Good Times

Well, Brandon and I are finally moved in and getting settled in our new house. All of the big stuff is unpacked. The kitchen is finished (except for whatever I decide to put on top of the cabinets). All that's left to do now is decide where bookshelves should go and load them up with books and what-nots, and then decorate! Fun stuff! :)

I love it here! The neighborhood is so gorgeous! I can sit out on my balcony and look out around the different brightly colored houses and I almost feel like I'm at the beach! The saltwater pools and the beautiful white egrets that fly around from the lake only enhance the feeling.

My parents got to visit us this last weekend. They drove the 10 hours all the way from Alabama on Friday and just went back yesterday. It was so great to see them and get some good Mommy-time. We haven't been able to spend a lot of quality time together in the last few years since I've been living in Texas, so this was really nice - and much needed. We all had so much fun. Brandon and I took them to Ikea (which, by the way, if you haven't been, GO!) and got some fun stuff for the kitchen AND some super fun stuff for my classroom. I actually found a big, heart-shaped pillow with arms and big hands. Perfect for working on steady-beat with my little ones! Ikea is wonderful! It's like the DisneyWorld of furniture/home goods.

While they were here, we discovered that the ponds and lakes around the community here are actually catch-and-keep until the end of August, so we spent a good bit of quality time fishing with my dad, too. He and Brandon ended up catching enough for us to have a fish fry! That, coupled with the fresh gulf shrimp that my dad brought with them, made my favorite meal. It was so good! I think Brandon may be hooked on fishing. :D

All in all, it was a wonderful weekend and we were sad to see it end. Even Gizmo misses my folks. He had so much fun playing chase with my dad and snuggling with my mom - it was adorable (sometimes I wonder if he likes my dad even more than us!). He's even gone up and whined at the guest-room door a couple of times today, hoping to find them.

In other news, I will hopefully be able to get in my classroom tomorrow to drop off some of my boxes and see what kind of supplies I have. I've been told I should have a pretty big puppet collection - I'm really excited about that! I'm ready to start setting up and planning! I've already been to new hire orientation and my staff development starts August 10 (kids come on the 24th). In a few weeks, Brandon will have his placement exams and ensemble auditions at UNT, and by the end of August, things will be in full swing for both of us. I think we're both looking forward to it, but for now we're enjoying this vacation time too. :)

Home at Last!

We are finally here!

Last Friday, after several more gut-wrenching snags, we signed the papers and officially became homeowners! Hooray!! By 8:00 that night, the movers that our sweet broker hired for us had completely unloaded everything from the Uhaul and we got to spend our first night in our new home. Since then, we have been unpacking, swimming in the community pools, grilling out on our patio, watching Gizmo zoom around the backyard, and just enjoying having a place to call home. It's so wonderful! All of the stress, worry, and tears from the last three weeks are nothing but a memory. It's over - we are home at last!

(And, yes, Brandon carried his bride over the threshold)

-Melanie

Another day goes by

Well we got closer than ever today, and still did not close. We were told that as long as the documents were at the title company by noon, we would close today. This time, the documents made it out of the bank and to the attorney's office. By late-morning the papers had been cleared to go on to the title company so we could close. However, there is one (and only one, apparently) person in the attorney's office that handles sending completed files to title companies. She decided to leave for an early lunch today (without sending our file) and didn't come back. No one there knew where she went and they couldn't track her down until well after 1:00. By the time she got everything sent to the title place, they said it was too late to get everything ready and that there was no way we could close today.

We are scheduled for 11 in the morning. I'm not holding my breath anymore.

Still no house

By the numbers:

• 52 - the number of days since we first looked at this house.

• 44 - the number of days since we signed the contract on the house saying we would close July 1.

• 15 - the number of days we've been in breach of that contract because we didn't close on the 1st.

• 9 - the number of days we've been officially without a place of residence (I don't want to say homeless, because as bad as this situation is I know there are people in much much worse, at least we have friends and family that can put a roof over our heads for a while).

• ? - the amount of money we have spent on hotels and food (though greatly reduced thanks to good friends!).

• 5 - the number of potential closing dates that we have had so far.
  

• 3 - the number of "worse case scenarios" that have already come and gone.

• 2 - the number of moving trucks we've had to use (our original movers had to take our stuff from their truck last week and move it into a Uhaul since we couldn't get in the house).
  

• 1 - the number that you should add to all of these numbers since we aren't closing today.

• 1 - the number of days we have been told we have left to wait before we can close.

• 12:00 - the time we are supposed to close tomorrow - we'll see.

What Happened Today
We should have closed today. Instead, after everything was supposedly finalized, our "wonderful" bank decided to come up with yet another condition for our loan. They wanted more paperwork from our builder about the warranty on the house. Our builder sent them the standard forms that they send to every lender over a month ago, but the bank for whatever reason decided today that wasn't good enough. Seriously???

What's really frustrating about all of this is that there is nothing we can look back on and say, "Oh well, if we had done this differently we wouldn't be in this boat." Not a single one of these delays had anything to do with us, our credit, or anything. It's all just formalities and paperwork, and people not doing their jobs when they are supposed to. There isn't a single thing we could have done to prevent this.

I feel like we've been on a rollercoaster ride this whole time. Up and down, up and down. We're going to close, no we're not . . . etc. I've always thought of myself as a pretty positive person. I've even tried my best to put a good spin on all of this ("we're just on a nice long vacation" or "well, at least we're not moving furniture in 100+ degree weather"), but this has stressed us so much that the last few days, both Brandon and I have even started to fight nausea on and off. It's becoming physical! It's very hard to put on a happy face when your stomach is churning.

