The Last 15 Months...

...Have been tough. (This was written in the Fall of 2014.)

So long story, (kind of) short...Novemeber 2013 we decided to build a new house.  We had several reasons which at the time sounded reasonable.  We put our house on the market in early November.  By mid January, we had had over 50 showings.  Yes I said 50+ showings...if you have ever sold your home you know that is a TON.  Mind you, during this time, I had a brand new baby.  

Every day for 10 or so weeks I had to keep my house spotless and relatively toy free.  Most showings were the same day as the request was made and often times within an hour or two.  For 10 weeks, I had rush to get the house in show condition and then get my two kids and two dogs out the door for at least an hour.  

By the end, I was resentful of every single phone call.  I knew I was just wasting my time and I wanted these strangers to get the f*ck out of my house.  

Jack's colic was probably one of the most stressful times of my life.  This was worse.

We had one last "out" of our contract to build a new home so we pulled the plug and took the house off the market.

Fast forward to April 2014.  Inventory in the neighborhood was up and houses were flying off the market.  The idea of making a good profit on something we had owned for less than two years was very tempting so the house went back on the market.  

Three weeks and 20+ showings later, we finally had an offer!  After a little negotiating we had a deal and a good deal.  But after 70+ showings and enough stress to push me over the edge (a few times), our good reasons to move became blurred in both of our minds.  

Over the next few months we looked for a new home but all of cookie-cutter-crap for sale in our desired neighborhood wasn't the right fit.  Which lead us back to building.  Our original builder was going to take over two years so we went with our second option.  

Our new home would be done in 9 months and in the meantime we would need to find temporary housing.  So I began the process of packing up our house, deciding what would fit into a two bedroom, 947 sq ft apartment and what we could go 9 or so months without.  You know, cause life wasn't already stressful enough.

We were fortunate enough to be able to store the vast marjority of our belongings at J's warehouse for free.  So every night for two weeks, J would bring a van home from work, we wold load it up after the boys were down, he'd unpack it the next day and repeat.  

We left our home for the last time on July 16, 2014.  A new chapter was beginning and we both cried as we drove away.  

                                           

Funny when I look back now, the stress of this time was like childbirth.  You remember that it was a horribly painful experience but it's become dull with time.  Looking through pictures of this period it's happy memories like the ones below that make me think "shit I could totally do that again!" 

Just like childbirth!

Lindsey