The Last Train to Denton

The past weeks have been a whirlwind.  I turned 32.  32? I think that's right.  I don't even know. Some of the sweet young women that I have worked with over the past couple of years set up a rotation to babysit for me one evening a week after the kids were in bed while Dan was out of town.  It was so thoughtful and helpful.  The night of my birthday was one such night.  I was cooking dinner at the stove when I heard a terrible thunk and an instant blood curdling scream.

I ran to find Ava holding Finn as he screamed.  She had been playing with him on my bed and he fell off and hit his head on the nearby dresser.  He seemed to calm down fairly quickly, but within a few minutes had blood coming from his nose.  Thus ensued phone calls and googling, and more phone calls.  I was admittedly worried and Dan insisted, from Colorado, that I take him in.  I knew this would turn the evening into a fiasco trying to find people to keep the big kids and get them to bed while I sat in the emergency room.  But the main thing holding me back was my fear of arriving at the same hospital with the same baby, with a similar head injury as our visit about a month before (remember the curtain rod?).  But my fear about his little pumpkin head won out and I took him in.

And he was totally fine.

And they didn't call CPS.

Happy Birthday to me!

I still ended up being able to have my little birthday celebration.  And I've been 32 ever since and I can't tell the difference so far.

I shared a tiny cake with the kids,

received some beautiful flowers from my long distance boyfriend,

and a page of coupons and a love note from Ava.

I was proud of myself for taking the kids all by myself up to the Frank Buck Zoo in Gainesville on their day off from school.

Finn has earned the title of StairMaster...

After finishing The Orphan Train for book club, I got totally wrapped up in Family History as I tried to piece together the mystery of my maternal grandfather and his trip on an Orphan Train.

Someday, when I grow up, I am going to write a book.  And it very well may involve pieces of this story.  Until then, I may write another post detailing what I know, but just as the book, it's a someday thing.

Ava saw my outfit one morning, realized that she could duplicate it, and we went around together like "twins".

Luke set a worthy goal for the new year:

"Benember (his version of remember) my Texas Friends"

After another marathon weekend of showings and thankfully pleasant weather, where we spent most of our days outside,

our house is 99% sold.  We've still got a few papers to sign but the movers will be here in two days and we will drive into the sunset on Saturday.

We close on our Colorado house tomorrow.

Mom and Dad made it back to Texas last Friday to pick up their van, speak in church, and have a doctors appointment.  They'll leave on Thursday.  My sister, Chandra, is in town for some training and will also leave on Thursday.  I love that I'm not alone this week as I anticipate our life getting packed up and moved.

Mom and Dad spoke in church on Sunday.  And it really hit me what they are about to do.  I am so proud of them! I am so happy to have the gospel of Jesus Christ in my life.  It matters to me.  It means something to me every single day.  I am different because of it.  I am different because of the principles that my parents taught me.  My mother and father have been ever faithful. I have never doubted that it mattered to them.  As they spoke, I realized it was the consistency they provided me year in, and year out, no matter the season or circumstance, that has made such an impact on me and my dependence on this religion, on my Savior.  I felt the love they are carrying as they prepare to go out in service of others and their God.  To all those who are not members of this church who may read this, have a soft heart towards those who so willingly give of themselves to serve missions, old or young.  They don't go to force people, they don't go because they think they're better than another.  They go because the gospel of Jesus Christ has made them happier people and they hope to help others find the same happiness.  It's like discovering the best chocolate chip cookie recipe in the whole world and feeling like you have to call every one you know to share it because THESE COOKIES!

I will miss them and the closeness we've been lucky to have for the past three years. I will miss our daily interactions.  I can't believe they won't see our new house for a year.  I will have to Facetime them through the house.

As our days here dwindle I have tried to think of the things I need to do or see before we go.

Every January for the past three years, we have taken the train up to Denton for lunch and ice cream.

So on our last full weekend as Texans, we did it again.

It's always exciting when the train rounds the bend.

2012

2013

2014

 

Lunch at the Mellow Mushroom,

Ice cream at Beth Marie's,

Hard to believe that after 14 years, nobody in the family will live in Texas.  As much as I never thought I would say this about such a freakishly hot and majorly ugly place, I am really, really going to miss it.

Small and Simple

So those two above asking price offers I mentioned in the last post no longer exist. Even when you tell yourself not to get your hopes up, it's really hard not to. The first people backed out plain and simple and the second people got huffy we didn't pick them in the first place and said they'd decided they didn't want our house after all.  I wish them both good luck on their search for the perfect home. I personally believe that this home is pretty close to it, but I am admittedly biased.

So last week was the first week of Dan working in Denver and me and the kids maintaining the homestead.  We had to keep the house clean at all times and it was hard.  Bedtime alone is always a bit challenging, finding places to go during showings requires some creativity.  But guess what?  The week was really, really good.

