We've made it to Moving Day Eve, and I'm spending a little quiet time reflecting on our time here.
In this house: Dannon went to preschool and Kindergarten.
In this house: Ashlyn started middle school, had sleepovers, learned to play the flute, read more than anyone I know, and played on a championship softball team (Go Reynolds Pride!).
In this house: I was a full time college student for two quarters and had a 4.0 GPA.
But most of all, this was the house of Samuel.
It can feel a little emotional sometimes to leave the place your family has grown in; but we're so anxious for what our next chapter will hold.
We've put in a lot of hours today, with many more to come tomorrow, but for now we've got one more sleep.
Thursday, August 13, 2015
Wednesday, July 22, 2015
House hunting, decluttering, and packing - Oh my!
To say the rental market in the Seattle area is crazy right now would be a drastic understatement. One of the best suggestions we have had was to find a leasing agent, someone who would be working WITH us in our search for a new home. We happened to come across just this on accident and it has been the biggest blessing!
We were feeling pretty discouraged after determining that all three homes we were hoping to look at over the weekend had already been rented. We spoke with property management companies and private home owners on Tuesday and Wednesday and set up appointments to view their homes on Saturday and Sunday, but one by one they were rented before we were even considered a player in the game. Yikes.
As we were driving through a neighborhood to take a peek at a home that had another applicant pending approval we saw a rental sign and called the number. It turns out the home for rent was through a company called Invitation Homes that buys houses specifically to rent out. The house we discovered on accident was waaaaay out of our price range, but the person Bob spoke with assured us that they had others listed and she would have a leasing agent contact us to see if we could find a good fit.
Success!
The timeline details still need to be worked out, and we haven't seen the inside of the home yet (aside from pictures and what we could see peering into the windows), but we've entered into a Pre-Lease agreement on a home in Puyallup's South Hill area. Pre-Lease. Yep. Thats a thing now because of how agressive (our agent's word) the rental market is. What it means for us is the house will not be advertised as available to anyone else. Its ours to confirm yes or no on when we are able to get in and do a walk through (tentatively set for August 1st). We signed electronic documents this morning, and are overnighting a deposit on the deposit today.
It feels like a big weight has been lifted to have a home lined up for us to move into in a few weeks. This is one more prayer that has been answered, and we are so, so blessed.
Now its time to focus on having a moving sale, packing and cleaning. I desperately wish I could fast forward through these tasks. I'm really struggling with how to get these things done. Thankfully my mom is on her way down to spend a few days with us and help out as needed. I'm sure she'll have some time on boy duty as I try and prep for the sale as much as possible over the next few days, and hopefully we can come up with a list of deep cleaning tasks that we can tackle now. If our timeline falls as it is looking right now, we've got just over 3 weeks before we pack the truck and drive away. Such an awkward amount of time.
I need to somehow get over this paralyzing feeling and just DO SOMETHING. So, I write a blog post. And wish for a nap. I'll do something this afternoon. I promise.
We were feeling pretty discouraged after determining that all three homes we were hoping to look at over the weekend had already been rented. We spoke with property management companies and private home owners on Tuesday and Wednesday and set up appointments to view their homes on Saturday and Sunday, but one by one they were rented before we were even considered a player in the game. Yikes.
As we were driving through a neighborhood to take a peek at a home that had another applicant pending approval we saw a rental sign and called the number. It turns out the home for rent was through a company called Invitation Homes that buys houses specifically to rent out. The house we discovered on accident was waaaaay out of our price range, but the person Bob spoke with assured us that they had others listed and she would have a leasing agent contact us to see if we could find a good fit.
Success!
The timeline details still need to be worked out, and we haven't seen the inside of the home yet (aside from pictures and what we could see peering into the windows), but we've entered into a Pre-Lease agreement on a home in Puyallup's South Hill area. Pre-Lease. Yep. Thats a thing now because of how agressive (our agent's word) the rental market is. What it means for us is the house will not be advertised as available to anyone else. Its ours to confirm yes or no on when we are able to get in and do a walk through (tentatively set for August 1st). We signed electronic documents this morning, and are overnighting a deposit on the deposit today.
It feels like a big weight has been lifted to have a home lined up for us to move into in a few weeks. This is one more prayer that has been answered, and we are so, so blessed.
Now its time to focus on having a moving sale, packing and cleaning. I desperately wish I could fast forward through these tasks. I'm really struggling with how to get these things done. Thankfully my mom is on her way down to spend a few days with us and help out as needed. I'm sure she'll have some time on boy duty as I try and prep for the sale as much as possible over the next few days, and hopefully we can come up with a list of deep cleaning tasks that we can tackle now. If our timeline falls as it is looking right now, we've got just over 3 weeks before we pack the truck and drive away. Such an awkward amount of time.
