Muddin'

Two days ago, my brother decided to work with our yearling calves now that the weather is finally cooperating a bit.  I didn't mind heading out to the farm for a little fresh air on what was a very nice day in town.  I figured it would be a pretty muddy, so I threw on my boots, loaded up the kids, and headed down the highway.  Muddy was an understatement. Thanks to the recent rains and the winter thaw, the cattle yards are giant soup holes.  The yearlings are rambunctious too, considering we haven't had much nice weather to speak of.  Couple this with the fact that Penguin the giant farm mutt decided to follow us down to the lower place and you can about imagine how our project started out.  Seeing the dog and a few extra warm bodies in places where they usually don't belong set the calves in a dead sprint around the yard.  Imagine the sound of thousands of suction cups taking hold and letting go as each pounding hoof bogged down into the the heavy Nebraska clay.  Now, imagine a human walking through that mud and muck with nothing more than a thin rubber boot between you and imminent disaster.  Within the first five minutes, everybody had expressed their feelings toward the land and the livestock as well as each other.  My sister-in-law was the unlucky winner of the mud lottery by being the first to lose her boot in the yard.  It was evident that man and beast were getting a run for our money that day. 

We were finally able to get the herd up in the processing pen after one bovine genius decided to wriggle its way behind the gate versus going through the gate hole.  That trick cost everybody a third trip through the yard to round up the stragglers who managed to escape. No level of training or athletic ability can prepare you for mud season on the farm.  Walking through a mile of mud is better than any workout you can get at the gym.  It might not show, but it takes a high level of aerobic and calisthenic mastery to dodge anxious 800 pound calves and keep a steady marching pace so you don't get stuck in place at a critical time.  My brother asked if we wanted to invest in a concrete plant when we got done so we could at least have a solid surface to do this kind of work.  I'm thinking he might be on to something.

Nevertheless, we prevailed, and all the calves got treated.  Nobody was physically injured, and, despite our pride, we are all well aware that any words shared under such circumstances are not to be taken personally.  The work that farmers do, particularly livestock producers, is not for the faint of heart.  It is stressful for both man and beast, it is dirty, it can be scary, and it is often thankless.  In that work lies an expectation that everyone knows their part, and they will pull their weight to make sure everything gets done.  The unpredictability of each and every situation involving livestock is what wears on a person.  It makes you lie awake at night, it makes you think quickly on your feet, and it instills a sense of danger that you don't really understand or appreciate until you have something to lose, be it your fencing, your equipment, or, heaven forbid, a life.  In spite of it all, you have to keep muddin' through to make sure you do the job for which you signed up.  I sure do enjoy my days at the farm, but it sure does make me appreciate the comforts of a nice clean real estate office after getting home from a project like that.  No matter what happens in the world of real estate, odds are, the decisions that have to be made are not life and death for man or beast.  No matter what happens, I know that I won't be in a position where I am going to lose my boot in a muddy yard.  And, no matter what happens, we usually have a little more time to figure out a solution than in the time it takes the whole herd to turn tail and bolt out of the yard because we got stuck in the mud and couldn't make it to the gate fast enough to shut it.  It's not all real estate and roses around here, but somedays you just have to keep muddin' through.  Welcome Home.

A Tale of Two Houses

I can't remember a time when I've cried tears of sorrow and joy all at the same time.  Is that even possible?  It happened.  And it was all caused by a house. Well, actually two houses...

Flashback to Tuesday, February 21st at approximately 7:45 p.m.  I was in the pickup driving home from a church meeting and suddenly came to the realization that this was my last commute to our home in Wisner. Seriously, the last one.  We moved to Wayne the next day.  Something I had done almost every single day for the last five years was suddenly going to end that night when I got home, and my life felt like it was spiraling out of control at that very moment.  What was I doing?  What was I dragging my family into?  How would the boys react?  How would my husband adjust?  Where were we going to put all of our stuff?  How were we going to get it all moved?  Why am I just thinking about all of this now?  And then the tears started to flow.  I cried the whole way home, and must have looked a sight when I pulled into the local Pizza Hut to pick up our supper.  The high school student working the cash register didn't say a word.  He was having trouble calculating the change, so he had bigger things to worry about than the rivers of mascara flowing down my cheeks.

