Moving
It has been an emotional and whirlwind of a week to say the least! Within about a 2 week period, Garrett was offered and accepted a job position with WW Clyde in Utah. While we are thrilled to live closer to family - we are also extremely sad to leave Colorado. We have planted some deep roots here over the last 7+ years.
Over the past year or so, Garrett has felt a bit of a tug to explore different options career-wise. He didn't search hard but sent out his resume to a couple of local businesses just to see what they had to offer. A couple of weeks ago, Garrett noticed a job posting in Utah with WW Clyde. Our great friend Russ Clayton works with this company and so Garrett reached out to him to ask a few questions. The ball took off from there. With Russ's recommendation and with Garrett's great experience and great interviewing skills . . . Garrett was offered the job.
Who would have thought that this decision would be so hard? It has been heart wrenching to go back and forth on the pros and cons of moving. We knew we were always leaning more towards Utah because of family and a new change for Garrett - - but Garrett couldn't get himself to fully commit until the last day when we needed to make that final decision.
Our children or so torn. They so much want to be closer to cousins and grandparents - but they are so sad to leave their friends, school, ward and all that they have known over these last 7 years. Lily in particular has felt a deep sadness. She wants to love the idea of moving, but her heart aches to leave her friends.
I don't think I have had this much high anxiety before as I have had getting a house ready to sell in about a week and a half time span. And yet, in many ways, I feel like Heavenly has been preparing me months before this opportunity even came our way. When COVID hit and we were asked by our Governor to stay at home . . . I had a strong feeling that I should get certain things done around the house during this isolation. I didn't want to look back and regret not getting things done during this time because who knows when I would ever get this much time at home again. So I went room to room and dejunked rooms, painted the kids room (mostly for fun because they wanted a change), and even painted doors and baseboards to freshen them up. I washed windows and we even had our cement redone to put our basketball pad in for our basketball hoop. (Our sweet neighbors, Robin and Anne gave us theirs). I am so grateful for that time that I had to prepare. Such a tender mercy for sure!
We were so nervous to put our house on the market because we were just starting to gain a little more freedom from the COVID isolation. Housing inventory was low (to our advantage) but the market pricing was a little low also. Because homes in Utah are priced sky high, we knew we needed to get as much equity as we could out of this home. We listed our house on a Thursday night and had 5 showings by Saturday. 1 person came to see it twice. I felt really strongly that needed to fast on Saturday and I am so happy that we did because my anxiety was through the roof waiting and hoping that someone would be interested in it right away. Our realtor emailed us around 9 pm Saturday night and said he had some possible good news. (That was it . . . who does that?) So we had to wait until Sunday morning to hear the news that we indeed had someone who was interested. I can't even explain the gratitude that I felt to receive a full offer and an option to rent back if we needed in case it took awhile to find a house in Utah.
We left to Utah a couple of days earlier than we initially planned so that we could go house hunting before we left to Bear Lake for our family reunion. It was a stressful weekend! Because we always assume that where we moved to next will be our forever home, we had low inventory on houses that seemed to match our want/need list. It was disheartening to go to 10 or so showings in 1 day and leave each one disappointed. Prices are extremely high in Utah and I refused to settle for a home that I wasn't thrilled about just to have a home. I was trying to have faith and keep my hope alive, but I also wanted to think things through and have a backup plan also. I had to really resign myself to the fact that we would have to possibly rent for awhile. (And that was a scary thought because we would have to pay high rent and pay to have our stuff stored).
I really am so grateful for the power of the priesthood. I felt like I had had knots in my stomach for weeks and I was an emotional wreck. I had Garrett give me a priesthood blessing so that I could receive some much needed peace and comfort. Garrett and I fasted again on Sunday and prayed fervently that we would find something and that we could feel the comfort from our Savior as we tried to figure out what we were going to do.
Amy, our realtor, put together 4 homes for us to see on Monday morning before we headed out for our family reunion. These last 4 showings were kind of the last options on our list up to that point until more sellers listed their houses.
The second house that we walked through was such a blessing! I just felt so good walking through it and a huge weight was lifted off of my shoulders. It had everything that we desired -3 car garage, cul-de-sac, finished basement, 6 rooms, and oh so clean. I couldn't believe that this house wasn't under contract since it had been listed 9 days earlier. Because this house was listed at the top of our budget and because it hadn't had any offers yet, we low balled the price and crossed our fingers for the best. In the end, the seller agreed to meet us halfway on the price and we were soon under contract. To say I am grateful is a huge understatement! We saw the next 2 houses on our list and they didn't even compare to this other home.
**Side note: We received a call on our vacation and our real estate agent wanted to share something heavy with us that gave us a little pause on this home. Garrett and I talked together and prayed about it and ultimately, we decided to let that concern go. We felt strongly that we needed to have faith and remember the good feelings that we had when we walked through the home. And that is what we did. When we returned to home during the inspection walk - our fears and concerns diminished We felt the same peaceful and good feelings that we had felt when we walked through the home the very first time.
We are still anxious and praying that things will all go smoothly as far as closings go and as far as coordinating our moving out of state. But one thing I know for sure - I have truly felt the Lord's hand in this process. It hasn't been easy - but time and time again we have recognized His hand in this moving process. I cannot thank My Father in Heaven enough!!
