We really miss our house in Oklahoma
Could this week have been any longer? I am amazed at how long this week has drug on. It feels like a lot has happened this week, some good and some bad. I have A LOT to write about today.
The week started out pretty awful but has gotten better. Monday we left my sister's house in Cincinnati and drove to Dayton to put Diamond in a kennel and check into our hotel. When we dropped Diamond off Isaac cried and cried. It was all just a little too much for him that not only is he not in his house with his bed and toys and backyard but now his dog was taken somewhere and dropped off. He thought we were giving Diamond away.
Tuesday was such a discouraging day. By the end of the day I had a migraine and was in tears from the stress of everything. After a nice massage from Mike, his listening ear, some caffeine, and 600 mg of Tylenol, the headache mostly subsided and I was ready for bed.
The rest of the week has been better but still very discouraging. For starters, all the warnings that Ohio rarely saw the sun in the winter and spring has proven to be true. The sun has rarely shown it's bright smiley face since we arrived in Ohio. It is quite a change from Oklahoma. Oklahoma has some wicked weather sometimes but rain is pretty infrequent (except I guess it's rained a lot this month so maybe I'm wrong). Anyway, it's been a little dreary here.
We've looked at 13 houses and inquired about a million. The first day, the day that ended in all the tears, was really discouraging. We began with base housing. We figured we could live on base unless we found something we liked better so we wanted to start there to compare the other houses to. We were shown some older houses first. We were surprised at how old they were. There were other things we didn't like, like most didn't have fences, and some didn't have any carpet in the entire house, just linoleum. The newer houses on base we liked but they were a little cramped, didn't have a fence, only had one car garage, and really had no storage. My favorite part about touring the base housing was when the lady told us they had yard of the month contests. We were like, "What yard? You mean you have a contest to see who could sweep their cement slab the best?" The base housing was fine. I have friends that live or have lived on base and really loved it. But we have been spoiled with our last house and for $1200 we assumed we could find something better than an old four bedroom house with no carpet, fence, backyard, and old appliances and closets that barely open. We also assumed we could find something for $1200 that was bigger than a cramped three bedroom house with no fence and so close to the neighbors that you could see them wipe their bum if they were in their bathroom.
As a side note, our last house was 1380 sq feet. It had a giant backyard, three bedrooms, a living room, dining room, two bathrooms, and an extra room. It had an attic, two car garage and a ton of storage. It was old (1960) and the kitchen was tiny. It wasn't our dream house and it wasn't super awesome but we loved it. It was the perfect size for us and aside from the tiny kitchen and no counter space in the bathroom, we were really happy with our house. The neighborhood was quiet and safe. The houses were old but the yards were taken care of and the people were just good people, not rich, not poor. We are not looking for something new, something huge, something perfect. Just something with some space that isn't falling apart.
We decided after looking at the base housing we would try and find something that fit our family a little better. After looking at two more houses we decided base housing wasn't looking so bad. We went to see a farm house. I thought, "I've lived in a farm house. This could be fun to go back to my roots." The mailbox was a mile away from the house down this little dirt road. The outside of the house was falling apart. The inside was unbelievable. At one point Will went to open this door right next to the master bathroom and the agent said, "I wouldn't open that door. I wouldn't open the basement door either. Snakes have been known to get into the attic and basement. But don't worry, they don't come in the house." Really? Because the attic isn't an attic, just a room off from the bedrooms. So, I'm not sure how the snakes can get in the attic and not the rooms. The bathroom was unusable and the kitchen was frightening. There were bees all over the eaves of the outside of the house and there were dilapidated buildings surrounding the house. So for about $1000 we could rent a snake infested house that could fall apart at any moment.
Some of the other houses had the washer and drier in the kitchen, most didn't have fences, and one house was located in a branch with only one kid in nursery and four active primary kids. Most were very old, and weren't kept up. In my opinion, it doesn't really matter how old the house is as long as it is kept up. So, we have not had quite the success with houses that we had hoped. We did finally choose a house that we don't love but we like better than the other houses.
I never thought I was picky when it came to houses. Like I said, we loved our house but it wasn't a house most people would walk into and be like, "Wow. I love this." I think we are just surprised that to find a house comparable to the one we just left we have to pay so much more money. I mean, how can you charge $1200 for a house that you really haven't taken very good care of?
I am relieved to have a house to move into. We only have about five days left in this hotel and then we can move in and have our stuff delivered. My mind is so much more at ease and now that we know where we will live we are excited to figure out the area better and find the nearest Walmart to our house (you have to have a Walmart close to your house!), the fastest way to base, etc. Tomorrow we will attend our new ward and that will be interesting to see how that goes.