For the majority of my life I have identified completely as an extrovert.  I needed people.  I needed to be around them.  To converse with them.  To interact with them.  It was my secret syrup. It's what made me happy and relaxed and energized all at once. As I have gotten older, that tendency has slowly reversed in on itself.  I like smaller groups.  I like one on one time.  I like alone time.  I missed Dan like crazy last week but I was really grateful that the whole week was manageable and I wasn't excessively lonely. The kids got along well.  I dug up some atypical amounts of patience from somewhere.  And in the hustle of the morning routine, I looked ahead at that time after the kids were in bed when I would be absolutely alone, when I would have to answer to exactly, no one.  I wouldn't have to listen.  I wouldn't have to talk.  I wouldn't have to do anything. And it thrilled me. Those thoughts propelled me in peace to reach the evening that awaited me.  And I realized that I have become a full fledged introvert.

But even through the great week we were having family-wise, these bad offers were pretty sad.  I realized that we were in for a roller coaster ride whether we wanted on or not.  For a couple of days, when I was daydreaming of my solitude, I imagined myself, after the kids were in bed, watching any girl movie I wanted.  I had the idea to pick up some when we went on the already promised library trip that Wednesday after school.  Well, you know what happens when you take 4 kids into the library, right?  They did great and were whispery and obedient until they weren't and then I realized we had to get the heck out of their before the complete meltdown.  Which also meant, my girl movies were left there on the shelves,  ready to be checked out by some other lonely female.

That night, the night after both offers fell through, after my kids were in bed, a friend called and asked if she could bring me something.  Of course I agreed and in a few minutes, there she was at the door with a hot chocolate and a bag full of girl movies.

I hadn't told a soul about my movie plans.  She explained that she felt a little silly bringing them but had been thinking about me earlier in the day and it just came to mind that I might like to watch after the kids were in bed.  I was very appreciative.  And that evening as I sat in my bed and watched Sweet Home Alabama and thought about how mindful my friend was, I realized with a little help from the Holy Ghost, that this was not just a case of my friend being nice, but this was a simple little way, easily overlooked, that an even more mindful Heavenly Father was nudging me on the shoulder saying, I see you. And as pleasurable as the solitude of that evening was, it was nothing compared to the feeling that I wasn't alone,  that our family was not to be left on our own.  I knew then, that even if the home sale doesn't go the way we hope or want, that we are part of a plan, beautifully choreographed by the author of life.  And I want Him writing my story. No matter what happens, I know that my Heavenly Father is watching out for us.

Dan came home for the weekend.  We were all so excited! But the stress that sits on our shoulders at the moment, keeps things from being "normal" and we sort of step awkwardly through each day, trying to maintain some semblance of our former routine even though nothing is the same. Friday night Finn got sick.  I've never had a baby this young get a stomach bug but the poor little thing vomited all night.

And I'll bet you can't guess what happened next.  Last night Max and Ava were puking their brains out until about 4 am and poor Dan couldn't avoid it either.  He could write his own blog post about his adventure in the airport and airplane lavatory in the early morning hours.  It's the kind of entertaining that's only funny when it's not about you.

When the smoke cleared this morning, the house was a battle zone.  Somebody looked like they'd been killed on the carpet in the boys room, even though it was only vomit stains.  Every blanket I own was soiled and every towel was either laid out as a protective barrier, waded up in a trash bag to contain the stink, or spinning around in the washing machine.  I had a kid on the couch downstairs that had been there the entire night wearing out a path to the bathroom.  

I try to keep the house no more than two steps off track so that when a showing is scheduled I can get things in order in a reasonable amount of time.  This morning we were about fifty steps off.  From the reek of the boys bedroom to the baking soda sprinkled all over the wet carpet, if somebody had scheduled a showing I don't think it would have been possible.

So for the first time in the two and a half weeks it's been on the market, I started praying for no showings.  That has only happened 2 times in this process so I wasn't sure how likely it was to happen again. But if there was any day we needed to be able to stay in our home, this was one of them.

And I'll bet you can't guess what happened next.  There were no showings.  Ava slept on the couch the entire day feeling like poo.  I slowly put things back together and hopefully eradicated the stink.  And as I was putting the last dishes in the dishwasher tonight, I felt that same nudge.  No showings today was not a coincidence.  I see you.

Christmas 2013 and Everything Else (which is kind of a lot)

The last time I neglected my blog this bad was when I had a baby.  But unless overhauling my house counts as a type of birth, I have no excuse.

And not to be cliche, but our life has been so crazy. So crazy it should probably be committed to some sort of asylum.  Yes, asylum sounds lovely right now.  

When I lay it all out neatly in my head though, I feel like a jerk having anything but gratitude for our current situation. I should really have to stretch to come up with something to complain about.  So instead of the I've Busted My Booty For Weeeeeeks, Husband's Working Out of Town and the House is on the Market with Four Kids Speil, I will go ahead with the We Had a Great Christmas Visit in Utah as Well as a Successful House Hunt Trip in Colorado, one.  

