The Four Year Itch

We call it the four year itch.  Ryan and I have moved every four years since we've been married, so this winter we began feeling the itch.  It was four years ago this summer that we moved to Arizona.  There were the four years in Ohio.  Four years in Virginia.  Four, well I guess five, in Utah before that.

So, where to go?  And what to do with our house?

We've always been suckers for a good fixer-upper in a beautiful neighborhood so... with no plans of moving a month prior, we found ourselves with an accepted offer on just that in an established neighborhood in Paradise Valley just minutes from Ryan's work.

 This home was truly meant to be for us.  I had an overwhelming feeling of it.  It is in a circle surrounded by a golf community with meandering tree-lined streets.  I feel in love with the potential of it.  But faced with a loan we were uncomfortable with and a home that was not selling, we pulled out of the deal.  We've learned over the years that when the spirit speaks to you, follow, even when it's not what you want.  I was heart-broken.  But the day we notified the seller that we were pulling out, a new lender miraculously presented itself through another deal our agent was doing.  With a good loan option we moved forward and put our home back on the market.  We prayed that someone would come into our home and feel something different.  Within a week a woman and her family walked through twice, informing our real estate agent she felt something in our home.  She made an offer and we now had a deadline to get in our fixer-upper.

We were grateful to have a few more hands this time around to help scrape wallpaper, pull up carpet, sand, paint, and repair since we had only a month to fix up before move-in day.  The kids had more than a few late night movies and evening naps on the guest house floor, and then there were all those dinners amongst the ruble!  But despite all our efforts, a month later when our house in North Scottsdale closed we found ourselves moving in on concrete and a partially laid wood floor.  Oh, it's been an adventure!  And it's been another witness to us that our Heavenly Father looks after us.

Thanks to Grammy and Papa J for being our first guests in what we've lovingly coined our "Motel 6" and for helping clean fridges, fix drains, move electrical outlets, assemble furniture, scrape fountains, pull noxious weeds, hang ceiling fans, and on and on.  I'm sure the tears in their eyes when they left were a result of exhaustion and gratitude that it was time to go, rather than sorrow!  Thank you, thank you!!

Indicative of our new area, with just one week in our new home, Chloe's and Hadley's training wheels came off their bikes!  We are meeting the new neighbors and their pets! Most importantly, we don't believe the new neighborhood will have the same psychological response as past ones.  We think in four years we'll be just fine!