The One!

Joe made the decision to turn down his current boss' offer and continue with our move! It was a tough position to be in: having basically the same raise, do we stay with what we know or take the risk of changing everything (which could mean Joe not liking his new job)? At his current job he has made a name for himself, has an important reputation, etc. -- but I reminded him that it didn't take long for him to get that (just a couple of months after his current company hired him they said that had been their best move of the year) so I don't think he's going to have a problem gaining respect at his new place.

Aside from the fact that the new company has bonuses and better benefits and their 401K, we keep hearing from random people who work there or know people who work there and how much they love the company and their jobs. We actually haven't heard anything negative so that has been a good sign. Also, Joe would go back to being a software developer (which he loves) rather than managing four different groups and doing four different leadership positions which he's been doing for the past year and a half (i.e. at his new job he'll have less responsibility but for more money).

For me, I just like the idea of HOPE -- getting more time with him/time to spend on our marriage. Is it guaranteed to happen? No. They admitted their employees do have to work overtime when there are deadlines. But my hope is that it's not as often as what he's had to do for the past year-and-a-half. If he stayed here and took the promotion (which means managing even more people) then it would definitely not get better. . .it'd probably be worse! To be honest, it actually bothers me more than him. The other day I mentioned to someone how that one week (which I wrote about here when he was called in at 4 am and worked til midnight) he had to work 70 hrs. Well they ran into him and were like, "I hear you're working 70 hrs a week" to which he said, "No." I reminded him that yes he did that week and he was like, "Oh yeah, that was just the one week, usually my overtime it's 60 hrs." Okay, whatever.

Maybe working 40 hrs each week isn't possible anymore, but at least with a new job it's more likely, which is important when we're about to have two children when it's hard now to have a complete conversation! Plus, with family nearby we could go out to dinner for an hour just the two of us while the kids hang out with the grandparents.

So, aside from it feeling best for Joe, me, and our children, we have already been getting everything set to move and feel it's the best time. That is why Joe accepted the job before seeing if his current boss could do anything. (At his first company his boss had told him that if he was ever thinking of leaving that they didn't want to lose him either and so to see if there was anything they could do. So, Joe had gone to them before he accepted, but since he was getting a $15K raise to leave back then, they couldn't match it.)

Also, going back this weekend to look at houses and being in the area just felt like we were where we should be (prob cuz it's "home.") After Joe made the decision, his mom said she was so happy to think that she'll get to go to her grandchildren's baseball games and plays, etc!

However, yesterday was extremely disappointing when it came to our first day of house-hunting. I actually wondered if that was a sign that we should stay in Omaha!

First, the house that was our top pick based on the internet (on my Houses post it was the second one - Horton Ave), we were not allowed to see! Talk about ironic -- our realtor sent me an email at the last minute to make sure we didn't work for the very company that Joe's going to be working for! Out of all of the places in the world, they can't have buyers from only that company! The house is on the verge of foreclosing and they have their loan with them which would be a conflict of interest. So, that was the first bummer since that was the biggest house and had the most to offer for the $.

Instead, the first house we ended up looking at was the all-brick (the fourth one on my Houses post), but it was quickly eliminated. While we loved the outside and the floor plan, the rooms seemed too small. Plus, with it being the oldest house on our list, there was a lot of wear & tear.

The next house we looked at was the new construction at the bottom of my Houses post (the seventh one listed). We loved it. Lots of character. Very fancy-feeling inside. Had a covered deck outside with a ceiling fan and a stone patio. The problem was that it was the smallest total sq feet on our list. We stayed up late talking and trying to figure out where and how we were going to fit all of our stuff. Even if we had the builder finish the basement, we realized it would be impossible. Plus, NONE of our furniture matched the wood and style of the house. . .it was obviously not the right house for us.

The third house we looked at was one that I'd actually already eliminated from my list (so I didn't post it on my Houses post) but didn't tell the realtor because people live there and she'd already made an appt. for us to see it. It actually turned out better than what I thought, we had no complaints. . . except the same ol' problem -- gorgeous house, but even if we finished the basement, we were going to have to give up having either a guest room or an office. If this was 4 yrs ago (the last time we looked at houses), we would have done it (we'd just put the futon in the office and that's where guests could sleep). But I admit, we've gotten spoiled with our current house. We have 4537 total square feet (3097 finished, 1440 unfinished - but we still use). I hate feeling like a spoiled brat but it's hard to go back once you've had more. :( Still, we didn't think we had any other choice. We (as well as our families) have been researching the area for the past month and the housing is just not as good there as it is here.

So, we tried to force ourselves to want the fourth house that we saw -- the other new construction (the sixth one listed on my Houses post) -- because it was the best deal. Aside from it being the cheapest, the builder was going to finish the basement for us (above ground was 2276 and below ground was 1040) so it would be bigger than most of the houses. There were also a ton of other perks. But, when Joe and I went back to look at it again after saying goodbye to our realtor, I found myself tearing up! Joe's like, "Uh, if this house is making you cry then we should NOT get it!" I started laughing because then I felt dumb. . .how true. But like I said, I just really wanted to want it -- but the truth was, I didn't (and Joe wasn't crazy about it, either), so even though there was nothing wrong with it, we crossed it off our list.

