Whirlwind Week

When the topic of us possibly having a child together (we have Torrin and Camden but I of course did not give birth to them) we realized we probably would need to move. Although we have 5 bedrooms, 3 are on the top level, one on the main level and one in the finished basement. Really does not work when/if a bambino arrives. I would be fine putting it on the main level, but a part of it makes me a little uneasy. I was about to start having the craft room built when we started to wonder if it really makes sense for us to stay here. I prefer for us to pick out a house together since this is his place, but again, does it make sense? Are we going to get what we need for this house? We chatted about it, met with a realtor and decided we would put it on the market soon. On Tuesday I came home from the gym and there was a for sale sign in the front yard. I guess we are really doing this. We looked for houses online and came across one we were in love with. I will not post any links here for the fear Google would link to this site and people dont want to hear what sucks about their houses....

On Wednesday we set up a showing before Camden's soccer game. The house is in the neighborhood we want (my brother's which is .25 of a mile down the street but in a much lower tax area), the pool was literally right over the backyard fence, it was on a cul de sac and we thought it was amazing in pictures. Well, pictures can be deceiving. There was a lot of wasted space, the floor was destroyed, the layout was totally random, and it was just weird. There was Jesus stuff all over which I would take down personally (sorry God) because it was just too much. One bedroom had this Harry Potter like castle brick thing painted on the wall and the girls room was super pink. Then the weird thing was the master bedroom was all decked out in animal print. I think it was a leopard or something. Black leather couch, leaopard print comforter, leopard towels, etc. Kind of weird since it looked like a porno could be filmed in there but church would happen downstairs. So bizzare. I know that is all their decorating but it was just weird. Bryan was sure we would love it, but we did not. We made a list of other houses and planned for 7 showings on Saturday.

As part of our realtors services, she has a stager come and tell us what we need to do to sell. I watch a lot of HGTV so I was certain what we already needed to do. Hide the massive amount of toys, remove all the stuff from the fridge, clear the counters, etc. Everything she told us, I knew, so it was not really worth it. The hard thing for us is as she was going through she pointed out all the fabulous things about the house. The high ceilings, the office on a completely different level, the 5 bedrooms, the finished basement, the ceilings, the deck, etc. After she left we thought, "Shoot, do we move?!" We said we were going to take the sign down but then we decided to keep our showings and see what is out there.

We began at 12 and the first house was ok. I did not get a super great feeling about it. The second one we went into is right across the street from the school which would be fabulous and has 4 bedrooms upstairs. We walked in and it was painted kind of a peach/orange color all over. You can tell the guy is a smoker, and of course I wonder Why are these people selling? The one closet was empty and the other closet was full of mens clothing. I think she left him. Yep, I am going with that. The gross thing was there was cat poop and pee in the laundry room. Ick. Clean it up. Oh, and the vents were filthy. Clean it up if you are trying to sell it. Then we went to a house my mom found online. I was in love with it online and I loved it even more when we went there. I wanted to move right it. Sad thing is there were two bedrooms on the top level, master was on the main level and the basement was awesome. Media room, eating area, awesome playroom, great bedroom, office, etc. Problem being that it was a very small 2 car garage that you could not get 2 cars in unless you had a Yugo or a SmartCar. Bryan has to have a 3 car garage and is not willing to budge on that. Did I mention I loved this house though? It had a loft and an AMAZING backyard. Built in grill with counter tops and everything. I was in mad love. I loved it. Do you get that I loved it? I envy the person that gets that house.

I am trying to remember the other houses. There was one that I really liked-it was a tri level, nicely decorated, etc. Then there was another we thought we would love, and although it was nice, it was somewhat random. We went to another house that had 4 bedrooms on the top level, and the main floor had a study. The backyard was fabulous and Bryan loved the house. I did not get a crazy love feeling like I wanted to, although it was nice. I think it is hard when I see other people's things. I know houses sell better with stuff in them but it is so much easier for me to see something with nothing in it. We went to another house that just gave me a weird feeling. I love our realtor as she said it did not give her warm fuzzies either. It creeped me out. Our last house was one where we liked the floorplan but the backyard was so tiny. Ridiculously tiny. Not even worth it. We liked the layout a lot, but not the backyard nor the neighborhood.

When we got home, we talked a lot and we were really struggling with do we or do we not keep the house up for sale. Our realtor is doing so much and she thinks she can get asking price for this house. I am not so sure. Before she takes a ton of pictures, pays someone, does all the brochures, etc. we needed to make a decision. We have flip flopped all day. We agreed to keep it on the market for 3 months and see what happens. The hard thing is we would be downsizing. There is no point in us moving to another 3 bedroom on one level house. This house is large, and what we are looking at is much smaller with no finished basements. We went to dinner with my parents and asked my Dad his opinion. It confused us, but he did say to see what kind of traffic we get and take it from there. We went to Wal Mart after dinner to get stuff to make Torrin a cake and as we were walking Bryan said lets take it off the market. We went back and forth again, and then agreed 3 months and see what happens. We came home, I used the Magic Eraser on so much stuff (LOVE them), we got rid of a ton of toys, there are none in the family room which looks SO much better, we moved the ottoman from the entry way, I moved all my craft stuff into the storage room, etc. It looks so clean. So we will see what happens. If we wind up staying here, I am going to do my craft room, I really want to paint, I want curtains and plantation shutters. Of course that requires money that we do not have right now, but it would make it feel like my home. Just adding a few things my mom bought for us into the kitchen gave it a whole new feel. We also might move Bryan's office to the playroom, and the playroom to the office. We will see.

I am finally getting to know the neighbors, all of which are awesome. I even get invited to baby showers and Bunco now. I have never had that before and it is nice, so it is hard to think of us moving now. Maybe no one will make an offer. Maybe someone will and we will like it, and have to take it. Time will tell.