One dozen homes viewed. Three offers submitted, the last of which was sent in at 9:00 last night. Homes are coming off the market in less than a week span before we can even get an appointment to see them. Turns out having to give this much of notice to our current leasing manager was kind of a blessing in disguise. We couldn't be nearly as picky as we have been if we only had a month to look.
We actually found two places last night. One I could live in forever, and one that will work for the next year or two. We made the offer on the one I could live in forever, the one with brick exterior and light green siding. Ringing any bells with our Ohio friends and family? Yeah, it felt just like our house, but even better. I've been awake half the night staring at photos of the home and the neighborhood, willing it all to work out this time, and falling even more in love. I know I'm only asking for disappointment by doing so, but I mean really, how many times can you submit an offer and be told it just went in contract the same day you saw it? Fingers crossed that doesn't happen this time! I could really use a positive note to end this crappy week and word that our offer has been accepted could carry me for quite some time.
Showing posts with label relocating. Show all posts
Showing posts with label relocating. Show all posts
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Should I stay or should I go?
My original plan was to do some soul searching and create an honest pros and cons list to help us decide whether we should renew our lease for another year or put ourselves back on the market for a place to live. Because despite feeling as though all I do is complain about this place, it really does have some great things going for it such as lots of space, both living and storage, and a really awesome layout. Having Owen's toy room and my office directly off the main living area has made life quite simple and enjoyable. We've also got one heck of a pool, play ground fit for a 2-year-old, gorgeous club house, and beautiful grounds to admire while walking the dog. Oh, and did I mention that when the rest of the city was trying to finish their Christmas shopping, but were really just sitting in one huge traffic jam at the shopping center parking lot, all I had to do was walk across the street? I'm pretty sure I was back home before a few of those cars found a parking space.
But before I start listing cons and run off on a tangent about The Elephant Man and the nasty laundry room and the unexpected fuzzy little visitor we had last month, I'm going to stop myself, because none of it matters.
Two weeks ago we received a letter in the mail from our leasing office stating our lease was up soon and we were required to notify them in writing if we did not wish to renew for another year. We've never rented from a big corporate establishment like this before but I assume this is pretty normal, right? Sure. The letter was dated January 9, was delivered on January 12, and thanks to many previous disagreements with our leasing office I knew to read every single line, especially the very small print at the bottom of the second page, which said we had 15 days from the date on the letter to notify them before our lease automatically renewed. Again, not so surprising. What was surprising, however, is the fact that we had until January 23rd to make a decision but our lease is not up until April 30th.
Seriously? I about died. They were requiring over three months notice or else we would be stuck here for another year. No one is going to hold a place for that amount of time which means if we leave, we leave blindly, and hope beyond hope that we find a place before April 30. Risky? Maybe. But I didn't care. If we didn't take the risk, obviously, we would be here forever. I wrote the letter stating we would be leaving and turned it in the next day.
I've never lived anywhere this short of time, but I've never lived anywhere that the negative outweighed the positive, even if there were quite a few positive attributes. Then again, I guess this was part of the plan when moving here. We didn't know the city well enough to know where we would feel most at home, and we didn't know what our lives would be like to know how much space and financial responsibility we could handle. Now, we do know the neighborhood we want to be in and we do know the type of home we want to have. Unfortunately, with another child and additional care costs on the horizon, we aren't entirely sure what the budget will look like but we have a decent idea of what we'll be working with.
So, in the battle of staying or going, we are going, and we're finding a house, and I'm really excited about that. I hate the idea of moving when I'm 9 months pregnant, but I love the idea of sleeping at night without a zoo trampling above my head, of taking a shower without the water turning freezing cold when someone in a neighboring apartment flushes the toilet, of having my own washer and dryer. I want to be in a place of comfort when this baby arrives and that can't happen here. Apartment life had a lot of potential, and I feel I was pretty optimistic about it, but this isn't the place for us. We need a home of our own.
Looks like instead of just organizing closets, I'll be packing them up.
But before I start listing cons and run off on a tangent about The Elephant Man and the nasty laundry room and the unexpected fuzzy little visitor we had last month, I'm going to stop myself, because none of it matters.
