We are moving!

What a journey the last 8 months have been!  As someone that's been "keeping an eye out" for the perfect house since we basically moved into our current home in Ooltewah, I knew I had found IT in August.  The house had just gone on the market and was FSBO.  We called and made an appointment to see the house right away and it was love at first sight for sure.  The house is similar to our current one in several ways - layout, open kitchen to keeping room, full basement, etc - but there's so many other things that are just perfect for us.  Also, the house is in Cleveland which is closer to both of our workplaces and in a beautiful neighborhood.  The yard is also great for Henderson and Baby Gray. 

We made an offer the first part of August - mind you, before we were pregnant, and we knew we had made a low offer BUT it was also based on what had recently sold in the neighborhood/area and we expected a counteroffer.  Well, the sellers didn't counter and that was pretty much it.  Or was it.... for months, I checked daily to see if the house was still for sale and I may have driven by a time or two.  

In the meantime, we found out we were expecting!  I kept pining over the house and we decided to reach back out to the sellers the first weekend in January.  They hadn't had much activity on the house over the holidays and were gearing up to list with a Realtor come spring.  We told them our offer still stood and they made a counter offer! Their counter was much less than we were expecting so we were very happy to accept.  About the second week in January, my parents came down to help me get all my Christmas decor put away and we started packing up things at our house and getting it ready to list.  During January we had 3-4 showings but we've had ZERO in February.  

There were also some hiccups along the way with the new house and getting though underwriting - no appraisers would accept the job!  It went thru 8 declines before one would accept - apparently no one wanted to do a little extra work in finding comparables in the area.  We lost a week waiting for someone to take the job and then we had to wait for the appraisal to come back.. and then it did.  The house appraised for 30k less than the contract price so I had to be the one to call and break the news to the seller.  He was so defensive and it was SUCH an awkward call.  It was good news in theory for us because it meant we could potentially pay less than expected but bad news too because the sellers could either dispute it or remain at their price meaning we would have to pay the difference in cash on the day of closing.  Adam and I were neither one willing to pay more than the appraisal price so we were back to waiting to hearing from the sellers.  Funny thing is, the appraisal price was $10k more than our initial offer back in August... had they accepted then, they wouldn't have been paying mortgage for 8 additional months and I wouldn't be moving at 8 months pregnant!

We finally worked through the appraisal and the loan was unoficially sent to underwriting.  The loan company had additional questions on the comparables used so we had another "delay of game" all while getting closer and closer to our planned closing date of March 1 - talk about stressful!

But alas, we were cleared to close 4 days before closing date!  We closed on March 1 and I was able to get utitlies switched to our name and we got to go see our new home sweet home!  We had pre-loaded the van and my car so we could start dropping off loads on our way to/from work so we made our first unloading trip and I took pictures of all the rooms - I'll share as we get everything all settled.  

I even had painters scheduled to be there at 8am on the 2nd and I have all the bathrooms and bedrooms repainted - they look amazing!  Just wait until you see the pictures.  I am most excited about getting Baby Gray's nursery set up - furniture is FINALLY being delivered next week and we are moving moving next Saturday.  The chaos has officially arrived!

Our new home!

   

Exciting News!!

Good things are happening around here!  Adam got a job here!!!!  Wahoo!! Not only is it a job, it's the job he has wanted since he graduated with his Chemical Engineering degree 4 years ago.  I'm so happy for him (and us) and so proud of my wonderful boyfriend.  We aren't sure about the timing of when he will actually be moving but we can work through all that, right now we are just SO happy to know we only have to do the TN/LA thing for a short while!

Gettin' Settled... somewhat

I am SO tired of looking at boxes, unpacking moves, moving boxes around... basically anything to do with BOXES.  Luckily, my mom and grandma have been down here since last Sunday helping get everything unpacked and put away.  My  mom and I have different opinions on where things should go and how but I can always rearrange later.. right now.. it's mission Empty the Boxes!  Here's a picture from last Friday when the moving van came.  It's really pretty impressive to watch the guys unload everything from the big vaults and get it put inside, except for when they dropped my chest, that's always an "OMG did that really just happen" moment. 

This weekend has been really nice.  Adam drove up Friday with Henderson and the cats.  The cats have been staying with Adam since October when my LA house was put up for sale.  It is SO nice to have them back with me!!!  Trixie is very nervous so it takes her a while to adjust to being somewhere new, especially when there's a lot going on.  By last night she had finally come out from under my bed and by under my bed I mean out from the boxspring where she has dug a hole to hide in... 

Trixie nappin' on her favorite rug

The weather here this weekend was absolutely gorgeous.  One of the things I love at my new house is the screened in deck off the living room.  When I got home from work Friday, Adam and Henderson were hanging out on the deck. 

Mason also LOVES the deck.  He and Trixie are 100% indoor cats so being outside in any form is completely new to them.  I think Mason has even gotten locked out there a time or two this weekend. 

Mason bird watchin'

Well, I'm off to downtown Chattanooga.  After a week of unpacking boxes it's time to get some fresh air!!

First blog

Well, I have contemplated having a blog for a while but then I think my life is so not that exciting that it would boring.. but then I think.. I've moved 3 times in 3 years so it can't be that boring, right?!  What finally pushed me over the edge in making a blog was one of my good gal pals has one that is awesome!  I suppose Brittany started one a while back but I didn't know until earlier this week when I noticed she had referenced posting how Marcus proposed to her on it... so, I mosed over to it and got sucked in!  I couldn't stop reading because it was just LIKE talking to Brit during class, after class, over some wine, on the phone, during class some more :-).  I think it's a GREAT idea to just have somewhere to catch up, share pictures, keep in touch and everything else. 


