A reader recently asked "How the heck are ya?" and I can't help but think of the opening scene of What About Bob?, one of my favorite movies.
"I feel good. I feel great. I feel wonderful."
Bob (played by Bill Murray) is very obviously not doing well. He's sweating, he looks crazy, but in an attempt to calm himself before he leaves the house keeps repeating those words. Here's the clip if you want to see it.
I totally feel like Bob Wiley.
I feel good, I feel great, I feel wonderful.
But while saying that, I feel NOT GOOD. I feel NOT OKAY. I feel NOT SO WONDERFUL.
Maybe that's an exaggeration. I feel stressed. I feel like eating a whole chocolate cake. I feel like we will never ever find a house that doesn't cost a million bazillion dollars so we should just sell all of our stuff and maybe move into a cardboard box or in a van down by the river.
Pant pant pant.
I should back up a second. I've kinda held back on updating you all because I didn't want the bottom to fall out on everything, but I feel like I need to clue you all in somewhat... I mean, I tell you a lot and this blog has been going since we bought our house. So it's only fair that you get an update.
Just as we had kinda decided to stay another year and maybe finish off the upstairs, we found buyers. Actually, two of them.
We got a call that we had a showing for Sunday, my bedroom looked like this. Laundry palooza!
We got another call that someone else wanted a showing on Saturday, so I did a little bit more of this:
And we cleaned like crazy Thursday and Friday and it was perfect. Absolutely perfect. Candles, fresh flowers from the yard, finger prints all over the windows gone, coffee made. The house looked like a real life blog house tour where everything was clean and nothing was shoved out of the picture.
The most perfectest perfect clean house I could have had for these people.
They came Saturday morning, we went to breakfast, then came home. Decided that "well crap we have another showing tomorrow, let's scoot so we don't have to clean up again". Went to my parent's house to hang out and swim, came home, and left again Sunday morning.
And we got an offer. And then late that night when we were still oh-my-gosh-ing and I-can't-believe-it-ing, we got another offer.
I won't give any details to protect ourselves and them, but it was a crazy few days. So exciting! And had us feeling like this.
And then it hit us. We have to find a house, like now.
We've been looking, I've been falling in love with almost every one of them for different reasons. I'm making them over in my brain, stretching them to make the house, area, or yard work for us. It's really taking over in my brain. I don't know where we should live, I don't know how the heck we are going to do this. Are our neighbors going to hate us crashing their neighborhood with our four kids. Blasting "Let It Go" and beep-beeping (sometimes) when we leave the house?
And how are we going to make this work? Goodbye Starbucks, hello budgets.
Doug thinks on the analytical pessimist side of things, I think on the emotional optimist side of things. Which is good because we compliment each other, but at the same time it's frustrating for both of us. I'm all "ooooh, light fixtures!" and he's all "Ann, this house needs like 100k to fix"
And I'm all, "oooh! beams! ceilings! amazing backyard! so what if the kitchen is only 3' by 10'?! We can make it work!!!" And Doug is "Ann. My head touches the basement ceiling. This will not work."
So that's where we're at.
To answer your questions, we have not found our dream home. We are looking in about 6 different towns. We've looked at 18+ houses. Every night is spent cruising the MLS.
I'm starting to feel like we will never find it. Which is silly because as long as we have slightly more space then we do now, I'll be happy. A big home isn't everything and truth be told, I don't want a huge house that will take more time to clean and care for. I want something that needs work so we can build equity and have a fun before and after.
We are blessed to be in this situation. We are blessed that we have a home. We are blessed that we were able to find someone who will love it as much as we do. We are blessed with family who have offered to take us in if we don't find it. We are so blessed to be able to make this leap, even if it does take a bit of sacrificing.
I just have to keep telling myself : "I feel good, I feel great, I feel wonderful..." 😉
annie
this is just what i needed today as i searched for someone who may be going through exactly what i am going through. our stories are similar and your blog gives me piece of mind with a side of comic relief 🙂
thanks for helping me see a more positive perspective of our home selling quick before we have found our next one. i hope the rest of your story is a happy one!