Two weeks ago we received a letter in the mail from our leasing office stating our lease was up soon and we were required to notify them in writing if we did not wish to renew for another year. We've never rented from a big corporate establishment like this before but I assume this is pretty normal, right? Sure. The letter was dated January 9, was delivered on January 12, and thanks to many previous disagreements with our leasing office I knew to read every single line, especially the very small print at the bottom of the second page, which said we had 15 days from the date on the letter to notify them before our lease automatically renewed. Again, not so surprising. What was surprising, however, is the fact that we had until January 23rd to make a decision but our lease is not up until April 30th.
Seriously? I about died. They were requiring over three months notice or else we would be stuck here for another year. No one is going to hold a place for that amount of time which means if we leave, we leave blindly, and hope beyond hope that we find a place before April 30. Risky? Maybe. But I didn't care. If we didn't take the risk, obviously, we would be here forever. I wrote the letter stating we would be leaving and turned it in the next day.
I've never lived anywhere this short of time, but I've never lived anywhere that the negative outweighed the positive, even if there were quite a few positive attributes. Then again, I guess this was part of the plan when moving here. We didn't know the city well enough to know where we would feel most at home, and we didn't know what our lives would be like to know how much space and financial responsibility we could handle. Now, we do know the neighborhood we want to be in and we do know the type of home we want to have. Unfortunately, with another child and additional care costs on the horizon, we aren't entirely sure what the budget will look like but we have a decent idea of what we'll be working with.
So, in the battle of staying or going, we are going, and we're finding a house, and I'm really excited about that. I hate the idea of moving when I'm 9 months pregnant, but I love the idea of sleeping at night without a zoo trampling above my head, of taking a shower without the water turning freezing cold when someone in a neighboring apartment flushes the toilet, of having my own washer and dryer. I want to be in a place of comfort when this baby arrives and that can't happen here. Apartment life had a lot of potential, and I feel I was pretty optimistic about it, but this isn't the place for us. We need a home of our own.
Looks like instead of just organizing closets, I'll be packing them up.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
2011 Self-review
You know what's really awesome about having so many years worth of recorded resolutions and self reviews? Having the opportunity to look back on them once a year and give yourself a pat on the back for a) writing them so well even you enjoy re-reading them, and b) having the guts to be so brutally honest. I always forget this about myself -- that I have no shame when beating myself over the head via blogging -- and damn, I can write like the best of 'em! It's just a matter of, you know, actually doing it.
2011 was one very challenging and exciting year. Jon accepted a promotion that moved our little family to Baltimore, Maryland -- 350 miles away from home -- but not before Owen and I got to endure 3 months of life without him. This year I learned to have the utmost respect for single mothers and I didn't even have to do it on one income!
We finally met Jon in Baltimore in July and found that life here is somehow more calm and more exciting at the same time. I suppose this is what happens when you reunite with the missing 1/3 of your family and find yourself living in a city with all new places to entertain yourself and with simple day trips to Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, New York City, the east coast. I lived a rather sheltered life as a kid -- I knew our block like the back of my hand but very rarely even ventured to the neighboring city -- and having new adventures and the means to explore them with Owen feels so awesome. We truly are lucky.
Yesterday I admitted to a friend that moving away from so many great friends and all of our family was really hard, and I do get extremely homesick from time to time, but given the choice, I would definitely do it all over again. While we are very much still building our lives here, I do feel very confident when I say we are where we belong. Baltimore is slowly but surely becoming home.
Anyway, in true Deciphering Kate fashion, I am incapable of posting any new resolutions before reviewing how strong the previous year's held up. Let's give it go, shall we?
1. Be more positive.
How can I even begin to compare my outlook on life last year to now? Someone turned on the lights? Pulled the scarf from my eyes? Cleared the clouds from head? Reached into the six foot grave I had buried myself in, grabbed my hand, and gently pulled me out while screaming "You don't have to live like this!"? I'm not sure any of those descriptions are really strong enough. I'm not sure how it even happened. All I know is that girl was in a very dark place and couldn't find a way out. But something or someone helped her out because she's not there anymore. She's actually quite happy.