Plus, this is as good as time as ever to start a blog!  I'm starting a new chapter in my life and what a great way to document it.  So what's the new chapter?  Well, since you ask....


I just bought and moved into my 3rd house since 2008.  Yep, that's right.. that's where the 3 times in 3 years thing comes from.  Let's take a little trip back into time...


So, in 2004, I graduated high school and went away to college at West Virginia University.  I moved into the lovely dorm - Arnold Hall.  Say hello, Arnold!

I really didn't mind living in the dorm, minus the 4th floor part and no elevator and skank of a roommate that I had, which is a whole other story that is best left in the past.  I ended up only living in the dorm from August thru December.  In January, I was fortunate enough to be able to move into a beautiful 1-bedroom spacious apartment within walking distance of the football stadium!! (Priorities people!)  See how cute my apartment building was??? I LOVED my apartment! (and yes, it was a steep parking lot, but hey, it's Morgantown)

I lived in my lovely apartment from January 2005, through undergrad and grad school and moved out in June 2008.  It was a very sad day and very emotional for me.  Grad school was def. my favorite year of college and the year I made some of the best friends I will cherish forever.  (Sorry Lauren, it's your fault you weren't there for this picture, but I'm sure I will cover you later)

So, after graduating with my master's degree it wasn't all work and no play... before I started working full time with Olin, I had the trip of a lifetime.  I took my last 2 classes as part of a study abroad program in Italy.  Studying abroad was something I had wanted to do my whole school career and when it finally worked out at the very end I knew it was an opportunity I had to take advantage of.  We spent almost 6 weeks overseas and saw Milan, Asolo, Cinque Terre, Florence, Pisa, Lucca, Venice, Murano, Burano, Rome, Pompeii, Paris and Dublin.  Here's a few of my favorite pictures from our time in Europe...

This will forever be a favorite picture - this was in the

 town where we studied.

Lauren - a true friend and wonderful travel buddy!

 



Venice, enjoying the beautiful day and city




Sadly, after a wonderful summer, we had to come back to realty.  However, big changes had happened with my small family while I was away - I became an Aunt!  Miss Abbie BreAnn Kidd joined the family just a few days before I flew back to the US.  I was SO excited to meet my neice and of course, see the family. 

A few days after arriving back home, it was up to Morgantown for graduation and the hooding ceremony - my education had officially come to a close.  It was a very bittersweet time and saying goodbye to a city I had fallen in love with and made so many wonderful memories in was not easy.  The following week it was south to Cleveland, TN where I started my career as a Human Resources Generalist with Olin Chlor Alkali Products.  At first, I didn't think I would EVER learn to say that or understand what the heck the company did - now I can speak the lingo with the rest of 'em - I know my KPIs, DCS systems, up times, down times, run times, evaporators, MSDS, ORC, PPE, and so on ... what has happened to me.... I used to be so cool.. hah.  So what does Olin do?  We make Chlorine, Caustic and Bleach.. and several other byproducts but those are the biggies.. so here I am off to work for my first day as a big girl!

Oh, I guess I forgot the other BIG thing that happened in Cleveland.. I bought my first HOUSE!  I was so excited to be a homeowner and I fell in love with this house before I even saw it.  You know me, always researching everything and of course, I LOVE real estate so I knew this was MY house before I even saw it.  It was in a great location and close to everything.  Even though I only got to live in my adorable house for 8 short months I made a lot of great memories and got to experience some of the joys of home ownership... pipes freezing, small leak and weed pulling!  

Pin Oaks Circle, Cleveland, TN

Trixie and Mason

One of the best things about living in TN was getting my two baby kittens - Mason and Trixie!  They were born August 4, 2008, and I got them at the beginning of October.  They were SUCH a handfull when they were babies, oh heck, who am I kidding - they still are.  But when they were babies and had claws they used to literally climb my legs... painful.  I wouldn't trade them for anything though, they are such sweet cats with adorable personalities.   

In the Spring of 2009, I was approached with an opportunity to head down to our St. Gabriel/Baton Rouge, LA plant to help out with some HR projects for a short-term assignment.  I thought it sounded like a good opportunity and a fun way to spend the summer.  Plus, I knew a certain someone was also assigned to an engineering project down there and felt better knowing I'd at least know someone else SO far away.  So, the cats and I packed up and made our way down to Cajun Country.  To make a long story short, the short-term assignment turned into a permament gig and a promotion to HR Supervisor.  I sold my house in TN and purchased my 2nd home in Baton Rouge. 

Springtree Avenue, Baton Rouge, LA

Baton Rouge was an experience I will never forget.  It had it's ups and downs and trials and triumps.  I left Baton Rouge with about 7 years of HR crammed into a year and a half, a best friend and wonderful man in my life and... without a gallbladder (ouch!)! 


Well, that's pretty much 7 years in a nutshell.  I promise my next posts will be nowhere near this long but just wanted to throw some background in there for those of you who just know I seem to move a lot!  Last Friday, I made what I hope to be my last move for a while!!  I finally got to move back to TN for a role with the Division HR group once again.  This time I bought a house in Ooltewah, TN.  I literally saw between 100-150 houses in this area and Cleveland and just couldn't find the "one".  I looked at the one I ended up buying a few times and ended up realizing it had everything I wanted just not in the area I really wanted to be.  But, I have to admit, I'm really enjoying the area and everything it has to offer.  The 30-minute commute one-way isn't even that bad.  Gives me time to listen to Michael Buble sing to me before and after work.  So, without further ado... Meet house #3!

Peppertree Drive, Ooltewah, TN