So we have been in the new house for 11 days! feels like way longer, probably looks like way less! Shout out to my hubs…Dee has spent every waking, non career hour at the rental getting it ready for our guy to move in. Seriously, hes been getting home after midnight each night from working so hard over there. As of Saturday, its paid off! Lease signed, security deposit in hand, keys in his hands, done, fineto. Exceeeept..our tenant is going out of town for a few days so Dee will go over there probably tomorrow to touch up one tiny bit of paint and make the dryer turn off when you open the door. Then we’ll really be done.
From my perspective–totally worth the chaos to now be getting rental income. Ask Dee in a few days when hes had some sleep if he thinks it was worth it thus far. Of course I cant really say its worth it since we don’t know if he will be a good tenant but all arrows are pointing to yes!
In my short stay at the new house I have learned a few things. Its funny the things you don’t realize make your life SO much easier until they are gone and vise versa.
- I miss my mail slot. Its so nice having mail delivered to your living room. Dee and I REALLY miss it. He may put one in.
- I miss having a door that automatically locks behind me. It really saves a ton of time when you have two littles.
- I miss overhead lighting–self explanatory.
- Most importantly I miss a garbage disposal. I can deal with a lot of “yuck” with two babes in diapers but having to dispose of scraps of food that are water logged and stuck in the drain for a few days is just foul. I just gagged typing that sentence. I’m really having trouble. I may be using some of my “funny money” to buy one because I CANNOT. Dee is having a field day watching my daily interactions with the kitchen sink. Bleh.
- I LOVE having a finished attic with a light switch. It is so nice.
- I Love having a shed. Its unreal.
- I love the extra square footage. Our house feels like double the size.
- I am terrified to clean it. We are still finding homes for everything so there are still boxes and random crap I want to get rid of littering the house. Once that is all sorted through the realization will certainly hit that I do not want to be scrubbing this house but its all part of what I signed up for. The good news is, Elle loves to vacuum so I’m hoping to put her to work.
Ive been lacking in the “Raising” portion of our “rentals, renovations, and raising…”. Lets just say that Jay is in a FUNK. He is my sweet baby. He smiles and sleeps and coos and hes awesome until about five days ago when something has gone horribly wrong in his personality and he is just angry. He can’t be soothed, wants to cry, barely wants to eat (I’m serious, he’s essentially wasting away in his nine month clothes at a mere four months of age!). If you pray, please pray! He is so sad and pitiful and it is no fun for anyone involved. Elle has been a total dream, though. She hasn’t watched a tv show since we moved (except for when I was at a conference and forgot to tell Dee how she hadn’t watched any) and I think it really was making her an irritable toddler. Anyway, I think the kids are overall adjusting well to the new house. Elle is obsessed with her “sunny room” and I couldn’t be happier about it.
On to the conference. I went to a simulcast of the If:Gathering last weekend. Holy Canoli it was just SO good. I have a small obsession with Jen Hatmaker and she was one of the speakers. She did not disappoint! The whole conference walked through answering the question “what would our lives look like if we really believed God”. Not just believed in God, but believed Him and what he says especially as it pertains to us. It was so good. It had a huge personal takeaway:
‘What are my kids seeing me passionate about? Do they see me light about about things and if not, why?’ At this point I’d say not a whole lot but a friend was there and named a few things she saw in me that helped a bit. (Thanks, M!)
Anyway, it was an awesome conference and I highly recommend it.
I think that’s all for now. I’m scheming for inexpensive kitchen updates and just bought dirt cheap end tables and a coffee table. I may be trying my hand (for the second and hopefully more successful time) with chalk paint. Posts coming soon…
rentals and beans 