The house we stayed at is my parent's close friends' cottage.  It's a three bedroom, two bathroom, gorgeous house on the lake.  We couldn't have been happier.
We all went to bed around 10:30-11pm and of course, I barely slept all night.  When I awoke for the sixth time and saw that the clock read 4:52am, I gave up on attempting any last zzzzs and got up.  We had some very tight race jerseys to wear- so I outfitted myself, got my protein shake ready, my banana and gatorade packed... then I pinned my bib on, threw my gu packs in my pocket and was sick to my stomach a few times (hey, it happens, I deal with my nerves my own way!!)
Erin and Erin were up at 5 also and we headed out at 5:30am.
It took us an hour to get to the race site.  Once we got there, we found the Make-A-Wish tent and I can't even tell you how wonderful those volunteers were.

As a fundraiser (Wish Racer) you are given private port-a-potties, which, I might tell you, was totally worth the fund-raising.  Although we did have to wait in a small line, it was nothing compared to the other port-a-potties. 

The absolute best part of this whole experience is that my parents decided to make a weekend of it, and took their motor-home to NH to come and watch me race.  Its one thing to be proud of yourself and do something for you... it's another to have your parents see you do it and feel the pride too!  And they did.  And that wiped me a way!

Back to the race.

After meeting a recipient of Make-a-Wish, Meaghan (who was about 13 years old and I didn't ask what life-threatening illness she had, but she was amazing) we got in line to start the race.  At 8:04 the race began.  We started off at a very slow pace, but Erin, Erin and I all ran together for about a mile or so.  (the finish line was about 1.75 miles away from the start). Erin C and I continued at her pace without Erin K because she was injured and planned to walk the majority of it.

It was chilly when we first got there, so I kept my running jacket on but after that mile, I knew I didn't want it for the rest of the race.  Luckily, my parents were already waiting at the finish line - so we prepped (Erin C and I) to throw them our jackets when we went by them...
As we approached that area, I spotted mom and dad immediately and noticed that my mom was holding a sign.  How amazing is that.  I've run so many races and seen family members hold signs encouraging their runners and here they were, holding a sign that boasted about me!!  Immediately I got emotional!!!  We threw our jackets at them and continued running!!  I could tell both Mom and Dad were overcome with the adrenaline that occurs when spectating a race like this and I was so excited to have them witness this!

At that point, Erin and I decided that we couldn't run together for much longer.  Erin's pace is a bit slower than mine, so I sped up a bit and she continued on at her pace.
The first three miles were awesome.  Just completely straight and the weather was gorgeous.

At about mile 5 I remember thinking, I'm already one third done and I feel great!!  I always carry a mini gatorade with me so I was holding that and I had my phone on my arm but wasn't listening to music - but didn't mind.  There were a few people cheering on their runners along the course and I just really enjoyed the scenery.

At mile 7 there was a pretty big hill and I thought, "ok, this is where the pain begins".  And it did.  Not terrible pain, but a small side-stitch.  I prayed to God to just keep it manageable and not make me slow down.  As always, my prayer was answered.  I was able to manage it with my breathing and I did slow a bit, but not for long.  I have found that if I consentrate on my breathing and slow my pace a little for about five minutes or so (at least a half mile) then the cramp usually subsides.  And it did.  Thank you God.
After mile 7, from about 8-10.5 there was small hills but they were over with so quickly, that I couldn't get upset about them!!
I ate one of my Gu's (which is an electrolyte gel) at about 7.5 miles.  I didn't really need it, but I thought, "I'm half way, so I might as well take one to keep my energy up".  I talked to a few people running along the way - mostly because out of over 1000 people running, only 55 of us raised money and had the jersey on.  So a lot of people asked me "how much did you raise?" when they saw me coming.

