Last month in the old house!

So in case I haven't documented it, last year we had kind of a traumatic November and December with Ken's lost job.  Luckily, hindsight is 20/20 so my blog doesn't need to record much of the stress of those days because I know that there is a happy ending. But unemployment, wow. It was wretched, exciting, stressful, miserable, nice to have time together as a family, draining on the bank account, miraculous to see all of the tender mercies that came up.  A roller coaster in every single sense of the word. Our problem was not that we didn't think Ken could get another job, it was mostly a matter of what kind of job, where that job would be (we had ZERO good prospects here in town so we were certain we were moving), and for me the most stressful was WHEN that job would start. If you are new to the job search thing, I'll just tell you that searching over the holidays is pretty much the worst.  Most companies don't have a budget at the end of the year to bring on an employee, and even worse, most decision makers are taking large amounts of time off. Which means that even someone job searching full time and making daily contacts have generally long gaps between conversations. "We'll talk again after Thanksgiving." Said on the Friday BEFORE Thanksgiving. Ken had plenty of out of town interviews, lots of interest, and after coming to grips with living pretty much everywhere but where we were.  In a nutshell, we ended up happily taking a job that we had been pursuing even before Ken had been let go that finally ended up (due to a miracle) being available just when we needed it. And instead of the location that we had planned (in Ventura), we ended up being asked to stay here where we are. Start date Jan. 6. Luckily we got the news before Christmas so we could enjoy our trip and the holiday (meaning our kids got gifts rather than IOU's) knowing that we had only a few more weeks of unemployment left before a paycheck. That was such a miracle, I know people who have had to search for so much longer.  So we enjoyed the holiday, visited with our family, all while having NO idea the CRAZINESS that the next few months would bring.

When we were home visiting family and pondering the prospect of staying in our town long term, rather than the short-term we had consoled ourselves with (guys-- we don't live in the most desirable city in the universe-- with bad air, difficult summers, and not a lot of nice daily scenery on the side of town we had settled in), Ken felt strongly that we needed to move to the other side of town to get better access to biking/hiking/mountains/better air/better views. Of course as per my terrible personality, I pressed against him and thought it wasn't his brightest idea. Although I had had a few different ideas in the past that this was where I wanted to move (like decently strong impressions, which I sure wish I would have channeled during this crazy decision). I don't totally blame myself because we had settled in, I had created a home where we lived, and we have (still) great friends in our amazing ward and schools. Not to mention that where we live there is a generally great divide between the NW and the East side and so many people told me we were making a mistake, downgrading. But when our landlord started selling the house from under us at a price that we didn't think the home was worth, it made it so much easier to just decide to make the move happen. Since Ken was starting work the next week, we wanted to start our search before he started work-- so we could try to agree on areas, etc... before he got busy.  So he and I took a journey to "the other side of town" one day (right before my first young womens presidency meeting). We searched through lists of houses available in the area and drove to them all. We ruled out a few neighborhoods, and when we drove into the neighborhood that we ended up choosing, it just felt like home. This idea stressed me out, but at the same time I was so happy with the area and neighborhood and how it solved so many of the things that I disliked about the town.  It made me excited with the prospect of buying a house. So we drove around to all of the listings and the next day called a realtor for our favorite house (it was listed as pending sale) and it turned out that the house had fallen back into the market the very same day (the previous deal had fallen through).  We met him there an hour later and we walked in and we knew.  It's such a strange thing to meet a new house that will someday be your home. It's unfamiliar but it just feels right. Great experience. Immediately we had great plans for the house and yard (plans that will still take us years to fulfill).  We put in an offer and though they at that point had many offers, the stars aligned in our favor and we bought the house.  It doesn't sound crazy but it really was the most insane thing I've ever experienced.  Unemployment to buying a house, it was such a shocking surprise.  And it was a nice home for us, in a nice neighborhood. And somehow my husband who had informed me a few weeks earlier we were basically broke moved some things around and we had our down payment so we could get a good and solid loan. So many miracles, I still can't believe it all came together. But it did and here I am, almost 9 months now into this new house and our new life here on the other side of town, and I'm still so happy with the choice. I feel like everyone on the NW side of town is crazy not to move here.  It's pretty and full of life and diversity and interesting scenery and good schools and a great ward.  The school district struggles but if you pay attention where you are moving, you can get your kids a great education.

And so... that is the longest intro ever to this post, which is final images/memories of that month after we put an offer in on the house and when we moved. Lots of emotions for me in these photos, brings back the tenderness and ultimate stress of the time.

My first phone selfie, and I think my first Instagram post on my new phone.  Yup, in all of the craziness I even got my first smart phone after years of holding out. That month was wild.