As a friend pointed out, this is becoming a test of Christian virtue. I'm really struggling with keeping positive and not letting anger get the best of me. This isn't affecting my faith, but I'm afraid it's affecting how I show it - and not in a good way. At least, this hasn't had a negative influence on mine and Brandon's relationship. If anything, it has brought us closer together - I'm so glad we have each other through this. So there's a positive spin!

Please keep us in your prayers!

House Update

Well, we're out of the hotel. We've been staying with our good friends Ben and Sarah for the last couple of days and have had several other friends offer us a place to stay. We are so blessed to have good friends that live here! Thanks guys - and thanks to everyone who has been praying that this ends quickly!! :)

As of Friday at closing time, our file was #3 in line at the USDA, which means we should have a commitment from them sometime tomorrow. Depending on what time that gets to the lender, the paperwork will be ready and we can close either Tuesday or Wednesday. Either way, we should know something tomorrow! It's hazy, but the end (or, I guess rather, the beginning) is finally in sight! Hooray!

Waiting Stinks

It has now been 9 days from our original closing date (June 1) and we are still not homeowners. We have been cleared to close for 2 weeks now, and we're just waiting on paperwork to come back from the USDA saying that our property does qualify as a rural area. That's it. Just a formality. But that formality has kept us in this hotel since Monday and will most likely keep us here over the weekend. And while we're here, all of our stuff is just sitting in a Uhaul in what will one day be our driveway. Oy.

We've been trying to keep ourselves busy (without spending too much, since we didn't expect to be in a hotel for a week!). We've been saying we're treating this like a vacation. We spent a good bit of time in Ikea (amazing store!), went to a 5-star restaurant in a Conoco gas station (no joke! And it wasn't too expensive), and today I want to find a puppy park for Gizmo. It's getting harder and harder to keep the "vacation" mentality though.

Plus, we've been so excited about this for so long that I'm afraid once we FINALLY get in the house, we're not going to be able to enjoy it like we would have. We keep telling ourselves this will all be worth it in the long run. What's one more week when we have years to live here, right? It is worth it, right?

Moving Day is Here!

This will be a short one because today is moving day! Hooray, it's finally here!! :D

We are waiting for the movers to get here, and then as soon as they have all of our stuff loaded we'll do a little cleaning and head to Denton for good! Here's where the tricky part comes in. Since we didn't get to close on the house last week as we had hoped, we will be staying in a hotel for tonight and possibly tomorrow night until they call us to tell us to sign. The movers won't be there with our stuff until Wednesday morning, so if all works out we will sign tomorrow and be ready to move into our new home when the movers get there. We're really praying that we can sign tomorrow!

We won't have good internet access for a little while (just Brandon's iPhone) until everything gets set up at the new place. So, unless I really want to try to type on that funny keypad, the next time you'll hear from me it will be from 9132 Greene Dr. Aubrey, TX 76227!!

Until then! :)
Melanie

Whirlwinds and Waiting Games

The Whirlwind

It has truly been a whirlwind month for us! Are you ready for this?

While I spent two very time/energy/life consuming, yet rewarding, weeks earning my Level II Kodaly Certification in Lubbock at the beginning of this month, poor Brandon was left to tend to the puppy and pack up our apartment. (We still have more to pack! It's amazing what two people can accumulate over 10 months!) When I returned from Lubbock, I had a day to wash and repack my clothes and then we headed off on our Tour de la South. In the last week, we have traveled 5 1/2 hours (in the car, with Gizmo) from Odessa to Denton and did a "blue-tape walk-through" of the new house with the builder. Then drove 9 hours to Fayette, AL where we stayed a couple days. We then left Gizmo with my parents and drove 8 hours to Hartsville, SC for the Harbin/Theismann wedding extravaganza (which was BEAUTIFUL!). Yesterday we drove 8 hours back to Fayette, and tomorrow we will load up the pup and head back to Texas.



The Waiting
And the adventure is still not over. We were supposed to close on the house on Wednesday, drive back to Odessa, finish packing, and then move on Monday. Unfortunately, someone in the lending office decided to drag their feet and there are important papers that are still not in the right hands, which is delaying everything. Right now we don't know when we will get to close. If we can't do it Wednesday (which is nearly impossible at this point) we may have to wait until next Tuesday. Brandon has a gig in San Angelo over the weekend that we can't afford to cancel.

So, that means that we will have the movers in Odessa on Monday, empty out the apartment and turn in our key. Only to have nowhere to call home until we sign everything sometime Tuesday. This should be really interesting.

On the upside, the movers called today to say that while they will be loading our stuff on Monday, we are not the only ones they will be moving to the Dallas area then. Because of that, they won't be able to deliver our furniture until Wednesday, the 8th. At least that is working in our favor.

I know stuff like this happens and is expected. We've even had a handful of friends who have had to deal with it just this summer. So, we're not really bummed (what's a couple of days when we're about to spend years in this house, ya know?), just tired of waiting. We're so excited and ready for this whirlwind of a month to end so we can get busy settling in to our new home! This is like the Christmas Eve that would never end! Haha!

BIG News from Our Little Family!

Our "little" family is so very blessed! We have a wonderful marriage, an adorable fuzz-ball of a puppy, and great friends. And pretty soon, we will be moving our little family into our very own house! Wow!

Yes, our move is officially official! This fall, Brandon will start his doctorate in music at the University of North Texas and I will be the new music teacher at Burks Elementary in McKinney (just down the road). To put the icing on that cake - on Monday, Brandon and I signed a contract on our very first home! If all goes well, we will be closing on July 1 and moving to 9132 Greene Drive, Providence Village, TX (just east of Denton) on July 6!! It is the most beautiful house and I cannot even begin to say how excited, humbled, and even a little overwhelmed I am about all of this! Pretty much all I can say is God is good!

Here are a few pictures. The rest you can view from my Facebook album, here.