My pace was awesome for me... I didn't keep my app going on my phone but I knew that my pace was at about 10 minute miles from just the way I was feeling throughout the race.  At 10.5 miles, I realized that I still had another Gu left and I was still feeling incredible.  With only 2.6 miles left, I thought, "what the heck, I'll eat this one now."  So I did.  And then there was a pretty big hill, but it was over a gorgeous waterfall alongside a beautiful mountain, so I couldn't even grumble about it!!

Then at about 11.25 miles I started praying.  I remember praying, "Thank you God for giving me the ability to do this.  Thank you for the support of my family.  Thank you for the health of my parents and for them being here.  Thank you God for blessing me so richly."  And then I got pretty emotional just thanking the Lord for all I have.

A few times throughout the race, I pictured my parents waiting for me at the finish and I would tear up... At about 12 miles, I pictured them again and I really started crying... I was actually sobbing a little - and think about when you're sobbing, you tend to gasp for air.  Well, that doesn't exactly work when you're in a breathing rhythm and your heartrate is elevated.  So, something happened after 12 miles.  I could not get a hold of my breathing and got light headed.  Then I really got dizzy and was fairly certain I would pass out.  When I say fairly certain, I mean at the point where I knew I was about a half mile from the finish (because I could hear all the cow bells and the dj) I looked around me to see who I could tell that I needed help.   At that point, I saw the bright stars that I usually see right before I am about to pass out and it scared the shit out of me.  I move over to the left of the road and stopped.  I gasped a few times just begging to catch my breath enough to finish.
I was SO CLOSE to finishing and SO frustrated that I couldn't just run and feel as awesome as I had the whole race.  My heart was pounding and you know that feeling when your heart skips a beat and you feel that weird flutter of it catching up to itself?  That's what was happening - over and over.  It didn't normalize.  But I was SO CLOSE.  So I decided to jog a little and begged my body to cooperate.  I begged God, please don't let me make a scene out of this, please just let me finish before I pass out.
I ran a very slow jog for the last stretch.  I saw the clock about .25 from the finish and it read 2:11:45.  I still had the stars around the outside of my vision, and I was forcing air in through my nose and out through my mouth and I could feel my heart beat in my ears like base drums.
Suddenly, I heard, "And coming in to the finishing stretch from Bridgewater, Massachusetts is Amanda Surgens" from the dj.  I smiled at the hundreds of people clapping and cheering even though my eyes were frantically searching for my family.  Just before the actual finish line, on my right I could see them and I heard them.  My Mom's voice sounded just like it did on the field hockey field in high school, "GO AMANDA!!!"  I looked at them and tried my hardest to smile and look incredible as I knew my dad and Ryan were taking pictures.    I always raise my arms above my head at the end of a race in victory.  I tried to raise them... and they barely went above my waist... I just couldn't.

But I passed the finish... I made it...

I walked around the back to meet them on the side.  My mom saw me and walked to me.  I love that she didn't care how gross and sweaty I was and she hugged me.  She was holding another sign, this one different, but still boasting for me!  She had tears in her eyes and told me that my time was 2:14.  She saw that I was not ok and asked what was going on.  "I can't catch my breath" I told her.  "take a bunch of really deep breaths and sit down." So I did.  and it actually worked.  My heart kept racing for about 25 minutes, but I was already feeling so much better than I had been.

After sitting for a few, I realized that I hadn't hugged my dad yet.  He was still standing over near the finish.  (I had hugged Ryan and Maddie who had come right up to me when I sat down)...  i walked over to my Dad and realized he was completely filled with emotion.  The amount of pride I felt at that moment is indescribable.  He too had tears in his eyes and he was beaming.  I loved it!  I loved having my parents there.  Absolutely loved it.

Erin C finished about a half hour after I did and Erin K after that.  Mom and Dad left to have lunch and they were going to meet us back at the lakehouse in the afternoon and we'd have dinner together that night.

The after-race party was great and they even offered free beer!!  Unlike Erin C, I can't eat much after a race.  she, on the other hand could eat a large pizza and a full Sundae!!  So, we grabbed some food, beer and sat by the lake for a while.