Tried really hard not to let the stress of the time make me miss this baby's childhood.  XOXOXO



Kids playing in our back yard.  Say what you want about the house (Ken), but I loved that house and back yard!  It was such a sacred place for me.  Watched my babies grow up so much and I spent so much time alone while Ken worked at Schlumberger and I did some incredibly hard things there.  My kids thrived and so did I.



Also we haven't finished our new back yard, so I'm looking at these shots and missing my trees!!





You can see why my house/yard always seem so messy.  These are creative people.  Boxes and strings and spoons and toys and supplies.  I literally clean constantly after them but they create faster than I can destroy.

As I packed, I tried to organize. Most notable was the games. Took all day, but it felt so great to get it all organized. And my kids use these games at least weekly and I'm happy to say the organization system still works. So mom win for me that day.

More baby Cal and the selfies.



Cleaning out the hall closets took the very longest. I can't believe that round little ball in the box with Penny is Calvin's head.  Love that little guy!





One of my favorite people on the whole earth drove to my house one day to drop something off and she also decided to leave my kids a few bags of cans so they could take them to the recycle center and make some money.  The next day, while the kids were at school, I took Penny and let her feed it into the machine.  That girl was so ridiculously pumped.  Guys, this is a great gift for little kids.  It's the little things.





I can't even remember what she bought, but it was a food item of some sort, and she was so proud to buy it for herself.



Kids watched a decent amount of TV as I dismantled the house.



How much do I adore this baby?



And to borrow a joke from my friend, "It comes in GALLONS?!!!!!!"





More play in the mud kitchen:







I made this conditioner and cornstarch play goop with something I found on Pinterest. Note to self: you used to do fun things with your kids. Do this again.



One of the inspections, so we stopped at the mall on the way home and the kids were thrilled to get some corndogs at the food court. We almost never eat out, so this was a huge thing for them, ha ha.



I mean, look at Avery's face!



And a few pics I grabbed of the house when we drove by.  I can't believe we bought a house with rust/dirt stains on the stucco, it's both Ken and I's pet peeve. But you can't throw a baby out with the bathwater, so we bought it but it's also crazy that we haven't had it painted yet.  Something I didn't know before I bought a house is that you can't always afford/prioritize the projects that might bug you the most. It's in the 5-year plan, though, does that count?



Also we thought we were going to get the back yard done ASAP, ha ha.  Yeah.  Back yards cost a little bit of money and tons of time.  That being said, I love my back yard, no matter how you dice it, no matter how long it takes us to get it finished. It's large and flat and I just completely love it still.



Is it weird to obsess over your baby? I have loved every single baby of mine, desperately, but for some weird reason I think my whole family is obsessed with Cal.



Another Selfie.  This is getting out of control.



These little squirts.





Walking home from school, I walked up to the house and laughed when I saw this:



Empty bathroom means open countertops for babies to sit on and stare at themselves!



These pictures kind of chap me because we had to quit this gym (the one across town at least) because they made rules about babies swimming in the pools.  I won't go into it but I've had pool access constantly for the past 4 years and it's been an important part of raising my children and now I have no pool access.  :( We have lots of friends who invite us over the summer, but I'm still wishing we had an indoor pool that wasn't lorded over by a bunch of lawsuit terrified idiots.  Oops, it came out.











Playing independently, until I interrupted him.



Can you blame me?



And I was only in the YW presidency for one month, but one of the things I did was help to plan a New Beginnings.  And I was in charge of the pudding cups, which I must say turned out adorably.  Does this not look like a plant blossoming?  This was a few days before we moved, so I didn't get better photos.



I also loved living on a cul-de-sac.  I let my kids play in the front more often back then.









This was the neighbors skateboard.  Corban wants one of these so badly.







I'm sort of laughing that I made homemade bread during the craziest month of my life.  But does it not look gorgeous?  My bread only sometimes looks gorgeous. Score.



That's one of the worst things about moving/is that the people keep on eating and keep on playing. Mom never gets to stop the things she does to make the world go around, but she just adds to her already bursting schedule. It's one of life's quirks.



The thing I love about homemade bread is the way my kids look when they eat it.  Their lips curl up a little bit with satisfaction and I just know it's one of those things they will remember.  Also I love how cheap it is (that's why I make it, truth).



Neighborhood friends:





This is what happens when mom is busy at our house.  I literally walked out and saw her eating face first into the bag of someone else's Cheetos.



Yup.
Also, you feed your babies marshmallows just to calm the crankiness.



Before you judge, remember, bread.  Does that get me any points back?





No room for the tired lady.




And finally, my personal favorite:



We had gotten on Avery pretty heavily one morning before church and at church, Ken handed little Avery (just turned 7) a pen and paper and a hymn book when we got there, giving her instructions to copy one of the hymns.  She handed it back to us at the end of the meeting and skipped off to primary, and we had a good laugh at the hymn she had randomly chosen to copy.  Good times.