Once I got home, I kept it together through supper.  My husband and I discussed our game plan for the next day and tried to keep it civil.  Emotions have been running high on both our parts.  We have been pulled in different directions throughout our married life mostly due to job and family commitments.  A move to Wayne simplifies our life in many aspects, including work, child care, school, and church.  Nonetheless, Tim has strong ties to his family and their farming operation, which lies about an hour in the opposite direction.  My hope is that we will both have more time to devote to that important aspect of our lives now that we are spending less time on the road each day (between the two of us), but I have yet to convince him of the benefits.  He still reminds me that one of his unspoken marriage vows was, "We shalt never live any further north than Wisner."

Bedtime came for the boys, and my oldest son begged me to read him one of his new favorites, Beauty and the Beast.  The tears welled in my eyes as we laid in bed and I thought of all the stories we had read in our Wisner house.  A whole bookcase of children's books was packed up and ready to move the next day.  I just couldn't stop thinking about the fact that this would be the last time we would lay together reading a story in that room.  After all, this was the house to which we had brought both of our boys home from the hospital.  It is a great house, and it has made a great home for us.  I have so much pride in the improvements we have done (and are currently finishing).  The tears of sorrow flowed thinking of bygone days, happy times, and special moments together...

...and tears of joy streamed from thoughts of our new home waiting for us in Wayne.  The new carpet and paint looked so fresh and clean, and the walls just seemed to be begging for us to start moving in.  This move would be a time saver for our family.  Between their mom and dad, my boys will get an extra two hours of time with us EACH day outside of a car seat!  We will be home before sundown so we can go to the park, hit the library, or actually do something fun besides eat a quick supper, take a bath, and go to bed.  No more making five or six trips to the car in the morning to make sure I have absolutely everything I need because I can't run home over lunch to get it.  The commute is over, and it is going to be life changing. 

Tears of joy and tears of sorrow flowing at the same time over two houses.  That, my friends, is the impact a home can have your life.  More fun to follow later regarding our move, the days leading up to it, and the upcoming sale of our Wisner home.  Welcome Home!

 

Home for the Holidays

As we are immersed in the holiday season, many of you are probably making plans to come home for the holidays.  And, although some of us never moved very far away, there is always an excitement in the air about traveling to Mom and Dad's or Grandpa and Grandma's house (even if its just a few miles away) for Christmas.  Maybe it's the food, maybe it's the fellowship, maybe it's a rousing game of cards, or maybe, just maybe, it's the idea of being home.  The idea of comfort, peace, love, warmth and someone to watch the kids while you take a nap.  As a total package, it all sounds good to me.

Do you have a special holiday tradition?  My husband's family celebrates on Christmas Eve by attending church and enjoying a prime rib supper and gift opening afterwards.  This year, my son has the privilege of being Baby Jesus in the live nativity at their idyllic country church.  The little guy hasn't even made it out of the zeros yet, and he is being asked to fill some pretty big shoes.  My husband and I are Mary and Joseph, which is quite an honor for us.  The live nativity is a holiday tradition that dates back many years at their church, and even features a live baby lamb to accompany the shepherds in their journey.  I thought my husband was kidding about the live animals the first time he invited me to attend the service with him as we were dating.  It was no joke when that little lamb starting bleating for its mother in the middle of the nativity story!  I have truly enjoyed being a part of this Christmas tradition and being able to accompany my husband at his "home" church.

My family celebrates at the home of my grandparents on Christmas day as we have since they moved to town in 1977.  My memories date back to the early '80s with us grandkids ripping open presents on the living room floor just before the men retreated to the basement for a game of pool as the ladies drank wine at the dining room table and tried to keep the kids in line.  I remember how rosy my grandma's cheeks would get with a little wine, and then she would break out her secret stash of holiday candy that she had in the freezer.  This will be the first year that our little one will be able to participate in the making of new memories with his cousins on that same living room floor.  I can picture it already.  (Mainly the part where the rough housing gets a little out of hand and one of the guys have to come upstairs and make them all sit on the couch in a row for about 5 or 10 minutes until they can calm down.)

No matter what your tradition or where you call home, just enjoy the time you have together.  In the grand scheme of things, it is far too short, home isn't ever that far away, and Christmas only comes once a year. Happy Holidays and Welcome Home. 

Rebuilding

It's hard to remember how long it has been since we had a day like today with a steady, gentle rain all day long.  Today is the kind of day you feel like making a big pot of soup and napping on the couch in between made-for-TV movies.  It's the kind of day that brings rest to weary farmers who have been pushing to get their crops out of the field.  And it's the kind of day that is a far cry from the sirens and storms that passed through our tiny slice of heaven just over a week ago. 