Overall, I had an amazing race.  I felt phenomenal throughout the majority of it - way better than I did throughout my last half!  I can't wait to do the half in October and will be so excited to run it with my sister.

I will leave you with a few pictures....

madison loved the beach in front of the house

throwing my jacket at my parents

at the finish, this was my attempt to raise my hands up

erin c, me, erin k

post race hug

emotional parents

waiting for me to finish

trying to catch my breath...

she's my biggest fan

Mom

So a few of my posts have alluded to how great my mom is...
like the one about how we bonded over cooking Thanksgiving Dinner and my last one with my little note to my mom about how strong she is!
Well... my mom is beyond strong and a great cook.  But she scared the bageezuz out of me on Easter!!

We had Easter Dinner after an incredible day.  We went to their church on the cape and then went back to their house.  My mom did an awesome Easter Egg hunt for the kids.  She split it up so that the boys had some eggs filled with treats for them and that were hidden in trickier places and the little ones had treats that were fit for them and hidden in easier locations.  We took some really cute pictures in the back yard and when i find the cord to connect my camera, I'll post them!

After the Egg Hunt, we sat out on the back deck and enjoyed some drinks in the sun.  When I say "we" I should say that I kept thinking Mom would come out too but she was in the kitchen for the entire hour and a half or more that we enjoyed the sun.  I really regret that I didn't go in and help her.  REALLY regret that!! I honestly kept thinking she'd come out I didn't even think to ask what she needed help with inside - how completely selfish of me.  Anyways, moving on from my selfish daughter rant...

We ate dinner and then Mom, Aunt Wendy and I were chatting in the kitchen around the center island.  Maddie kept coming in and out of the kitchen and going back to watch the game with Ryan, my Dad and Uncle Art.  About an hour or so into us chatting, Mom was sitting next to me on the stool and for some odd reason, I noticed her hand was reaching out but in an odd way.  I honestly can't tell you why it caught my attention, but it did.  So I reached for it and held her hand.  I asked her "mom, what are you doing?"  to which she replied, "I don't know".  Then I said, "Mom, are you ok?"  and Aunt Wendy said, "Yea, Tam, you don't look that great, you're pale."
I recognized the look of daze across her face - as I have had that feeling many times and I just knew, so I asked her, "Mom, are you going to pass out"... Thinking she's snap out of it and say, "no, of course not, I'm fine"... but instead, she said, "yeah, I think I might"... at that point, I asked Aunt Wendy to go behind her and hold her up - thank God she did because right then, I watched my mom's eyes flutter and then roll into the back of her head and all of the natural flushed color drain right out of my mom's face.
"DAD!!! MOM JUST PASSED OUT!!!"
"DON!  TAM'S OUT OF IT, CALL 911!!!
I grabbed the phone, which was in arms reach, and dialed 911.  As I started to reply to "What's your emergency?" with "My mom just passed out" mom's eyes darted open and she was saying, "What, no I'm fine" so as the operator transferred me to the local paramedics, I told the new operator, "Well, I don't know if I have an emergency now, my mom passed out but she's fine now..."  Luckily, the operator wasn't happy with that so she stated that the EMTs would come to just check her out.
While waiting for them to show, mom said she should probably lay down.  So Aunt Wendy walked her into the bedroom.

Dad, Ryan and Uncle Art said that we sounded so calm and cool about it, they thought we were joking... and teasing my mom about something... but no, we were very serious!

Ryan was great and took Maddie outside to distract her - she actually had no idea what happened and didn't even see the paramedics.

When they arrived and ran some tests, they couldn't get her blood pressure to stabalize so they recommended she go to the ER to be checked out.
I don't know where my courage came from - because if you know me you know that I do not DO hospitals or medical emergencies - but I didn't want my mom to be alone, so I told her I was going in the ambulance with her.
I'll be honest here, even though I'd deny it to anyone's face - but I did some serious in-through-the-nose-out-through-the-mouth breathing in the ambulance to avoid passing out... I almost went twice, but I talked myself out of it!!