xo
Aunt Ellen
Hi Ann Marie,
I was in your position almost exactly a year ago. Wow, has time flown! We had looked and liked many homes which all had sold then our house sold. We could not find a house-- for about a week we looked at many houses, we didn't like any of them or they were way over what we wanted to spend or they were really far away. Then the house we ended up buying came on the market we were the first lookers that first day. We made an offer and they accepted, but they continued to show the house and got another offer and were giving us a hard time (to say the least). Both deals almost fell through. And when we thought the deal on the house we were buying was falling through we were going let the other deal fall through. We actually gave our buyers a bit of a hard time, not agreeing to some of their demands because at that point we wanted the deal to fall through. But, dear good St Joseph interceded for us and it all worked out eventually. We had to move in with grandma and grandpa for three months though because our sellers didn't want to leave right away. They said the house sold too soon. But it all worked out, thanks be to God. I got to spend some time with my parents which was a huge blessing for me. And because it was such a hard winter last year, we were able to help them keep their drive shoveled and such. It all worked out amazing. [If you have to do storage for a bit, we used Door to Door, for storage pods. They were excellent and had the best deal. Can't say enough good things about them.]
But my advise would be try to keep Doug's commute as short as possible. Try to find one near to a good Church, one where your kids won't have to hear heresy. It makes a big difference. Also, if it's close enough and you can get to daily Mass with them it helps them learn what it most important. I'll be praying for you.
God bless,
Aunt Ellen
Ericka
Congrats on selling your house!!! Good luck finding the right home for your family. It will all work out!
Ann Marie Heasley
Thank you, Ericka!! 🙂
Cheryl @ The Creative Me and My McG
congrats!! We just moved into our new home...our house was on the market 2 days and 5 hours before it sold - after a bidding war that got us almost $5k over our asking price...it will all work out - there will be lots of stress, and yes you will want to eat a whole chocolate cake...but it will be worth it in the end...
Maria
Congrats!!! I can't wait to see your new home and watch you make it your castle! Happy house hunting! By the way, you've helped me so much with toy storage. Thank you!
Hilary
Congrats on selling your house, and good luck with house hunting! It can be brutal.
Lynda M Otvos
Ok, the bucket head shot wins for the week !~! That's priceless.
I wish you the very best as you hunt down a house. It's a hard thing anytime-more so when you are under a deadline. And yes, we must remember to count our blessings and appreciate how lucky we are based on where we live on the planet. I find that from this advantage point the rest is gravy.
Lauren
I agree with the above poster: location. We just moved into our first house. It's not huge by any stretch (less than 1500), but it's in the perfect location. My husband has to work in 2 locations- in completely different directions. One is less than 10 minutes, the other not even 15. We could have gotten more house further away, but it wasn't worth losing him an hour each way. His hours are already insane. That being said, don't pick the 5 minutes from work 2 bedroom crap shack. At least pick the 10 minutes away, 4 bedroom crap shack and make it amazing. 🙂 You've clearly proven that you can work with rough. If the bones are there, you will make it work. But Husband is right: ceiling height is a tough fix! Congrats on selling. Your next house will come along!
Catriona
It really is an exciting time for your family! Scary and stressful, but most changes are! I wish you lots of luck and good vibes for finding your next house! Just like your current home, you will make any house a home with your charm, design, and family love. The one tidbit of advice I will offer is true for all real estate: location, location, location.. Consider your commute to work and the quality of your elementary and high school. Everything else will fall into place, unless of course your husband can't fit in the basement. May God be with you and bless this process for you!
Molly
*hunting. 😉
Molly
Oh my goodness! I had to laugh a bit as I read this post because I am just like you and my husband is just like yours when we shop for houses (we are on house #6, different states for relo). I am all about the charm and he looks at the practical things. Having gone through this process numerous times all I can say is have faith in the timing of things. It always works out. Our last move from Texas to NE Iowa left us with 3.5 weeks from the date of the offer to find a house and move with a national moving company during the peak of the season. Major stress. The house we are in now was only on the market 2 days when we put our offer in. Timing is everything. 🙂 Wishing you happy house hinting! Deep breaths. 🙂
liz
Congratulations. I hope you find something that will make everyone in the family happy. Looking forward to seeing your journey through making the next house into your dream home 🙂
Jenn
Oh girl, I'm SO with you! I'd be totally trying to convince my husband based on beams alone. You'll find it and it will be AWESOME! Can't wait to see what's coming and congrats on the sale!!
Andi @udandi
Congrats on selling!
Erica Deuel
Yes!! Moving is all consuming! I wrote a similar post this morning. We will find new houses and hopefully we get buyers sooooooon! If I have to vaccumm this house one more time....I'll smile because I'm blessed to have it xoxo