I can't describe the emotions a person feels while in the midst of a tornado warning or after seeing the destruction.  My perspective has significantly changed since becoming a mother.  The anxiety of the situation is nearly unbearable.  All I could think about was getting my boy and grandmother to a safe place the second those sirens went off.  Thank goodness for the early warning on that fateful afternoon, and kudos to the storm spotters.  This is my first up-close experience with a tornado, and I hope it is my last. 

Unfortunately, the reality of the destruction doesn't really sink in until it happens to someone you know or someplace you drive by everyday.  When you see things like this on TV, you might think to yourself for a few seconds or minutes, "Oh, those poor people, " but you can move on and be thankful that it wasn't you.  When those pictures of familiar places in and around Wayne started coming across the television, it was an entirely different story.  Knowing that so many people were affected by the damage, yet not quite knowing what to do to help fix things is the worst feeling.  I hate seeing the destruction.  I hate that feeling of "where do we start?"  Like most strong storms that pass through the area, you just want to spend the next morning cleaning up tree branches and anything else that wasn't strapped down and be done with the cleanup.  Instead, there is a pit in bottom of my stomach that aches for the businesses and the families who have to assess the damage, who have to wait on insurance, who have to salvage what's left, and who have to rebuild.

What made me stop to think about all of this was a visit with an old friend and neighbor lady on Friday evening while on my way home from work.  She buys eggs from my mom and recycles our old copies of the Wayne Herald to share with her family and friends in other states.  She had several close relatives affected by the tornado.  During our conversation, she point blank asked me what I would do if I was them.  Without hesitation, I said, "Rebuild."  She cocked her head and looked at me like I was half crazy.  Staring at each other, I thought, "What else would I do? Where else would I go?"  Then, after thinking about it for a few seconds, she agreed that would be the best option.  After all, this is the only life I've ever known.  The farthest I've ever lived from the farm I grew up on is 10 miles.  All of my immediate family, my husband, my son, my livelihood, and my home are all within a 10 mile radius.  To me, the question is a no-brainer.  For a life that's already been built, rebuilding should come as second nature.  You can call me crazy, but this is my home.

This is Wayne.  This is our home, our life, our future.  Things might look a little out of place right now, but I'm excited to see what the future holds for the numerous businesses ready to get back up and running.  In a few months, I'm sure we will all like what we see in Wayne's Industrial Park and all along the path of the destruction.  We will rebuild.  Welcome Home.

Marriage: A Work-in-Progress

Well, our first wedding anniversary is in the books.  This year (and the many years to come) can be labeled as a "work-in-progress." We celebrated the day by reminiscing about all of the shenanigans at our wedding.  On Sunday, our Pastor mentioned the moment of panic at the beginning of the ceremony when one of our spring-loaded candles popped out of the holder (already lit, mind you) and rolled under her seat near the altar.  My younger brother mentioned having another infamous "wine dance" at our house on Monday evening to help us relive moments from our wedding dance.  He was unsuccessful in recruiting more party-goers to the event.  My husband and I indulged in frozen wedding cake while sitting near the light of one of our sparkling Christmas trees which adorned the auditorium for the occasion.  The year started out for us immediately as a work-in-progress as we lived apart for two weeks after the wedding until we could close on our first home together.  Many of you have followed our journey of home remodeling throughout the year.  I must say, it is a testament to any marriage that makes it through a complete home remodel, but more on that later as we approach the one year anniversary of that project as well.

Looking back at our time together, it is hard to believe how quickly this year has gone.  It makes me appreciate the idea of having a place to call "home" where we can relax and unwind.  There is comfort in hearing the sound of the garage door open each night when Tim arrives home from work while I plug away at a load of laundry or the dirty dishes in the sink or as I sit on the living room floor grading papers for my part-time gig at the college.  Many evenings, I'm on the phone trying to tie up some loose ends for the day while he waits patiently to gauge what kind of conversation he should be making.  He usually has a way of knowing what to say and how to say it once he knows the mood of the house.  This, too, has been a work-in-progress for us.  Learning when it is time to close up shop and just be home together is something we have both worked on throughout the year.

Overall, I must say it has been a pretty wonderful year.  Even though we are both stubbornly set in our ways, we seem to have adapted to married life, homeownership, work commutes, and, in general, each other quite well.  I was able to convince Tim to climb on our roof to string Christmas lights for the first time this year, and he regularly quizzes me about tractor and combine specs to make sure I know the difference in horsepower and transmission styles (and to make sure I'm listening to him ramble on over supper each night about equipment). Our lives, personal and professional, will always be labeled as a "work-in-progress."  No matter where we are at, there is always one more project to finish, one more job to do, or one more person to think about.  Even though some days seem like we are progressing backwards, the important thing for us to remember is that we must always look for some sort of progress, no matter how minute, in our relationship, our professional lives, our family, and our home.  Cheers to another wonderful year ahead!  Welcome Home.