I can't begin to explain the fear that came over me when we got to the hospital.  I think I realized at that moment that my ROCK, my "always there to answer my questions, tell me how to cook something, help me out in a sticky situation, save my ass and watch Maddie when I need her to, talk me down from being frustrated or annoyed at my sister, father, husband, mother-in-law, everything I completely want to be to Maddie" was laying in that bed and we didn't know what was going on...
I lost it later that night (after Maddie went to bed)... I can't have anything be wrong with my mom... I need her.  I NEED her... I need her examples, I need her calmness, I need her advice, I need her on the end of the phone, I need her gentle voice, I need her and everyone in my family needs her...

Well, to make a long story very short, I am delighted to say that as of right now, mom is going to be fine.  She came home from the hospital with a heart monitor for 24 hours - basically because they couldn't figure out what really was the cause of her passing out.

She has a few tests coming up in the future to rule out heart stuff... and I'm praying that's exactly what those tests do because if you didn't catch my subtle hint earlier, I need my mom in my life.

This Mother's Day is going to be a little more emotional for me... I vow to never take my mom for granted - and I PROMISE that next time, I'LL BE IN THE KITCHEN HELPING HER PREP FOR THE MEAL AND NOT ON THE DECK GETTING SUNBURNED!!!  I love my mom and I am who I am because of her patience, strength and amazing love.


**after I wrote this, I got an email about blogging about Mom... so, in honor of Mother's Day, it's only apropos that I share with you how great Shutterfly is.  They'll occassionally do incentives and give you free fun things... I have used their  Cards http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/mothers-day-cards-stationery. 

Mainly their Christmas cards, but others would be great too! 

I've ordered photo gifts before too, and haven't been dissappointed yet!!   Personalized gifts for Mom http://www.shutterfly.com/photo-gifts

And as you have probably seen, we do a photobook every year of Maddie's previous year. photobook http://www.shutterfly.com/photo-books

Are you a blogger? You can receive their great incentives too: Click here to sign up for a chance at 50 free cards from Shutterfly.”

Short Letter Posts

My bff did this type of a post recently and I loved it - so I'm stealing it!  (Thanks A!!)

Dear God,
Thanks for always coming through for me... you strengthen my faith and keep me challenged all at the same time.  I appreciate it...
Love, me
p.s. I promise to make good on my promise to find a church and regularly attend - soon!

Dear Hubby,
Thanks for putting up with my freak outs over money, the house, the new job, and the future - and not reminding me too much that I'm crazy... 
Love, Your semi-neurotic wife

Dear Dad,
Please feel better and next time I call when you're in excrutiating pain - please don't answer the phone..
Love, Your selfish daughter who doesn't like to hear you in pain and I can pretend you're fine if I don't hear it in your voice....



Dear Mom,
You're a freakin' rock.  I don't know where you get your strength from but I pray to God I inherit that!
Love, your daughter who rarely tells you how much you mean to me...



Dear Old Navy,
Thanks for going out of business at the location closest to us - it certainly has helped my wallet while saving for a house...
Seriously...


Dear Madison,
Thanks for letting me see just how much patience my parents must have had when I was your age.
Love, your mom who gave you all the traits that drive me nuts about you!

I'm not having fun anymore....

I don't even know where to begin....
I really hate complaining... especially in public form.. it's not my style... but seriously... Since the second week in February, we have been looking daily at houses.  I look online, we look in person.  We drive by houses to see if the area is decent...  we look more online... our realtor looks and drives by and we all go look.
I stated in the last post about all the houses we've seen.
Well, since then here is the update...
Since the last post, when we went to all of the open houses, we put an offer in on one in Attleboro.  They did not like our offer and countered, but we couldn't meet their counter.