The week started out pretty awful but has gotten better. Monday we left my sister's house in Cincinnati and drove to Dayton to put Diamond in a kennel and check into our hotel. When we dropped Diamond off Isaac cried and cried. It was all just a little too much for him that not only is he not in his house with his bed and toys and backyard but now his dog was taken somewhere and dropped off. He thought we were giving Diamond away.
Tuesday was such a discouraging day. By the end of the day I had a migraine and was in tears from the stress of everything. After a nice massage from Mike, his listening ear, some caffeine, and 600 mg of Tylenol, the headache mostly subsided and I was ready for bed.
The rest of the week has been better but still very discouraging. For starters, all the warnings that Ohio rarely saw the sun in the winter and spring has proven to be true. The sun has rarely shown it's bright smiley face since we arrived in Ohio. It is quite a change from Oklahoma. Oklahoma has some wicked weather sometimes but rain is pretty infrequent (except I guess it's rained a lot this month so maybe I'm wrong). Anyway, it's been a little dreary here.
We've looked at 13 houses and inquired about a million. The first day, the day that ended in all the tears, was really discouraging. We began with base housing. We figured we could live on base unless we found something we liked better so we wanted to start there to compare the other houses to. We were shown some older houses first. We were surprised at how old they were. There were other things we didn't like, like most didn't have fences, and some didn't have any carpet in the entire house, just linoleum. The newer houses on base we liked but they were a little cramped, didn't have a fence, only had one car garage, and really had no storage. My favorite part about touring the base housing was when the lady told us they had yard of the month contests. We were like, "What yard? You mean you have a contest to see who could sweep their cement slab the best?" The base housing was fine. I have friends that live or have lived on base and really loved it. But we have been spoiled with our last house and for $1200 we assumed we could find something better than an old four bedroom house with no carpet, fence, backyard, and old appliances and closets that barely open. We also assumed we could find something for $1200 that was bigger than a cramped three bedroom house with no fence and so close to the neighbors that you could see them wipe their bum if they were in their bathroom.
As a side note, our last house was 1380 sq feet. It had a giant backyard, three bedrooms, a living room, dining room, two bathrooms, and an extra room. It had an attic, two car garage and a ton of storage. It was old (1960) and the kitchen was tiny. It wasn't our dream house and it wasn't super awesome but we loved it. It was the perfect size for us and aside from the tiny kitchen and no counter space in the bathroom, we were really happy with our house. The neighborhood was quiet and safe. The houses were old but the yards were taken care of and the people were just good people, not rich, not poor. We are not looking for something new, something huge, something perfect. Just something with some space that isn't falling apart.
We decided after looking at the base housing we would try and find something that fit our family a little better. After looking at two more houses we decided base housing wasn't looking so bad. We went to see a farm house. I thought, "I've lived in a farm house. This could be fun to go back to my roots." The mailbox was a mile away from the house down this little dirt road. The outside of the house was falling apart. The inside was unbelievable. At one point Will went to open this door right next to the master bathroom and the agent said, "I wouldn't open that door. I wouldn't open the basement door either. Snakes have been known to get into the attic and basement. But don't worry, they don't come in the house." Really? Because the attic isn't an attic, just a room off from the bedrooms. So, I'm not sure how the snakes can get in the attic and not the rooms. The bathroom was unusable and the kitchen was frightening. There were bees all over the eaves of the outside of the house and there were dilapidated buildings surrounding the house. So for about $1000 we could rent a snake infested house that could fall apart at any moment.
Some of the other houses had the washer and drier in the kitchen, most didn't have fences, and one house was located in a branch with only one kid in nursery and four active primary kids. Most were very old, and weren't kept up. In my opinion, it doesn't really matter how old the house is as long as it is kept up. So, we have not had quite the success with houses that we had hoped. We did finally choose a house that we don't love but we like better than the other houses.
I never thought I was picky when it came to houses. Like I said, we loved our house but it wasn't a house most people would walk into and be like, "Wow. I love this." I think we are just surprised that to find a house comparable to the one we just left we have to pay so much more money. I mean, how can you charge $1200 for a house that you really haven't taken very good care of?
I am relieved to have a house to move into. We only have about five days left in this hotel and then we can move in and have our stuff delivered. My mind is so much more at ease and now that we know where we will live we are excited to figure out the area better and find the nearest Walmart to our house (you have to have a Walmart close to your house!), the fastest way to base, etc. Tomorrow we will attend our new ward and that will be interesting to see how that goes.
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wink wink- we miss you!!