I need to somehow get over this paralyzing feeling and just DO SOMETHING. So, I write a blog post. And wish for a nap. I'll do something this afternoon. I promise.
Monday, July 13, 2015
5 Things: The Productive Weekend Edition!
One of my favorite bloggers, Money Saving Mom, has been doing regular posts of "5 Things" that I've really enjoyed. Its a little peek into her day/her family/her life and I love and appreciate that she keeps it real!
I thought I'd do my own 5 Things today and reflect on our productive weekend!
- We left Big Sis home with all of the boys and hit up Home Depot for some storage bins. It is so nice that she is old enough, and responsible enough, to watch her brothers for short amounts of time. The quick errands together don't really qualify as date status, but its still nice to do things together without kids. I {still} love spending time with Bob. I'm pretty sure that means we're on the right track with this relationship/marriage thing!
- After obtaining bins, we spent a few hours on Saturday working on getting the garage a little more organized. I wish I had before and after pictures to share! We had quite a big pile of stuff destined for the dumpster at Bob's work and separated consignment items from moving sale items. The moving sale pile is pretty unruly and will need a lot of attention before our eventual sale dates (yet to be determined.)
- Saturday's dinner was supposed to be London Broil on the grill, but our meat spent a few too many days in the fridge waiting to be cooked and just didn't look appetizing/safe any more. I hate wasting groceries, especially meat! Instead of beating myself up over the beef gone bad, we rewarded our efforts with Godfather's Pizza. We really should be pinching the pennies, but sometimes its better to take the easy way out for the sake of our sanity.
- On Sunday I spent some more time in the garage entering the consignment items into the consignment sale system. (Did I mention that I've already signed up for the Just Between Friends fall sale in Puyallup?) I'm not moving stuff to sell unless its partially prepped and committed. I've got nearly $500 worth entered already and one more bin on the To Do List for today!
- We were also able to get about 3/4 of the decor items and stuff off the walls packed on Sunday. It is looking pretty bare in here (well... if you're looking at the walls, that is.)
- **Bonus Thing** As I was going through a laundry basket of stuff that was "cleaned" off the kitchen counter at some point and put in the garage out of sight, I found a birthday card from my grandparents with a $50 bill! It was a pretty exciting discovery! We treated ourselves to a fresh cut of London Broil for dinner and blizzards for everyone at DQ.
Monday, July 6, 2015
Moving. Again.
Despite the potentially negative feeling to the title of this post, we're excited to announce we'll be moving again!
Bob got the green light on his transfer request which means we'll be saying goodbye Oregon, hello Washington in the very close future. And by close future I mean a number of weeks. And because the thought of everything that needs to be done between now and then is crippling to me, I'm writing a blog post instead of jumping in and getting started... because really... where do you start?!
Lets see, things to do:
I know that I need to find a place to start and just get started. The moving sale is going to be one of the biggest stressors, but so very important. I wasn't able to do the Spring consignment sales this year, it would have been too much to take on with being in school full time and our Illinois trip planned right around the sale dates. Our garage is a nightmare. I should probably start inside, but without a moving date its hard to start packing up! Today my goal is to focus on the back yard toys and miscellaneous shrapnel spread all over.
Our current landlord is a fanatic. I don't know if we should put in the sweat and elbow grease to get things back on par with his expectations for move out, which would probably include hiring some yard guys to do the dirty work, or write off any hope of getting some/all of our deposit back and just let him deal with it so it's done to his liking. I would be so angry to invest time and money into the yard work for it not to meet his approval and lose out on our deposit anyway.
Oh my goodness, I can't wait to own our own home.
So, if you're reading this and have any great moving tips, want to pitch in in any way, or know of any great 3-4 bedroom rentals within a 30-40 minute radius of Kent please let me know!
Bob got the green light on his transfer request which means we'll be saying goodbye Oregon, hello Washington in the very close future. And by close future I mean a number of weeks. And because the thought of everything that needs to be done between now and then is crippling to me, I'm writing a blog post instead of jumping in and getting started... because really... where do you start?!
Lets see, things to do:
- Find a new home in a good school district, where we will be able to buy in the next year or so and keep the kids in the same school. (daunting because it feels like we need to make a forever choice RIGHT NOW!)
- Give notice to our current landlord
- Pack & eliminate unnecessary stuff
- Have a MASSIVE moving sale (where we can hopefully make enough money to finance part of this move)
- Clean house & yard
- Take care of all the day to day stuff in the meantime
I know that I need to find a place to start and just get started. The moving sale is going to be one of the biggest stressors, but so very important. I wasn't able to do the Spring consignment sales this year, it would have been too much to take on with being in school full time and our Illinois trip planned right around the sale dates. Our garage is a nightmare. I should probably start inside, but without a moving date its hard to start packing up! Today my goal is to focus on the back yard toys and miscellaneous shrapnel spread all over.