2. Make time for myself.
This one had to come in baby steps: self pedicures while catching up with the DVR, making a break for it on the occasional Thursday evening and exploring the city by myself (sometimes with GPS, sometimes without depending on how adventurous I was feeling), ignoring the stack of junk mail on the dining room table for a week. Then some time in the last few months I caught myself watching entire seasons of One Tree Hill on Netflix on-demand. I watched 6 seasons in just over a months span. Aw crap! Did I just admit that? Well, it shows that I've learned to make time for myself, right? Don't worry, Grey's Anatomy returns tonight so I'll be able to reinstate my taste in evening soap operas momentarily.
3. Continue to play and grow with Owen.
There was a time during that 3 month period of living apart from Jon when I would have scoffed at and thrown out this resolution had I remembered it. Owen and I did not get along. In fact, Owen did not like most anyone. Owen only wanted his daddy and it broke my heart that I didn't have an immediate fix for him. The funny thing is it didn't even fix itself after moving to Baltimore and living with Jon again. Owen was still convinced his daddy was going to leave and he'd be stuck with ME, the horrible, evil Mommy who isn't half as cool as Daddy. It took another 3 months for Owen to realize neither of us were going anywhere and when he finally had that realization, I was rewarded with the most amazing hugs and kisses! He smiles at me, he yells "MAMA!" like a big, Italian man who hasn't seen his mother in years even if it's only been a few hours, he takes my hand, says "Up!" and leads me to whatever he wants to show me, and he realized that it broke my heart a little when he stopped letting me rock him to sleep and he let me rock him again. Owen is the most absolutely amazing and curious creature I have ever laid eyes on. Every day I'm dazzled by the way his mind works and the joy he finds in such little things. Every night I fight the urge to wake him up so we can play and explore more. We may have had a rocky start, and I may have had my doubts along the way, but right now, at this moment, I can tell you without doubt that I have never known love like what I have for Owen and to have that love reciprocated is the best gift any woman can ever ask for.
4. Find a confidant.
Shortly after making this resolution I realized I have many confidants. For such a quiet and reserved person I seem to put a lot of my business out there, on this blog, on Facebook, in a text message, in person or over the phone. I actually have a very hard time keeping things in and often find myself sharing it with EVERYONE. I guess what I'm trying to say is...I'm not entirely sure what I was looking for from this resolution and I am actually quite happy with my current means of confiding.
5. Cover my family in bubble wrap and place them in a padded room.
Seeing as my father died back in October this goes down as an EPIC FAIL but at the time of writing I could not have known I would be moving to another state therefore making it much harder to keep everyone safe. Bubble wrap and a padded room would not have helped my father anyway. For what it's worth, I always felt the new distance made my father and I closer somehow. We actually had to put serious effort into keeping in touch and he was so willing to put in the effort that it warmed my heart. I love you, Dad.
As always, this year's resolutions coming soon...hopefully before I break them all!
2011 was one very challenging and exciting year. Jon accepted a promotion that moved our little family to Baltimore, Maryland -- 350 miles away from home -- but not before Owen and I got to endure 3 months of life without him. This year I learned to have the utmost respect for single mothers and I didn't even have to do it on one income!
We finally met Jon in Baltimore in July and found that life here is somehow more calm and more exciting at the same time. I suppose this is what happens when you reunite with the missing 1/3 of your family and find yourself living in a city with all new places to entertain yourself and with simple day trips to Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, New York City, the east coast. I lived a rather sheltered life as a kid -- I knew our block like the back of my hand but very rarely even ventured to the neighboring city -- and having new adventures and the means to explore them with Owen feels so awesome. We truly are lucky.
Yesterday I admitted to a friend that moving away from so many great friends and all of our family was really hard, and I do get extremely homesick from time to time, but given the choice, I would definitely do it all over again. While we are very much still building our lives here, I do feel very confident when I say we are where we belong. Baltimore is slowly but surely becoming home.
Anyway, in true Deciphering Kate fashion, I am incapable of posting any new resolutions before reviewing how strong the previous year's held up. Let's give it go, shall we?
1. Be more positive.
How can I even begin to compare my outlook on life last year to now? Someone turned on the lights? Pulled the scarf from my eyes? Cleared the clouds from head? Reached into the six foot grave I had buried myself in, grabbed my hand, and gently pulled me out while screaming "You don't have to live like this!"? I'm not sure any of those descriptions are really strong enough. I'm not sure how it even happened. All I know is that girl was in a very dark place and couldn't find a way out. But something or someone helped her out because she's not there anymore. She's actually quite happy.