Then we went out the next weekend with our realtor and saw six houses.  One was in East Bridgewater - that was very small and the woman must have smoked her whole life in that house.  Smoke is a total deal breaker for us.  Then we went to Easton and that house was basically an apartment.
After that, we were off to Bridgewater and that house needed a TON of work and was again, a smoker's house.
From there, we traveled to Taunton.  The first in Taunton was a split level which was nice, but there was NO room for a table in the kitchen and no dining room.  It too seemed like an apartment.
The next was a condo that was gorgeous inside - but not for a family.  It was on the taunton river, but set in someone else's backyard... the set up was so frustrating - you couldn't have people over or take your kids outside at all.
Then we went to one house that we fell in love with.  We weren't expecting it at all, in fact, we don't even know how it got on our list to see... because it was well over 30k what we wanted to spend... but we loved it!!
The woman living there is selling because her job is relocating her to Guam.  That's right.. Guam.  She needed to leave in the next two weeks.  This is good, the house was on the market for 2 months and she needs immediacy - we could knock 30k off!!  Or... not.

We offered that day.  We offered the 30K less and they didn't even counter - they just said, "we can't work with this number."  So after some lengthy number crunching and conversations with our mortgage broker, we upped our offer by 20K... that's right we loved this house enough to eat mac-n-cheese for a few months...

So all day yesterday we were on pins and needles having just offered and praying she accepted.

I finally heard from our realtor around 4pm saying that the woman changed her mind, isn't moving to Guam and wont sell for less than the asking price.

Talk about a punch in the stomach...

And to make matters worse, my boss came in today and reminded me that they have posted my job - so I'll need to be out by May.

Awesome...

Our agent is awesome, in fact, she didn't let us sulk last night.  Instead, she had us go to two houses.  Neither one was good at all, but at least we were back out looking. 

I also remembered that about a month ago, I went with our agent (without Ryan) to see a house in Weymouth that I hadn't listed in the previous post.  There had to have been seventeen cats in that house!! And it was TINY!!!
the floors were slanted.  And there was no backyard - that too is a deal breaker.

So if you're counting that's 44 houses that we've physically been in, three offers, and NO P&S's signed... and two very frustrated future home buyers.

Thank you for the prayers and support... Please keep praying... we need to rely on God for this and trust that he has a plan for us... it's so much easier said than done!

Another one bites the dust...

And just like that...  the house is not ours...

Its ok.  There will be a house that is ours.

We know this.

It's just hard to swallow when we thought this house was perfect!

I said that one day I would blog about all the houses we've seen... I'll try to do that.  My house hunting notes are not infront of me but I'm pretty sure I can recall most if not all of them.

Our first day physically looking at houses, we packed up in the car and headed to two open houses we could find (online) in Brockton.  Not where we wanted to live but we were keeping an open mind.  So, we drove up and found that no one was at either house - so I called the listing agent (who happened to be the same person) and she stated "oh, no those open houses were canceled, I don't know why they were still listed online.  Sorry"...

Lovely.

So, we just literally started driving around looking for balloons and an open house.
Low and behold, we found a little gated community that was having open houses on two of their brand new units.  They were about 65k more than we can afford, but they were cute modular homes.  We walked around, spoke to the listing agent, he put us on an MLS server where we're emailed updates daily and we left.

We continued driving around and found one more.  This was was only 130k more than we could afford and was the ugliest house I've seen in a long time!!  There was actually a wall that opened up to the basement, you literally had to pull the wall forward and then there was a secret crawl space into the basement.  No thank you!!!

After those three houses, I started just looking at MLS and emailing the listing agents for houses that were in our range and that had 3 bedrooms.  That was pretty much our only criteria.

Then we went to see two of them (one in Bridgewater and one in East Bridgewater).  The first was a house from 1710 (ok, I wasn't paying attention to age at all until after this point!) and had been trashed after the bank repossessed it from the owners.  We barely made it around that house without running out screaming.

The second was another house that was foreclosed upon.  There was a leaky picture window and the rooms were tiny. 

This was the first time I realized that banks can winterize a house... that is interesting to me.  Its also interesting that people leave behind family pictures and personal items when they move out.  It really bothered me to see kids toys in the bedrooms...

The next week, we met another agent and went to Attleboro (where Ryan and I both grew up).  We saw one really old house that was in arms reach other two on either side and had NO backyard.  This was also a foreclosure but was in better shape than the others.  The second house was short sale and looked just like a friend's house.  It was ok, but very small.  We then drove up to a third house in Attleboro, but even the outside was so gross, we didn't want to go inside.  So we ended our Attleboro escapades there.


The following weekend we met our current agent, Lizanne whom we love!!  She took us to houses all over the place.  The first was in Middleboro and it was a foreclosure that was, again, left with personal items and trash inside.  Disgusting!!!
The second house that we were supposed to see - we couldn't because one of the children inside had the flu.  So we headed to Plymouth.  We went to our first of two plymouth houses.  The first was a blue cape style house and when we went in, we actually really liked it!! The bedrooms were nice and big and the basement would make a great playroom and man-town for Ryan.  However, there were two big things that we couldn't settle on.  There was NO backyard.  I mean, a wall up against the back of the house - no backyard at all.  Then, the road getting to the house was a steep... steeeeeeeeeeep dirt road.  There was some ice on the ground and we almost got stuck.  I know if we were in my car we wouldn't have gotten back up that road. 
So, off to the next house....
This house was one we were really excited about.. it was cute on the outside and the pictures online described it like this, "sip your coffee on the gorgeous farmers porch or enjoy cookouts on the deck overlooking your large private backyard"... ahhh... just what we love... until we got inside.  There was actually dog feces all over the inside of this house.  The stove had been smashed in, the walls were stained - someone had clearly broken into this house!!  NASTY and such a let down because we had high hopes for this one!! 
From Plymouth we headed to Pembroke and saw a house that was near the water.  Seemed much like a cottage and we didn't love it.  Actually, it didn't have a livingroom, it was really weird, so we said no to that one. 

On the way out of the last nasty one in Plymouth, we drove by one that seemed cute on the outside so when I got home, I looked it up.  It was 25K above our range (of course) but we asked Lizanne if she'd take us back there to see it.  Next weekend, we'd go back to Plymouth.


But, we both had the next few days off due to Ryan's Feb. break and a few snow days I had banked.  So we called around to local houses and went to see some in Taunton.  One was a split level that we thought was nice but certainly not big enough.  There wasn't anywhere for a kitchen table and there was very little living space.  The next was a big raised ranch however, there was mold all over the bottom.  We saw a colonial in Taunton and decided that colonials were not for us.  Just didn't like the feel of them.  We also saw a foreclosure that day that was disgusting as well!!



Since we were heading back to Plymouth, we looked at a few more in the Plymouth/Wareham area online to try to see.  There were three.  Two in Wareham and the one in Plymouth.  The two in Wareham were right next door to each other and were decent, but not us.  The third, the one we found while driving by was GREAT!!
We really liked it.  It had an above ground pool which we weren't crazy about but everything else on this house was what we wanted...
Then we found out it was a short sale...
If you don't know much about a short sale, just know the name is a misnomer!! The bank and the owner have to agree on selling and on the price and that can take up to 4 months or longer.  We only have until May... so that is out!! UGHHHH!!!


We weren't giving up though...


We then found four more houses to view the next weekend, all in Plymouth.  One was a very funky house that seemed like it could topple over at any minute.  Then two of them were on Hedges Pond Road.  The camp that Ryan and I grew up at and fell in love at is on Hedges Pond Road and these two houses basically face the entrance of what was that camp... Very odd!! One was a very large but very old house - plus the lady smoked and it was nasty inside.  The other was a "potential" but it seemed so cottage-like that we just couldn't see it as our home.