Our current landlord is a fanatic. I don't know if we should put in the sweat and elbow grease to get things back on par with his expectations for move out, which would probably include hiring some yard guys to do the dirty work, or write off any hope of getting some/all of our deposit back and just let him deal with it so it's done to his liking. I would be so angry to invest time and money into the yard work for it not to meet his approval and lose out on our deposit anyway.
Oh my goodness, I can't wait to own our own home.
So, if you're reading this and have any great moving tips, want to pitch in in any way, or know of any great 3-4 bedroom rentals within a 30-40 minute radius of Kent please let me know!
Monday, January 5, 2015
The Eve of Back to School
... Or in other words, YES YES YES YES YES!!
I think we had a decent school break, but I'm excited for a new normal. The older two will be back in school, and this girl starts classes tomorrow too! I am really hopeful that becoming a full time student will help me to schedule and prioritize better, to bring a litte structure to our otherwise chaotic days. It feels like such a fresh, new start full of potential and possibilities. Each new year presents itself in that way, the difficulty lies in actually DOING something to build on those feelings.
Bob and I sat down together on New Years Eve, after putting the boys to bed at 9pm without much fanfare, and talked about our hopes, dreams and goals for 2015. We still need to add some details to our "resolution blueprint" and outline how we plan on working towards the goals, but it was so awesome to see just how on the same page we were about the things we were writing down. I think it will make a world of difference in my ability to follow through when we can be accountable to each other and working towards goals and achievements together.
Here is the rough draft we came up with, and a few other photos that sum up our NYE:
Our goals and start to a bucket list.
My crazy boys, ringing in the new year.
Samuel skyping with Nerdy Girl, I mean.. Big sister!
Our version of two player cards against humanity (the deck ended up kicking our heinys!)
....and us, taken early in the evening just in case we didn't make it until midnight (we did!)
I'm feeling ready to take on 2015, who's with me?!
Wednesday, December 31, 2014
The Pit of Despair.. Oh wait, that's our Bedroom...
In the spirit of keeping it real, I will divulge one (just one for today, but don't worry, there are many!) of my problem areas--that room that no one ever ventures into, and thanks to child proof door locks, is always hidden behind a closed door -- our bedroom.
I love the thought of a calm, organized, clutter free area. A place to rejuvenate. A place to sleep (do you hear that Baby Sam? SLEEP) and a clear desk area where I can set up space and encourage myself to be a successful student.
This room is none of those things. It has become a room of dumping and hiding. All the piles that collect downstairs eventually move upstairs. This room is the first that I am choosing to tackle for my own sanity, for a place to study and baby-willing a place to feel more rested and ready for each day.
Here are a few "before" pics that I snapped this afternoon. Yikes! I know! I apologize in advance if any undies made it into the shot, I'm telling you -- keeping it real!
The first task I assigned myself was to empty the crib and change the sheet. Time for Sammy to transition to the crib. For real. I was obviously joking when I said that a few months ago... Wish us luck with the transition and stay tuned for an account of my success with taming the stuff. Too. Much. Stuff.
Tuesday, December 30, 2014
Preparing for the Year: 2015
I have been anxiously preparing (ok, I mean... Pinterest-ing) for the new year! I'm not a resolution maker, but instead I try to set some goals, put new routines in place and come up with a bucket list of things we want to accomplish and experience.
I tend to bite off more than I can chew, classic overachiever style... and then get frustrated/burned out/give up. My stick-to-it-iv-ness sucks and thats something I've always wanted to change. Well, why not now?
At times I have the desire to be a blog worthy super mom, and when I sit and actually picture what that means to me the first thing I think of is a mom who smiles and is happy. Someone who enjoys their life, their children, their home, their marriage (or soon to be marriage). I envision someone who is busy and productive, but has time and resources to make memories with their family.
Is it strange to think that maybe my complacency and laziness stem from the fact that I just haven't been busy enough? I have nothing to do so I do nothing? We're about to find out, because this mama starts back as a full time student in just a matter of days!
But, I digress, back to the purpose of this post... New Year! 2015! It feels like its going to be a good one, and I want to do everything in my power to feel accomplished and on top of things. I want to feel like I am living life purposefully instead of being drug along by life, struggling for footing.
To my "2015" Pinterest board I have added a few pins about challenges that I plan to take on:
Resolution Blueprint
52 Weeks to an Organized Home
Declutter 365
Dave Ramsay's baby steps
Fiscal Fast
The first of these that I want to discuss is How to do a Fiscal Fast. I'm excited about this and plan to follow through in January! Can you believe it? Excited? Yeah.. I'm a little surprised too, chronic shopper that I am... but we have been in what I call "eff it mode" for the past two months. "Eff it mode" consists of a loss of income (the child support that the ex-husband has not paid since the end of October) and the desire to enjoy life and the season without having to say no all the time. "Eff it mode" was enabled by a new credit card, and boy did we put that thing to use! I'm not proud of our spending choices, but I'm going to own them because we were fully aware of what we were doing. The reality is that now its time to buckle down and be purposeful with our spending again, and we will start that by NOT spending for 30 days.
With a few exceptions of course:
Here is my gray area:
Gift cards -- during our Fiscal Fast, can we use gift cards we received at Christmas as long as we're not spending additional money out of pocket?
B/S/T items -- if I sell cloth diapers, can I re-invest those funds into new to us diapers?
Is the Fiscal Fast challenge about NOT shopping, or about NOT spending money? In my opinion, shopping for pleasure is out. My thrift store outings will be a no go, and instead I'll invest that time into decluttering our home, working on projects in progress and spending time with the family. But I would like to have the option of a family outing to Cold Stone Creamery to use the gift cards that my Aunt, Uncle & cousins gave to the kiddos, and when I make the 3 hour round trip trek to pick up the girlie can I redeem my free Starbucks drink available on my Gold Card? Can I spend the remainder of my Amazon gift card on items that aren't necessary? Does this fast apply to my kiddos as well? Good thing I've got a few days to determine our final guidelines! What are your thoughts on my gray area issues?
Stay tuned for more about my hopes, dreams, plans, goals and wishes for 2015!
I tend to bite off more than I can chew, classic overachiever style... and then get frustrated/burned out/give up. My stick-to-it-iv-ness sucks and thats something I've always wanted to change. Well, why not now?
At times I have the desire to be a blog worthy super mom, and when I sit and actually picture what that means to me the first thing I think of is a mom who smiles and is happy. Someone who enjoys their life, their children, their home, their marriage (or soon to be marriage). I envision someone who is busy and productive, but has time and resources to make memories with their family.
Is it strange to think that maybe my complacency and laziness stem from the fact that I just haven't been busy enough? I have nothing to do so I do nothing? We're about to find out, because this mama starts back as a full time student in just a matter of days!
But, I digress, back to the purpose of this post... New Year! 2015! It feels like its going to be a good one, and I want to do everything in my power to feel accomplished and on top of things. I want to feel like I am living life purposefully instead of being drug along by life, struggling for footing.
To my "2015" Pinterest board I have added a few pins about challenges that I plan to take on:
Resolution Blueprint
52 Weeks to an Organized Home
Declutter 365
Dave Ramsay's baby steps
Fiscal Fast
The first of these that I want to discuss is How to do a Fiscal Fast. I'm excited about this and plan to follow through in January! Can you believe it? Excited? Yeah.. I'm a little surprised too, chronic shopper that I am... but we have been in what I call "eff it mode" for the past two months. "Eff it mode" consists of a loss of income (the child support that the ex-husband has not paid since the end of October) and the desire to enjoy life and the season without having to say no all the time. "Eff it mode" was enabled by a new credit card, and boy did we put that thing to use! I'm not proud of our spending choices, but I'm going to own them because we were fully aware of what we were doing. The reality is that now its time to buckle down and be purposeful with our spending again, and we will start that by NOT spending for 30 days.
With a few exceptions of course:
- Textbooks and school essentials
- Ashlyn's birthday preparations/gifts
- Essential grocery items (including any medicine/first aid need that might arise)
Here is my gray area:
Gift cards -- during our Fiscal Fast, can we use gift cards we received at Christmas as long as we're not spending additional money out of pocket?
B/S/T items -- if I sell cloth diapers, can I re-invest those funds into new to us diapers?
Is the Fiscal Fast challenge about NOT shopping, or about NOT spending money? In my opinion, shopping for pleasure is out. My thrift store outings will be a no go, and instead I'll invest that time into decluttering our home, working on projects in progress and spending time with the family. But I would like to have the option of a family outing to Cold Stone Creamery to use the gift cards that my Aunt, Uncle & cousins gave to the kiddos, and when I make the 3 hour round trip trek to pick up the girlie can I redeem my free Starbucks drink available on my Gold Card? Can I spend the remainder of my Amazon gift card on items that aren't necessary? Does this fast apply to my kiddos as well? Good thing I've got a few days to determine our final guidelines! What are your thoughts on my gray area issues?
Stay tuned for more about my hopes, dreams, plans, goals and wishes for 2015!
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