FIRE HAZARD!

My family started chopping corn this week, nearly a month ahead of schedule.  If you've been wondering why I'm so hard to get ahold of this week, that's why.  I'm running the silage wagons between the field and the silage pit to help my dad and brothers.  Silage chopping is something that generally gets done around Labor Day each year, however, the unusually dry conditions have pushed harvest ahead.  The corn looks OK in some spots, not so OK in others, but everybody can see that for themselves.  I'll digress to a larger issue that came to the forefront yesterday as I was driving into town after we had finished chopping.

Many of you probably heard the fire sirens going off in town around 12 p.m. yesterday.  Those fire trucks were heading 9 1/2 miles south of town to put out a fire alongside Highway 15 which could have been started by any number of things...a spark from an exhaust, an errant cigarette thrown out of a passing car window, or some other freak accident. I passed the fire just as it was getting going, and I did not hesitate to call it in to the 911 dispatchers.  Luckily, someone else had already notified authorities and fire trucks were on their way.  I was amazed at how quickly the fire took off in dry, drought scorched grass along the highway.  The current weather conditions are providing the perfect storm for something like this to happen, even in town.  My advice to everybody is to protect your real estate investments and make wise choices when it comes to open flames of any kind.  Fire pits and open burning should be a major concern for everybody, and the dry conditions are providing plenty of tinder for a fire to immediately become out of control. 

If you must burn an open flame, be sure to keep extinguishers or water nearby in case of an emergency, and never leave a fire unattended.  The warning I heard on the radio just this morning says it best, "If it's too hot to touch, it's too hot to leave."  An uncontrolled fire can mean significant property losses for you or your neighbors.  Keep this in mind as we try to deal with the drought as best we can.  Welcome Home.

Something to Get Excited About!

That's right folks!  I'm posting pictures of ceilings now, and I am soooo excited!  For 180 days, my husband and I have been living in a dark, ceilingless basement (and yes, ceilingless is the word of the day).   I take that back, we "officially" moved upstairs on Sunday, so technically, we were down there for 177 days.  Still, we've been staring at the open floor joists under two dim lights for purt near half a year.  I'm loving the new recessed lighting, which wasn't a part of our original plan.  We have also eliminated those two large, pesky piles of ceiling tiles that had become a part of our decor for the past six months.  We still have the kitchenette and bathroom to tackle...lots of cutting and tight installation spaces we've been putting off, but the basement is starting to shape up.  In fact, my husband says it looks good enough to move back down there.  He can go right ahead. I'll live in luxury on the main floor where I have developed a new relationship with the sunshine as I finally get to wake up to it each morning streaming through our main floor windows!  Considering it was our goal to have the transition made by March 31st, being three months behind schedule isn't too bad, right?  Trying to do some of the work ourselves has not been ideal with the mild winter we experienced which carried into a busy farming and real estate season.  Time to work on the house has been at a minimum.  Throw in a Master's degree and everything else that needs to be done in life, and those one or two hours we've had to work on it each day don't go very far. 

I've been itching to get to the blog this week. (Literally. From the dust that falls on you when you are trying to replace ceiling tiles).  I've got lots of neat things to post about our place and in the local real estate market.  Stay tuned for a bush that looks like a McDonald's happy meal character, lawn crises, tree diseases, and so much more in and around our humble abode.  Welcome Home!

"Excuse Our Mess...

...we're under construction!"  I'm not sure how many times I've said this since the first of this year.  In all honesty, I might miss that excuse when I no longer have it.  After all, it has made my life easier.

Didn't make the bed this morning.  No problem.  "We're under construction."  Didn't do the dishes last night.  "We're under construction."  Didn't fold the clothes in the laundry basket or clear the papers off the table before company showed up.  "We're under construction." 

Do you see where I'm going with this?  When you are in construction mode, it doesn't matter if your house is a mess.  And even though the things I mentioned have nothing to do with the construction happening on the main floor, I still get away with that excuse.  Everybody understands!  I mean, why clean up when you are just going to have a puff of drywall dust finely coating everything the next day anyway?  After all, life is about more than just cleaning up those everyday messes.  Your home is built to "live" in and life is messy!