The fifth house was the Desoto house (the third one listed on my Houses post). Beautiful house with a finished basement that included a 5th bedroom --- meaning, we wouldn't have to give up an office or guest room (which was the problem with all of the others we had seen up to that point -- even the one before this). However, the basement was too small for any of our other things (we have a pool table, poker table, etc). Also, Desoto is a small town with not much more than a Kum and Go. Our realtor disclosed that the house was actually worth $50K more than what they were selling at -- not good -- so it was eliminated.

The last house yesterday was the first one listed on my Houses post. That was actually the only one that ended up being a possibility. It had a finished basement that included a 5th bedroom and the house had more room than the others for almost all of our things. . .but still not all (we struggled with where to put Logan's house w/ slide, his bounce-around, and a couple of other things).

So, after we saw the final house today (an open house at the fifth one listed on my Houses post) -- another beautiful home but not enough room, we made the decision that we were going to have to settle. From now on, we were going to look at much older homes that were not as nice but had more square footage. We became okay with it; such is life.

That is why it was crazy to get a call from our realtor, not long after that. We were just about to leave Iowa to head back to Omaha when she called to say that another couple had put an offer on the new construction house that had made me cry, LOL. I told her that was okay. . .and then explained that our problem was that we were coming from a house that had been new construction in 2007 with 4K sq feet, so we were going to have to look at older houses from now on.

She's like, "You guys have to come over to where I am right now! I have the perfect place for you!"

I admit I was not optimistic -- it was the same builder of the house that had gotten the offer. However, the vibe changed when we drove into the neighborhood (which, by the way, is in Waukee, near Jordan Creek mall -- the area where we wanted to live, only 7 min from Joe's office): A community with it's own pool just for the neighborhood, two parks, walking trails, school, clubhouse, golf course and future pond. I had hoped that one of the houses would be in a neighborhood like this, but none of them had been so far. When Joe rounded the corner of the street that we were to meet our realtor, he pointed to a random house and said, "I really like that house." I agreed!

To make a long story short, that exact house is being built on another street in the neighborhood starting next week! Not only do we love the outside, but the inside will have a walk out finished basement and over 3500 total square feet! (That's enough room for all of our stuff, LOL!) The basement will have a fifth bedroom (for either the guest room or office), full bathroom, plus room for our pool table and poker table and either a play area for the kids or family room. With nine foot ceilings and several large windows, it's not going to feel like a basement but rather another floor. The main floor has a dining room, a half bath, a kitchen with granite counter tops and stainless steel appliances, a family room with a fireplace and whatever-size-we-want-cut-out-space above it for our TV, and a mudroom off the garage with lockers for the kids to put their backpacks, shoes, and coats, etc. The top level has a second floor laundry (which I look forward to having for the first time), a master bedroom with a sitting area, a master bath with whirlpool, large shower, toilet room, and granite double vanity sinks, plus three extra bedrooms and a hall bathroom with granite double vanity sinks -- AND a big loft (essentially another room)! There will be a nice-sized deck as well as a patio, and they provide some landscaping (sod, a tree, and some shrubs) as well as give $2-$3K to us as a landscaping allowance. Since we are planning to use their lender, we won't have any closing costs.

The builder was there with our realtor and I got the best vibe from him. He is listed as one of the top 20 builders in the nation. He said he understood the situation that we were in as far as the baby and so he will finish the house as quickly as he can for us without sacrificing any quality. Either way, it will for sure be done by September 1st.

We took a look at the lot and like the area (the other houses around it are going to be $100K more than ours so that's good); not a big yard but it's a green community so they have prairie grass that they are required to keep and so there will definitely be enough room between our house and whenever there is one built behind (which is all I care about). There will never be anything built across the street from us because of this reason as well. The house next door is being built at the same time so we won't have to worry about lots of noise after we move in.

Needless to say, after looking around their model home, we were on top of the world. We found THE ONE! It's a little more than what we had planned to pay ($8K more) but we've been pre approved and Joe crunched the numbers and we will be okay. Our realtor is emailing us more info this week and we plan to go back this next Sunday to hopefully make it ours!

The downside, of course, is that there's going to be a month of limbo for us to figure out where we are going to live with our two dogs and two kids. . .but in the grand scheme of things a month isn't long so I'd rather sacrifice this way rather than on a house that we will spend the next however many years! Also, we'll have to get window treatments and a fence again, but since I'm bringing my current curtains that will be sufficient for awhile for some of the windows and we can do sheets/towels for others. As for the dogs, we can do the stake in the yard for awhile like we did at our other house (it's a leash that goes from our back door to a stake in our yard so that they can go out by themselves but not run away).

A bonus is that my sophomore year college roommate lives in the same neighborhood! We were great friends in college but sadly lost touch after we graduated, except for facebook. Coincidentally, she happens to work for the same company as Joe -- in fact, she was the HR person to send him his offer email!!! She was ecstatic when I emailed her and told her that she'd just emailed JOE! (She was my roommate during the time when I met him and started dating him -- in fact, she was with me at the exact moment that I met him!) So I look forward to getting back into touch with her. (She has one child, a little girl who was born just in November.)

I'll end with a pic of "the house" that is identical, but already owned by someone else (they love the builder so much that they are letting us walk through their house when we come next Sunday)! Yeay!Here is our lot:Here is the pool: