Tuesday, September 22, 2009

back to the city

So, the house finally sold on August 20th, 2009.  What a harrowing ordeal!  It will be a long time before we consider owning property again.  We didn't come out too well, financially, but considering the market, we are both glad just to have gotten out from under it.  We looked all over Birmingham for a rental and found a nice loft downtown on 2nd Ave N.  We love it, and we can't believe how much of an improvement it is for us.  It's so much quieter and peaceful, and best of all, we don't own it!

Currently, most of our time is now spent prepping little Stephanie's squishbrain for going back to school, and planning out how we are gonna make the move.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Our house is finally on the market. It's been on the market for 9 days now. Only 1 showing last week. No calls to our realtor. No showings over the weekend. It's very frustrating. It is no doubt the most updated home in our area and we priced it below others to ensure it's the most competitive one for sale. That's why we're in a state of disbelief. I hope the market improves [I know it won't]. I'm afraid we missed the 'hot market' in our subdivision a month or so, when 4 or 5 townhomes sold at the same time, for near or at list price. We are so anxious to get it sold. I am hesitant to send out my CV and letters to perspective employers in Portland, if we haven't gotten it under contract, or at least, have steady interest in it.

Tired of this monkey on our backs that keeps us at a standstill in our desire to move.

Friday, June 27, 2008

Our Mission.

I hate blogs. I just wanna get that out there. So why do I start one? Because I wish to document our journey to accomplish the goal of a cross-country move as a newlywed couple. Neither of us have taken on a goal of this magnitude, and to describe it as daunting, is an understatement.

We would like to think we are young adventurous explorers, but really we are nervous, compulsive, overanalyzing worryworts. We like to plan and know what's ahead of us especially when it comes to job security and finances. But despite the great uncertainty of how to coordinate us both finding jobs, a place to live, and moving our stuff over 2000 miles, we are ecstatic about this decision. We see Portland as our haven, a welcomed refuge from the closemindedness of the South. Where I can easily support a vegan lifestyle. Where we don't have to commute in our vehicles, but hop on the streetcars. Where we can explore different interests and find ourselves. Sure, we have degrees, but we doubt that the fields we chose are our life-callings.

I wish it was easier and we could just pick up and move. But we are tied to a mortgage. Right now, our focus is on getting our house painted, staged, and on the market. I'm exhausted every morning when I wake up for work. Working 8 to 9 hrs a day at jobs we dislike (especially me, I'm so disenchanted with my work environment and co-workers....) then we come home and labor on the house until 9 pm. The last 3 weekends we have painted almost every room in the house. And when I say paint, I mean the whole drawn-out process of taping all the edging, moving furniture, putting on at least 1 coat of primer (sometimes 3 or 4 coats for the rooms with really dark hideous blurple paint to cover up) and then 2 coats of paint. Then comes the removal of the tape and touch-ups. It's super tedious and literally takes a full day to do 1 room. :( Houses in our neighborhood have been going up for sale like crazy, but at least the decent ones are selling quickly and for what people are usually asking. We hope we haven't missed the 'prime-time' to sell this summer. We are trying to get it ready ASAP. My husband's brother is currently living with us and he is kind of the hold up right now to us finishing the house. He is supposed to be finding an apartment and moving soon. We are kind of at a standstill until he moves out of his room, as it needs to be painted and staged.

We are stressed, but excited about the future.