First things first though, after many, many days anxiously awaiting the mailman, as my dad is pictured doing here,

my parents finally received their mission call to the Chicago, Illinois mission. 

 Hard to believe they will be so close to my brother and sister.  I can't be jealous because I've had them for so long, but I still am.  

The last few weeks with them were hard for me. It's not like they are going super far away or that I won't be able to see them again soon.  But it does mean that we'll no longer be living in the same town. Not now and not after their mission.  It's like the end of an era.  An era I loved. And my kids loved.  I have plans for an in-law retreat in my new basement, but I'm not sure summers in Michigan and winters in Denver sounds too appealing to them.  They are gone now for a visit to my sister, Chandra in Idaho before they hit the Missionary Training Center on Jan. 13.

I miss them so much already.  I am grateful for technology though.  They will not have too go long without seeing my shiny mug on Facetime.

Our house here hurdled all the appraisals and inspections for the buyout and was set to go on the market the day after Christmas.  Our flight left for Utah on Christmas Day. We planned and executed Christmas 3 days early so we'd have enough to time to clean it up and finish all the house stuff before we had to leave.  

I tried to make Christmas special, but I have to admit it was hard and I'm not sure I succeeded.

We made the fudge.

And decorated gingerbread houses.

We totally went through many of the motions but neither my heart or mind was really in it. Though I did enjoy seeing the kids in their Santa hats.

Dan's company still hosted a really fabulous kid's Christmas party at the Dallas Aquarium, despite the office closing and the fact that most in attendance were being laid off.

We saw Santa twice this season and Finn's reaction was the same both times.

 Getting the family ready for a week long trip is never fun but adding to that, the fact that my house had to be ready for strangers poking through all the closets and caressing every switch plate cover before I even got home, was overwhelming to say the least.  I very nearly killed myself (and my mother, bless her generously hard working heart) in those last couple of days.

Our Christmas celebration will probably not be going down in anyone's history books.  But we made it happen and that's what counts, right? 

We did act out the Nativity story the night before, per tradition.  

My Dad has been the donkey for at least 30 straight years.

We had Jesus' birthday cake.

And we opened presents.

Luke was most excited about his new circuits. 

And legos. 

 Lots of legos.

Ava got a miniature American Girl doll and a teeny tiny book.

And Max played with his new Bat Cave and pirate ship solid 8 hours, hardly stopping to eat.

We left very early Christmas morning and enjoyed our time in Utah.  

One of the biggest bonuses of this move is being in so much closer proximity to these folks.  I smell some weekend road trips!

Snow tubing at Soldier Hollow might have to be added to the tradition list. 

 Everyone had so much fun!

 Even Max, even though he cried every run except the last one.  Those hills don't look that big but they're fast!

And because one trip wasn't enough, between Christmas and New Years, for one night and two days, Dan, and I, and Finn, flew to Denver and picked us a house! Many, many, thanks to my in laws for keeping the big kids for us.  Specifically Max.  You earned fifty gold stars and probably a special spot in heaven!

In truth, I am really, really sad to leave my Texas house.  If I could pick it up and take it with me, and possibly squeeze in an extra bathroom upstairs, I would do it in a heart beat.  

I had hoped this move would be my time for the place of my dreams.  A few acres, a spot for some animals, plenty of room for the kids to explore, and no neighbors close enough to suffer ear drum damage from Max's fits on the trampoline. Goats, and chickens, and maybe a horse or two. 

But it was not to be.  We are back in the suburbs.  We really like the house, though. 

 It reminds us a lot of our current one, plus a basement and that extra bathroom. 

 It just hurts knowing we are having to pay so much more for it.  To imagine what we'd get in Texas for the same price?  I'd have my dream house, on a little farm and a couple of champion goats to boot!

But we flew in, and flew out, and were back to Utah a day later where we got to squeeze in a quick visit to see Dan's sister, Rachel's new house, have dinner, and let the kids play in the coolest toy room in town. We're really looking forward to being able to do things like that more than twice a year.

 

Then it was home to the show ring. 4 showings Saturday and 3 on Sunday equaled 2 offers above asking price on Sunday night.  Hallelujah!

So we are now under contract on a home in Denver set to close Jan. 29 and on this home as well, set to close Feb. 4.  I have every finger and toe crossed that both deals will go through.

In summary: We found a house, we're selling this one, we will be packed and moved, our cars shipped, our closing costs paid, our temporary living and food supplied, points paid down for our interest rate, and pretty much taken care of in every possible way by Dan's company and a mindful Heavenly Father.  That's why I say I have no room for complaints.  Because as far as moving goes, things could be so much worse, but not really any better.