So, remember, the next time you have some unexpected guests show up and the house isn't looking just right, say, "Excuse our mess, we're under construction."  When your guests question what you are actually constructing, all you have to say is, "I'm building a life."  Trust me, they'll understand. Welcome Home.

Jimmy-Rigged

My husband and I left two weeks ago for a honeymoon trip to the National Farm Show in Louisville, KY (exotic, I know!)  We had our electrician lined up to wire our kitchen and back office with new outlets, GFCIs and recessed lighting while we were gone so we could proceed with drywall this week.  My brother was gracious enough to offer to help during the process and to make sure our plans were carried out to specification.  Our hope was to come home to a kitchen with a whole new look including recessed lighting and insulation.  Well, it definitely had a whole new look, alright!  Wood shavings, plaster cutouts, attic insulation, and a tangled mess of old wiring and electrical boxes greeted us in the kitchen.  In the defense of our electrician and my brother, they were working on a tight schedule.  To their credit, this turned into a way bigger job than any of us truly anticipated.  You see, our house is what I will call "jimmy-rigged."  We had lights in the bedrooms connected to outlets in the kitchen, and fixtures that were grounded while others were not.  The stove, fridge, dishwasher, disposal and kitchen lights were all on the same circuit.  I can just imagine that five years ago, the owners had to be careful not to have the kitchen lights on while cooking or else they would blow a fuse (OK, maybe not that extreme, but it is not a wiring system that would work for today's modern appliances and home computers.)  

Fast forward to this week where we have seen our drywall going up.  The third coat of drywall mud is going on the seams as we speak and the look of the house is really starting to change.  It is amazing how recessed lighting can modernize the look of any space.  We have almost every inch of flooring pulled out on the main floor, and we are working on getting the baseboards and trim pulled off in the rooms that didn't need new drywall.  New windows are coming next week along with the kitchen cabinets.  Once we get the green light that the drywallers are done, we will be pushing to get the kitchen and laundry area painted to stay ahead of the cabinet installers.  Don't be surprised if I'm sporting some paint highlights in my hair when you see me in the next couple of weeks!

Now, comes the issue of where to stop with the trimwork.  We have one area of our kitchen where the carpet was literally glued to the plaster wall in the place of wood trim.  I scraped for an hour on that glu-ey, sticky mess last night trying to make it so the drywallers might be able to skim coat over it and even out the imperfections.  The rest of our existing trim was installed with an overabundance of 2.5 inch finish nails, which caused the brittle wood to split in several places as we were removing it and also left big holes in the plaster that isn't getting replaced.  We were warned that the fellow who built this house never intended for it to come apart, and that is no joke!  They should use our building materials to line the vault of Fort Knox! Unfortunately, trimming is tedious and exact work that requires precise cuts to get everything to fit just right. I'm going to warn everybody right now that our house will be the one that you come to 5 years from now to find that the trim still hasn't been installed.  We've all been there before!

For those of you who were concerned that you hadn't heard about the house for a couple of weeks, we are still alive and we are still married.  On a side note, I had the privilege of sharing my real estate experiences last weekend at a women's conference, and I think the attendees enjoyed hearing that we are all in the same boat when it comes to making a house a home.  The important thing to keep in mind is that these things don't happen overnight.  It is so rewarding to see the progress being made at home each and every day.  My husband even admitted earlier this week that he has stopped dreading coming home each night (I'm still not quite sure how to take that comment).  For the time being, I'm going to assume he means that although he loves his wife, it is hard to come home each night and be faced with the daunting task of putting a puzzle back together again while living at the mercy of contractors, deadlines and other commitments. ;)  Just remember, despite what happens each day, life does go on.  You'll get through it so long as you remember to take one step at a time and enjoy the little victories.  Welcome Home.

Sentimental Value

Well, I officially SOLD the first home that I ever had the privilege of owning today.  It was a bittersweet moment as I handed over the keys to my big brother so he and his future wife and her little boy can start their new life together there.  The reality didn't really sink in until this past Sunday as my husband and I were moving the last of my things.  We were standing in the kitchen and he gave me a big hug and said, "I know how much you love this house.  I love this house."  It hadn't even dawned on me that so much sentiment could be contained in one little house.  There is much more to it than just the financial value.  We reminisced about our first date, the first kiss on the front porch, and the time I used gasoline to start the charcoal briquets on the grill and nearly burned the whole house down.  We had a good laugh about our friend that stumbled in the bathroom and put his head through the wall (that one tested my drywall skills) as well as the time my neighbors blackened my mailbox post with a fireworks display and then blamed it on somebody else.  We also talked about all of our little home "improvement" projects that tested our relationship from the very beginning and my housewarming party that took place over 6 1/2 years ago (long before I even knew Tim).  That house provided warmth, comfort, shelter, and oh so many wonderful memories.  As the saying goes, "if only those walls could talk..."  It was more than just a house, it was a home. 

