For some reason, Jesse and I do NOT have an easy time moving. We never have. I don’t know if we’re cursed, if we are picky, or if we aim too high, but for some reason, we always wind up in the most weird and stressful moving situations.
Remember in 2007, when we had to live in a drug-infested motel because our apartment wasn’t ready yet?
Or how I found out I was pregnant and Jesse totaled our car 5 days before we moved back to CA?
Or how about our horrific house-hunting saga where we endured close to 10 different escrows?
I don’t know why I expected this move to be any different. I mean, I have been preparing for this thing ALL frickin summer, trying my darndst to break the cycle. In some ways, moving so slowly over the course of 3 months was good because we got to say goodbye in stages. In other ways, however, it’s been like ripping off a bandaid in the slowest and most excruciating way possible.
But I should have known. Moving, despite how much ANYONE prepares, is always crummy. We rely on our home for safety when the storms blow. What to do when your home is in boxes, you can’t find anything, and you work sun-up to sun-down, dealing with countless frustrations and set backs?
Jesse always says that the only difference between moving and a bar fight is that at least at the end of a bar fight, you know where your stuff is.
Anyways, back to our moving drama. Since we had decided to rent our house, Jesse and I decided we were okay renting in TX, since we are building equity somewhere. We figured renting would be less stressful than buying.
Read: Less stressful. So, instead of it feeling like a crowbar to the face, it just felt like someone breaking our toes.
After weighing the pros and cons of lots of places, we decided to rent sight-unseen. I had read the reviews, all of which stated that the complex was older but well maintained. We aren’t familiar with the area of Dallas we’re moving to, but I’ve been assiduously checking the crime reports for months and I felt okay about this neighborhood. The 5 minute proximity to Jesse’s job and 2 of our best friends helped the deal too. Not to mention the fact that it was a dream come true for our budget (around $900/month for a 3 bedroom, utilities mostly paid).
When Jesse arrived in Dallas at the beginning of last week, it was almost 2 days before he could check out the complex. Mind you, we’d already paid a couple hundred of dollars to secure it, but we hadn’t “signed our names on the dotted line”, so to speak.
He hated it. Hate hate hated it. When he called me, his exact words were, “It’s not about to fall down, but…”
Maybe this part of the story would be better told in pictures.
I knew that if Jesse was saying it was bad, it had to BA-HA-AD. If the roles were reversed? Perhaps not, but Jesse’s a go-with-the-flow guy, and for him to knowingly walk away from something we’d already set up and put money down on (not to mention, we’d already hooked up the utilities!), it had to mean it wasn’t going to work.
So, instead of spending all of his time and effort getting acquainted with his new job, Jesse had to drive around Dallas for 3 days, looking for new places for us to live, with less than a week until the boys and I were due to fly out. I was worried sick on this end in CA, spending all day on the phone calling places.
I called about one particular house, and a realtor/property manager picked up the phone. Right off the bat, I asked if the property was even available any more. She said, “Yes, it is, but why are you asking these questions? A good realtor would be able to help you with all of this.”
Silence on my end.
She continued: “Do you HAVE a realtor?”
“No.”
“Do you want some help?” she asked.
“YESSSS!!!!” I half sobbed, and then I proceeded to start crying on the phone.
Within 3 hours, she had already found us the perfect place and had driven Jesse to the bank to get the deposit money and sign the lease. BOOM.
And that, my friends, is the dramatic story of how we ended up with a 2 bedroom town home with nearly the same square footage as our house in CA, but half the monthly price of our mortgage. The best part is that it’s only a 2 minute drive from Jesse’s work (around a 20 minute walk, if the weather is permitting!). It’s on a quiet and safe culdesac, and the HOA pays for a pool and a playground! There are even hardwood floors! 🙂 But my FAVORITE part is that there is a large sunroom in the back, something I’ve always wanted in a home. It’s right off the kitchen, so it will make the perfect playroom for the boys.
The boys and I drive to LA tomorrow to pick up Jesse from the airport, where we will then go to his brother’s wedding and fly out to Dallas on Friday. Pray for a safe and uneventful last chapter of our move!
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