Big Decision

Many people already know, but I am now announcing it to the blog world.  We have decided to move back to Texas (to Houston, that is).  Our little Colorado native will not grow up here.  It's sad but also happy at the same time.  He will be closer to his grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and many other people who love him.  I am about to cry.  I have loved living here for the past 4.5 years.  Denver has become a wonderful home for me, David, Savannah, and now Austin.  We have made many wonderful friends who we will miss dearly.  I plan to do a series of blog entries about our time in Denver.  For now, I will talk about the upcoming move.  David received an offer with Aon in Houston. It is a great opportunity and he is looking forward to a change of pace.  He starts on August 20 in Houston and will be commuting for a couple of weeks or until we actually move.  We have been fortunate to have family visiting every weekend since the last weekend in June.  Mary and Ed (David's parents) were here the weekend of July 14 and July 21.  They were such a huge help with house stuff.  Mary helped me finish painting our white picket fence.  We were able to re-paint our deck and fix up the yard too.  The biggest project we completed was cleaning out the "storage room".  It is a room in the basement that was serving as a storage room but could be used as a 4th bedroom.  We threw away, boxed up, and gave to Goodwill.  The built-in shelf in the room is now staged as a desk and we hung a tension rod with a curtain in front of the clothes racks (where my extra clothes are).  Why didn't I do this earlier so I could enjoy it while living in the house???  We also did a few fun things while they were visiting.  We took a drive to Kittridge (near Evergreen) and ate lunch at a little place out there.  During the week in between the 2 weekends, Mimi and Big Deal went to the mountains (Blackhawk area) and explored/relaxed there.  It was fun having Mimi and Big Deal here for the weekends as a last visit in our house before we move.      

Hanging with Mimi, but wanting Mama

Mama, I don't want to take pictures

A little happier with both

A lady that our realtor contracts with to stage the house came on Wednesday July 18.  She used what was in the house to get it "show-ready".  Again, why didn't I have her come help earlier so that I could actually enjoy it for longer??  The photographer and listing agent (who took the official square footage measurements) came on Monday July 23.  We had a meeting with our realtor that same day to discuss the process.  At the end of the day, Wednesday July 25, our house was on the market.  My mom and Stacy arrived that same Wednesday.  Stacy came to play in a golf tournament in Castle Pines (south of Denver) and my mom just came with him.  This trip was already planned before we knew about our house going on the market.  I am so thankful my mom was staying with us (Stacy stayed at Castle Pines) so that she could help with logistics for last-minute showings and tidying up for these.  Austin went to school on Thursday and Friday so that my mom could focus on getting Savannah out of the house or put in her crate during showings.  We had about 5 showings on Thursday and another 5 showings on Friday.  On Thursday night, after we had returned from eating dinner out (to be out of the house for a showing), someone called to come at 7pm (it was 6:45 when they called), so we packed Austin back up and headed to Bonnie Brae ice cream.  At least we got to get ice cream!!  We received an email from our realtor late Thursday night saying that we were going to get an offer on Friday.  We got an offer from a young, single guy named Jon on Friday; he is actually an accountant too.  We had until Saturday at noon to counter.  Meanwhile, David left on Friday morning for New Orleans for Ryan Puckett's bachelor party.  On Saturday morning I talked with Pam, our realtor, and she said we might be receiving another offer than morning as well.  Crazy!  We ended up not receiving that offer so all we had to do was counter the first one, which we did.  That afternoon we were under contract with a closing date of Thursday 9/6.  It all happened so fast.  I am thankful that the showings only lasted a couple of days because it is stressful having to leave the house "show-ready" every time you walk out the door.  While all this was happening, Annie came to visit!  My mom, Austin and I picked her up at her brother, Robbie's, house at 9am and we headed to the Cherry Creek Farmers' Market.  We spent about 1 hour there and then headed back to the house between showings.  We had another showing at 11am, so we all headed to an early lunch at Duffy Rolls Cafe.  It was so fun to see Annie and catch up.  I am looking forward to spending more time with her once we are in Houston!  That afternoon, my mom and I took Austin to the pool for a little while.  Stacy came to stay at our house that night after his golf tournament was over.  We went to an early dinner (during another showing).  Stacy and my mom left on Sunday morning and David returned Sunday evening.  Luckily we did not have any more showings on Sunday even though we are technically "under contract, continuing to show".  Here are a couple of pictures....I kept the three with my mom mainly because of her silly facial expressions.  Austin was NOT happy!  The grandparents sure are happy we are moving to Houston.  It hasn't quite hit me yet but I do trust that God is leading us and it will work out for the best.  We will definitely be back to visit!!