I haven't had much time in the last two months to reflect on all of the good things that came out of that house.  All I can say is that it is in good hands.  It is time for someone else to make that house their home.  My only hope is that my brother and his family get as much enjoyment out of it and create as many memories as I am taking with me.  And, I look forward to being a part of the memories they make there.  Congratulations Tom, Sandra, and Anthony!  Welcome Home.

Downsizing...

I used to think that I lived a pretty minimalist lifestyle.  For years, I didn't have cable TV, I always shopped for bargains, and I never have liked having a lot of stuff just sitting around.  Apparently, I was just really good at being a pack rat and storing things in places where the naked eye could not see them.  Places like the top shelf of every closet, the storage space under the stairway in the basement, the kitchen "catch-all" drawer, etc.  Never before did I realize how much I really had until this past weekend.  I have been gradually moving the past 3 weeks, taking a carload here and there whenever I had a few spare moments.  I thought I was nearing the end, and I asked Mom to come help me doing some final cleaning on my house in Wayne last Saturday so we could finish up.  Low and behold, we filled two cars, a pickup and an SUV with the miscellaneous items I had left, and there is STILL a trailer load of stuff to be hauled to Wisner!  I couldn't figure out where this stuff was coming from!

Once every vehicle was packed so full that it rendered the rear view mirror useless, we formed a caravan like a bunch of traveling gypsies and made our way to Wisner.  I unloaded the pickup first, and Mom packed things in the store room.  It was then that I figured out how I fit all of that stuff into my house...I inherited my mother's gene for making it look like we didn't have as much stuff as we actually do.  She managed to fit an entire pickup load of boxes onto three shelves in a five foot wide storage area.  It was the most amazing thing I've seen in ages!  In that little space, it didn't look like much at all, and I was feeling better about things.  But, the thought was lurking that it was going to take a whole pickup load if we ever intended to move again.  Then, Dad stopped in on Sunday after church, looked around, and said, "You should be a lot richer."  (Meaning that I should have put my money in the bank instead of buying all of that stuff!)  2012 is definitely going to be the year for downsizing!

Last night, I started moving boxes around and organizing the store room to accommodate for more construction (fingers crossed we start rolling around February 1st).  This was the third or fourth time that I've handled some of those boxes, and vowed that I would not purchase anymore kitchen appliances, pots, pans, towels, wall hangings, home decor, clothes, or anything else for that house unless I got rid of two (or four) things that I already have.  Watch out Goodwill, it's going to be a busy year! 

Now, I'm devoted to being a bit more like my husband who showed up on moving day with a recliner, a box of equipment manuals, his clothes, and a flashlight.  (If we had a machine shed to house his tools, tractors and equipment, his move would be a different story, too.)  I, on the other hand, have worn a rut in Highways 15 and 275 with two stock trailers and 20+/- car loads.  I am taking a stand to never move that much stuff again.  Here's to cleaning out the store room, emptying the closets, and overcoming the gene that causes me to save EVERYTHING.  Welcome Home!

Taking Things for Granted

As my husband and I are settling into the basement of our new home, I've noticed many things that I have taken for granted.  You see, the first home I purchased in back in 2005 was a spec home which was nice and new and didn't need a bit of work besides seeding a lawn, installing window treatments, and moving in furniture.  It has been a great home, and I'm glad that my brother and his soon-to-be wife will be purchasing it.  From a sentimental perspective, many great memories come from a person's "first" home, and I hope they have those same memories to share with their new family.  From an ownership perspective, I know that they will take great care of it, and I won't have to worry about driving by someday to see that the yard is overgrown or it is in a state of disrepair.  No homeowner wants to see their first home go that route.

And so, onto our home in Wisner, and the many things that I have taken for granted during the past six years. I've compiled a list of items that I didn't realize I relied on so heavily until they were gone:

1. A toilet paper holder and towel bar in the bathroom.  I've heard many people complain time and again about their kids or spouse leaving their wet towels on the floor.  What's even more annoying is when you have no other option and you have to use a vacant door knob or the back of a chair in the living room to hang up the towels.  Nothing says, "Come on in and have a seat" like a damp bath towel soaking through your shirt.