Over the past year or so, Garrett has felt a bit of a tug to explore different options career-wise. He didn't search hard but sent out his resume to a couple of local businesses just to see what they had to offer. A couple of weeks ago, Garrett noticed a job posting in Utah with WW Clyde. Our great friend Russ Clayton works with this company and so Garrett reached out to him to ask a few questions. The ball took off from there. With Russ's recommendation and with Garrett's great experience and great interviewing skills . . . Garrett was offered the job.
Who would have thought that this decision would be so hard? It has been heart wrenching to go back and forth on the pros and cons of moving. We knew we were always leaning more towards Utah because of family and a new change for Garrett - - but Garrett couldn't get himself to fully commit until the last day when we needed to make that final decision.
Our children or so torn. They so much want to be closer to cousins and grandparents - but they are so sad to leave their friends, school, ward and all that they have known over these last 7 years. Lily in particular has felt a deep sadness. She wants to love the idea of moving, but her heart aches to leave her friends.
I don't think I have had this much high anxiety before as I have had getting a house ready to sell in about a week and a half time span. And yet, in many ways, I feel like Heavenly has been preparing me months before this opportunity even came our way. When COVID hit and we were asked by our Governor to stay at home . . . I had a strong feeling that I should get certain things done around the house during this isolation. I didn't want to look back and regret not getting things done during this time because who knows when I would ever get this much time at home again. So I went room to room and dejunked rooms, painted the kids room (mostly for fun because they wanted a change), and even painted doors and baseboards to freshen them up. I washed windows and we even had our cement redone to put our basketball pad in for our basketball hoop. (Our sweet neighbors, Robin and Anne gave us theirs). I am so grateful for that time that I had to prepare. Such a tender mercy for sure!
We were so nervous to put our house on the market because we were just starting to gain a little more freedom from the COVID isolation. Housing inventory was low (to our advantage) but the market pricing was a little low also. Because homes in Utah are priced sky high, we knew we needed to get as much equity as we could out of this home. We listed our house on a Thursday night and had 5 showings by Saturday. 1 person came to see it twice. I felt really strongly that needed to fast on Saturday and I am so happy that we did because my anxiety was through the roof waiting and hoping that someone would be interested in it right away. Our realtor emailed us around 9 pm Saturday night and said he had some possible good news. (That was it . . . who does that?) So we had to wait until Sunday morning to hear the news that we indeed had someone who was interested. I can't even explain the gratitude that I felt to receive a full offer and an option to rent back if we needed in case it took awhile to find a house in Utah.
We left to Utah a couple of days earlier than we initially planned so that we could go house hunting before we left to Bear Lake for our family reunion. It was a stressful weekend! Because we always assume that where we moved to next will be our forever home, we had low inventory on houses that seemed to match our want/need list. It was disheartening to go to 10 or so showings in 1 day and leave each one disappointed. Prices are extremely high in Utah and I refused to settle for a home that I wasn't thrilled about just to have a home. I was trying to have faith and keep my hope alive, but I also wanted to think things through and have a backup plan also. I had to really resign myself to the fact that we would have to possibly rent for awhile. (And that was a scary thought because we would have to pay high rent and pay to have our stuff stored).
I really am so grateful for the power of the priesthood. I felt like I had had knots in my stomach for weeks and I was an emotional wreck. I had Garrett give me a priesthood blessing so that I could receive some much needed peace and comfort. Garrett and I fasted again on Sunday and prayed fervently that we would find something and that we could feel the comfort from our Savior as we tried to figure out what we were going to do.
Amy, our realtor, put together 4 homes for us to see on Monday morning before we headed out for our family reunion. These last 4 showings were kind of the last options on our list up to that point until more sellers listed their houses.
The second house that we walked through was such a blessing! I just felt so good walking through it and a huge weight was lifted off of my shoulders. It had everything that we desired -3 car garage, cul-de-sac, finished basement, 6 rooms, and oh so clean. I couldn't believe that this house wasn't under contract since it had been listed 9 days earlier. Because this house was listed at the top of our budget and because it hadn't had any offers yet, we low balled the price and crossed our fingers for the best. In the end, the seller agreed to meet us halfway on the price and we were soon under contract. To say I am grateful is a huge understatement! We saw the next 2 houses on our list and they didn't even compare to this other home.
**Side note: We received a call on our vacation and our real estate agent wanted to share something heavy with us that gave us a little pause on this home. Garrett and I talked together and prayed about it and ultimately, we decided to let that concern go. We felt strongly that we needed to have faith and remember the good feelings that we had when we walked through the home. And that is what we did. When we returned to home during the inspection walk - our fears and concerns diminished We felt the same peaceful and good feelings that we had felt when we walked through the home the very first time.
We are still anxious and praying that things will all go smoothly as far as closings go and as far as coordinating our moving out of state. But one thing I know for sure - I have truly felt the Lord's hand in this process. It hasn't been easy - but time and time again we have recognized His hand in this moving process. I cannot thank My Father in Heaven enough!!
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