2. Make time for myself.
This one had to come in baby steps: self pedicures while catching up with the DVR, making a break for it on the occasional Thursday evening and exploring the city by myself (sometimes with GPS, sometimes without depending on how adventurous I was feeling), ignoring the stack of junk mail on the dining room table for a week. Then some time in the last few months I caught myself watching entire seasons of One Tree Hill on Netflix on-demand. I watched 6 seasons in just over a months span. Aw crap! Did I just admit that? Well, it shows that I've learned to make time for myself, right? Don't worry, Grey's Anatomy returns tonight so I'll be able to reinstate my taste in evening soap operas momentarily.
3. Continue to play and grow with Owen.
There was a time during that 3 month period of living apart from Jon when I would have scoffed at and thrown out this resolution had I remembered it. Owen and I did not get along. In fact, Owen did not like most anyone. Owen only wanted his daddy and it broke my heart that I didn't have an immediate fix for him. The funny thing is it didn't even fix itself after moving to Baltimore and living with Jon again. Owen was still convinced his daddy was going to leave and he'd be stuck with ME, the horrible, evil Mommy who isn't half as cool as Daddy. It took another 3 months for Owen to realize neither of us were going anywhere and when he finally had that realization, I was rewarded with the most amazing hugs and kisses! He smiles at me, he yells "MAMA!" like a big, Italian man who hasn't seen his mother in years even if it's only been a few hours, he takes my hand, says "Up!" and leads me to whatever he wants to show me, and he realized that it broke my heart a little when he stopped letting me rock him to sleep and he let me rock him again. Owen is the most absolutely amazing and curious creature I have ever laid eyes on. Every day I'm dazzled by the way his mind works and the joy he finds in such little things. Every night I fight the urge to wake him up so we can play and explore more. We may have had a rocky start, and I may have had my doubts along the way, but right now, at this moment, I can tell you without doubt that I have never known love like what I have for Owen and to have that love reciprocated is the best gift any woman can ever ask for.
4. Find a confidant.
Shortly after making this resolution I realized I have many confidants. For such a quiet and reserved person I seem to put a lot of my business out there, on this blog, on Facebook, in a text message, in person or over the phone. I actually have a very hard time keeping things in and often find myself sharing it with EVERYONE. I guess what I'm trying to say is...I'm not entirely sure what I was looking for from this resolution and I am actually quite happy with my current means of confiding.
5. Cover my family in bubble wrap and place them in a padded room.
Seeing as my father died back in October this goes down as an EPIC FAIL but at the time of writing I could not have known I would be moving to another state therefore making it much harder to keep everyone safe. Bubble wrap and a padded room would not have helped my father anyway. For what it's worth, I always felt the new distance made my father and I closer somehow. We actually had to put serious effort into keeping in touch and he was so willing to put in the effort that it warmed my heart. I love you, Dad.
As always, this year's resolutions coming soon...hopefully before I break them all!
Sunday, May 8, 2011
What's up, Kate?
Part of me can't help but wonder what the neighbors must think. My husband disappears one day and a For Sale sign shows up in the yard the next. It reeks of divorce, doesn't it? What would you think if I told you Jon moved to Baltimore and left Owen and I behind? Still sound like marriage problems? Well, rest assured, Jon and I are still very much in love. Jon received a promotion at work and it means relocating to Baltimore, Maryland. He's already there -- has been for about a month -- and Owen and I stayed behind to handle getting the house on the market and preparing for a 350 mile move.
The original thought was that once Jon was promoted I would become a stay at home mom but the more I thought about it, the more I realized I would have been miserable without the help of a second income. I love to shop, I love vacations, I love to have money in the savings account and none of that could have happened on one income. Also, having Owen in day care has made me much more aware of just how much he loves people and other children especially. Considering neither Jon nor I are very social, I've been extremely concerned I would destroy any type of social skills Owen seems to be building already. I can sit here and tell myself about all of the trips to the zoo or library or museum we could take if I were home with him but actually doing it is an entirely different story. All of my stay at home mommy friends live in Ohio, not Maryland and I don't know that I trust myself to do these things on my own. That said, I'll continue to be a working mom, but a really amazing opportunity has stemmed from this decision. When I told my current company about my family relocating I asked if I could work out of my home in Baltimore and -- get this -- they said YES! I'll remain a working mom, but I'll be a work from home mom.
My last day at the corporate office will be June 30th. Does that date sound familiar? I lost my job on June 30, 2009. I lost my brother on June 30, 2010. I'm no longer living in fear of what devastating thing will happen on June 30, 2011. It's going to be bittersweet as I'll be remembering my brother and reflecting on the last year without him, but also reuniting with my husband after 3 months of living apart.
The last month has been strange to say the least. I'm lonely. Very, extremely lonely. I talk to Owen a lot and when he goes to bed I talk to the dog. I'm very productive since I know that if I don't do something it won't get done. The days go by so fast and yet the weeks seem to be crawling by. How is that possible? I miss Jon. He comes home every other weekend. The weekends he's home seem to go by in the blink of an eye.
Jon lives in a lovely apartment in Towson, Maryland. He has 2 bedrooms and a den, 2 baths, a bed, a dresser, a card table, some camping chairs, an old television and an Xbox 360. He uses the cardboard box from the new vacuum cleaner as a kitchen trash can and a blue Ikea bag as a laundry basket. He's bachelorin' it up again and he's even more lonely than I am. After all, I at least have Owen and the dog.
Was there an easier way to do this? Probably, but so much has already fallen into place for us that I'm absolutely positive that we chose the correct path, even if it was the harder one.
So....we're moving to Baltimore!!! Can you believe it? I can't but I'm really, really, really excited. This move opens up so many doors for us, and for Jon's career especially. We can only go up from here. The last month has sucked and I don't expect the next 2 months will be any easier but these 3 months will only be a small blip in the large scheme of our lives.
The original thought was that once Jon was promoted I would become a stay at home mom but the more I thought about it, the more I realized I would have been miserable without the help of a second income. I love to shop, I love vacations, I love to have money in the savings account and none of that could have happened on one income. Also, having Owen in day care has made me much more aware of just how much he loves people and other children especially. Considering neither Jon nor I are very social, I've been extremely concerned I would destroy any type of social skills Owen seems to be building already. I can sit here and tell myself about all of the trips to the zoo or library or museum we could take if I were home with him but actually doing it is an entirely different story. All of my stay at home mommy friends live in Ohio, not Maryland and I don't know that I trust myself to do these things on my own. That said, I'll continue to be a working mom, but a really amazing opportunity has stemmed from this decision. When I told my current company about my family relocating I asked if I could work out of my home in Baltimore and -- get this -- they said YES! I'll remain a working mom, but I'll be a work from home mom.
My last day at the corporate office will be June 30th. Does that date sound familiar? I lost my job on June 30, 2009. I lost my brother on June 30, 2010. I'm no longer living in fear of what devastating thing will happen on June 30, 2011. It's going to be bittersweet as I'll be remembering my brother and reflecting on the last year without him, but also reuniting with my husband after 3 months of living apart.
The last month has been strange to say the least. I'm lonely. Very, extremely lonely. I talk to Owen a lot and when he goes to bed I talk to the dog. I'm very productive since I know that if I don't do something it won't get done. The days go by so fast and yet the weeks seem to be crawling by. How is that possible? I miss Jon. He comes home every other weekend. The weekends he's home seem to go by in the blink of an eye.
Jon lives in a lovely apartment in Towson, Maryland. He has 2 bedrooms and a den, 2 baths, a bed, a dresser, a card table, some camping chairs, an old television and an Xbox 360. He uses the cardboard box from the new vacuum cleaner as a kitchen trash can and a blue Ikea bag as a laundry basket. He's bachelorin' it up again and he's even more lonely than I am. After all, I at least have Owen and the dog.
Was there an easier way to do this? Probably, but so much has already fallen into place for us that I'm absolutely positive that we chose the correct path, even if it was the harder one.
So....we're moving to Baltimore!!! Can you believe it? I can't but I'm really, really, really excited. This move opens up so many doors for us, and for Jon's career especially. We can only go up from here. The last month has sucked and I don't expect the next 2 months will be any easier but these 3 months will only be a small blip in the large scheme of our lives.
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