2. A microwave.  An electric skillet (a big shout out to the person who gave us that for a wedding present) will have to do until we have one installed.  I learned how to warm up some leftover mashed potatoes along side some Hamburger Helper last night.  The trick is to make a sturdy dam out of hamburger to keep the items separated in the pan.

3. A dishwasher.  Right now, a one-basin metal sink with a broken strainer is keeping the paper plate companies in business.  My new motto is, "Wash fast or don't wash at all!" 

4. A washer and dryer.  Has anybody ever wondered why a place that is designed for cleaning clothes can be so dirty?  Nothing like trucking all of your personal items to a laundromat where you pick the only washing machine that doesn't spin out and the dryer that doesn't heat.  Plus, everything came out smelling like a smoky bar.  Again, hanging all of the Tim's jeans and t-shirts around the lower level of our home has created a welcoming atmosphere for guests.

5. Garage door remotes.  An attached garage is wonderful, but if you have to get out of the car to make the door open and close, it really defeats the purpose (especially when the door doesn't go up all the way, so you have to stand on your tippy toes to give it that little extra nudge so you don't give the top of your truck a close shave.)  The seller told us the remotes were in the house "somewhere," and we're still holding out hope that we will find them.  We still have a couple of walls on the main floor that we haven't pulled the plaster off of.  I'm sure that's where they left them.

6. Keys.  At least the one we have came with a big smiley face key ring holder that politely says, "Have a Nice Day!"

It might sound like I'm complaining, but I'm really just trying to share the humorous side of home ownership.  If somedays it feels like you have taken a step back in time, you probably have.  Don't worry, the "honey-do" list will eventually get completed.  This weekend will be filled with the excitement of installing towel rods, toilet paper holders, and door knobs!  Just remember to appreciate the little things in life.  Welcome Home!

New Year...New Home!

Many things have changed since my post last week.  My husband, Tim, and I are the proud new owners of a home in Wisner, Nebraska as of December 30, 2011.  We finally have a place to call "ours" rather than "yours" or "mine."  It even came with a tower which rivals the tallest building in town next to the leg on the grain elevator.  Our magnificent tower holds what I'm claiming to be the tallest TV antenna in town. We soon learned that there was a reason behind it because of the absolute lack of any sort of reception or contact with the outside world while standing inside the house.  With a little ingenuity, Tim was able to rig up the antenna to our 13-inch TV so the guys could at least watch the Nebraska bowl game while working yesterday.  Owning a home together is a wonderful feeling, albeit rather scary for us as we are undertaking our first home improvement projects as husband and wife.  We did agree to close despite the water damage on the condition that the sellers would have to keep some money in escrow until the insurance had settled.  At least we are sharing the risk of loss with everything that needs to be done.

This past weekend was designated in my mind as "moving weekend."  Essentially, we would get everything prepared to move into our basement.  I have been dodging packed boxes at my home in Wayne for nearly a month and a half, so I was ready to get things loaded up and moved out!  Friday, part of Saturday and most of Sunday were spent scrubbing, cleaning, and removing damaged ceiling tiles.  We also met with a few contractors to discuss some needs with the electrical, plumbing, etc.  The water damage that the sellers experienced prior to closing quickly began adding up into some additional projects that are somewhat related, but not entirely.  We figured so long as the main floor was in disarray, we might as well take on a couple of other needed improvements.  So, we are considering new windows to replace those that are leaking air and water as well as a kitchen remodel.  I'm not sure if this is what we signed up for as newlyweds, but we are going to test the marriage vows out right away!

I mentioned earlier that this weekend was my proclaimed "moving weekend."  Not everybody else was on the same page.  It was actually "moving-tear-out-a-kitchen-deal-with-leaky-pipes-remove-hideous-wall-paneling-knock-out-damaged-drywall-troubleshoot-internet-problems-scrub-the-basement-from-top-to-bottom weekend."  We even squeezed in a New Year and helped my family sort and ship hogs in between.  Needless to say, we were both ready to go back to work this morning to regroup and reenergize.  We certainly made progress, and at least we got a bed moved to sleep in last night because we were exhausted!

On to this week and the many new things that lie before us.  So far this morning, I have spoken to the cable/internet company, an electrician, a new cell phone provider, the appliance store, the window contractor, and the post office.  Moving is tough!  I can empathize with all of you who have been through this before.  It is all worth it in the long run, though.  Just waking up next to my husband this morning in "OUR" home was all I needed to remember the good things about my life and my work.  Welcome home!