The fourth that day was a really nice house, but the neighborhood was odd.  So was the livingroom.  Our couch wouldn't fit in there at all.  Plus there was a dehumidifier pumping water out like a river in the basement... Seemed like too much for us to handle.


Somewhere in there we saw three houses in Carver, MA.  One was so great... until we went looking for the stairs to the basement... there were none.  But where was the laundry hook-up?  We went out back to the nice backyard and saw the bulkhead.  No... that couldn't be the only way to the basement... Down we went... This basement was less than 6 ft. high because Ryan could barely stand up down there, and sure enough, the laundry hook up was down there!!
SERIOUSLY?!?! Who wants to bring their laundry outside and down the bulkhead to do it?!?! Not me....
The next two in Carver were wicked heavy smokers and so dark and dingy inside.  No thank you.



That day was a bust too!


If you're counting, that's 27 houses (and I think I forgot a few)...


This past week, we met our agent on Tuesday night and saw two houses in Bridgewater.  One house had so much mold in the basement the stairs to the bulkhead had rotted off.  No thanks.
The second was really pretty inside but the living space was tiny and there was water in the basement.


We met her again on Saturday and saw two houses in Attleboro (neither was great at all), and four in Taunton.  The third one in Taunton was "the house" that we put the offer on.  Man was that a great house....



Thursday we're going to see at least 4 more houses in Taunton and Attleboro and then this weekend we have six open houses lined up to see.


Oy vey!!  That's 35 houses we've physically seen and still going.  I can't even tell you how many I've seen online.


People send us some that they want us to look at which I really appreciate... however, most of them, if not all of them, are ones that I'm aware of.  I literally spend every free moment on MLS and homes.com and trulia.com and ziprealty.com and massrealty.com looking for new listings....

If you told me an address, I'd be able to tell you the characteristics of the house, the price (if its in our range) and any pertinent information about it (short sale, title v failed, no backyard, foreclosure, etc)...
I never thought this would be as tough as it is and that I would be dreaming about houses like I am... literally... I close my eyes and I see houses... I know I sound crazy, but it is true!!


So that is our house hunting saga... I'm sure I've missed a few houses, but these are the most memorable ones! 


I'll keep you posted.


God is taking us on quite a journey, and I'm trying to see his lesson in all of this!!

In His Hands....

That saying is so much easier to say than to actually believe, accept and allow yourself to own.

After searching (technically since January 25th when we faced the possibility that I'd be getting this job) for houses... five weeks later... upteen hundred online views of houses in our price range, and 39 physical views of houses in our range... we finally found one that we both love...

I post this with such trepidation... We really do love this house and are so nervous that our offer will not be accepted and that we'll be back at square one...

But, it is all in the Lord's hands.  He has a plan for us, this I do know.  I believe it.  I always have.  I told Ryan that I really felt that I would get this job when I was applying for it because "things work out for us" because we put our trust in Him and allow Him to guide us where He wants us...

I believe that He will do that with our house hunt as well.

It's just really hard to not worry about things or think constantly about the "what-if's" even when you know they're in God's hands and beyond your control...

We have been telling people about this house... more because we feel that the more we get people praying that they accept our offer (even though it is much less than they're asking for it) the better!!

So, if you have a moment, and yes, I do feel guilty for asking for these prayers while so many prayers should be going to Japan and those affected there, but if you have a moment, if you could say a little prayer that God guide us through this process and that our offer be accepted so that we can have a smooth transition moving...

The stress and pressure is on.  We have exactly 60 days to move out of this apartment!!!  60 days... WOW!!!

We really should start packing!!! Its hard to pack when you have no idea where you'll be living!!

(p.s. at some point, I really need to journal about all of the different places we've seen... foreclosures are not for the faint of heart or for those with weak stomachs... that's all I'll tell you!!)