I Can Relate

The last two months have certainly been months to remember for my new hubby and I.  For the past three years, we have been going back and forth about where we should live, what we should do with our lives, and who we wanted to be when we grew up.  After getting engaged in July, the reality set in that we really needed to do something or live an hour apart FOREVER.  The biggest hangup is that we both love our jobs and our families and the places where we grew up.  The best solution was for both of us to make a move, give up a little bit of home, and make a new home together.  Simple enough, right?

So, we decided that our triangle of acceptable places to live was somewhere between Dodge, Wisner, or West Point, Nebraska.  We started our home search online through local agents in those communities, but couldn't find anything that we thought would work.  Then, we resorted to the for-sale-by-owner route.  Low and behold, we looked at a house in Wisner and decided that it would work for us!  The price was right, the space was good, and we could make it our own!  Hurray!  The search was over!  Soon, we were on our way to a November 30th closing date.

That was our train of thinking at the beginning of November.  Fast forward to November 21st when the dreaded call came, just days before Thanksgiving and our big announcement to the family that we were closing on a home soon.  The owner of the home we had painstakingly searched for called to inform us that the kitchen faucet had sprung a leak and water had saturated the main floor and basement living area as the home sat vacant.  Our momentum literally came to a screeching halt and we could hear the wind getting knocked out of our sails.  Closing was off for the 30th, and so began process of insurance, adjusters and mitigation/remediation.  (Not to mention we were getting married in just under a month.)  On the bright side, we were getting new flooring and a new ceiling in the basement, and things didn't seem quite as bad then.

So, in between wedding plans, we waited...and waited...and waited....to hear if the house was salvageable for a closing in the near future.  We searched for carpeting...and paint...and ceiling tiles....and countertops...and kitchens...and contractors...and estimates...and did I mention we were quickly approaching the big day??  Finally, the day before the wedding, we received word that the house was "dry" and we would be closing on December 30th.  Without much time to think things through, we agreed that was a plan, scribbled some signatures on an addendum and got hitched.  Life was good!

We spent our short honeymoon making official flooring and paint decisions so work could begin the second we closed (we envisioned all of the contractors lined up in the driveway just waiting for us to call from the attorney's office that it was safe to go in and begin working.)  The day after Christmas, we were allowed to see the house for the first time since the water was dried out by ServiceMaster.  And, our hopes were somewhat dashed again.  Nothing much had been completed except the main floor carpeting had been removed and a less than perfect job installing some new subflooring had been completed.  We saw the paint peeling off the walls, the uneven flooring gaps, and the halfway removed and damaged ceiling in the basement.  And, we were closing in t-minus 5 days.  Through it all, my new husband was a pillar of strength and soothing reality as I melted down into what my dad labeled as a "house-zilla" (most recently deemed from the previous week's "bride-zilla.")

This week has been a flurry of phone calls to the insurance agency about settlement amounts, estimates for repair work (which we didn't know were suddenly our responsibility to provide), and trips to and fro trying to coordinate everything.  And we don't even own the house!  The sellers are pushing us to close on Friday without anything but a handshake and prayer that the insurance will pay out for the necessary repairs.  But, guess what, those checks aren't coming to us as the buyers, they are going to the sellers.  We get the bills, they get the money...sounds like a normal day.

We finally put on the brakes today to try and get some peace of mind regarding the predicament living together as husband and wife created for us (many people have told us that living apart could lead to a better marriage - LOL!)  As I sit here typing this, we have three options:
1) Close on the house with the handshake and a prayer mentality that the insurance will come through.
2) Reduce the price we pay for the house to reflect the damages and close as planned.
3) Pay the price we agreed for the house and have the attorney handling the closing hold some of the money in escrow until the work is complete and the final insurance settlement is issued to protect us and the sellers from unforeseen issues with the insurance and the repair work.

And this is where things stand 2 days before closing.  No resolution, but some viable possibilities are on the horizon.  The reason I am sharing this with all of you is because it has truly opened my eyes to the many stresses that go with buying or selling a home.  It has certainly served as a reminder that a road paved with good intentions may still have several bumps in it.  This is a lesson to me that is already making me a better agent, and it will allow me to provide my customers and clients with the service they should expect.  In other words, I can relate to what you are going through.  The emotions, the paperwork, the glitches, the compromises...we've seen it all in the last six weeks.

We are unsure what tomorrow holds for our first home buying adventure as husband and wife.  We know that whatever happens was meant to be, and we look forward to keeping you informed of our progress.  If anything, it will make a great story to tell our children when they ask us about our first home.

Welcome Home!

The source of all of our problems!