So, the last five days of the "
30 Flippin' Days of Fitness" challenge were a total FAIL WHALE. Well, I exercised once out of the last five days but that's not exactly a success. Anyway, I have the best excuse of all time.
The afternoon after I posted my most
recent post I got a text from John:
"Got a message from Sydney. Looks like we are moving. Ugh."
Sydney is our landlord. Johnny, the cats and I have to move because she's putting the condo we rent from her on a short sale. As everyone knows, the economy sucks ... Sydney sadly lost her job and can no longer afford her mortgage payment and so she's putting the place on a short sale. Which means John and I have to start looking for a new place ASAP because who knows how soon someone will want to buy the place. Our landlord told us potential buyers could start coming by to check out the condo as soon as two weeks. Which means we better start cleaning.
Moving sucks. It sucks even if you want to move and are excited about a new place ... but it especially sucks if you're being basically kicked out -- and you don't want to move yet. John and I lived in our first apartment for three and a half years. We didn't stay that long because we loved the place -- but because we didn't want to move until we were sure it was a move up in the world, until we were sure it was the right place and we would absolutely love our new home. And we put off moving because moving sucks! Cleaning, packing, boxes and boxes, more cleaning, loading boxes in a U-Haul and cars, unloading, unpacking, more cleaning ... yeah, it sucks.
John and I (Ok, especially me) have a major issue with the condo we're living in. I haven't blogged about it because it seriously makes me SO angry I don't think I could get the words out. This issue has driven me crazy. CRAZY. Ugh. I hate neighbors. Because of this issue John and I have talked about moving out -- but even though we've considered it we didn't want to have to move unless it was on our own terms. Unless we were sure it was really worth moving out. (Also, I'm not sure if it's totally OK for me to blog about it since the place is up for a short sale ???)
And there's so many things we love about this place ...
the vaulted ceilings/exposed beams ... having two bathrooms ... our big master bedroom ... the cheery kitchen ... the fireplace ... the french doors ... how our living room is set up ... and I've even grown to LOVE the turquoise carpet -- it some how just works with all of our stuff and gives the place a beach-y feel ... our very own washer and dryer ... our little patio ... the area of town (right next to our favorite Target! Important stuff!)
And so even though I've practically begged John to move when the neighbor issue got to be too much, when I heard the news that we actually had to move, I swear I felt a chill go down my spine.
I couldn't believe we had to move after only living here seven month. SEVEN MONTHS! That's it. I never even posted more pictures of the condo after
this initial post. (T
his post has the Craigslist pictures we first saw of the place.) We haven't finished decorating ... We still need to hang our wedding pictures above the couch ... we still have a couple unpacked boxes in the office.
This is insane. We waited three and a half years to move out of our first apartment because we were waiting to find the perfect place for us -- this place. If it took us that long to find this place ... how were we going to find the right place with just a month or two to spare?
Ugh. I didn't want to move. Not yet. Just not ready. And who wants to help us move after they just helped us move seven months ago? Ugh Ugh Ugh.
Monday night (june 1) we just freaked out a bit and started searching and searching Craigslist.
After living in a condo following apartment life (living on the second floor, no less), I really, really, really don't want to live in an apartment again. I'd like to be as far away from neighbors as I can and even though we now share a wall with a jerkface, it's better than having neighbors on either side of you and below/above you. I like having a bigger space and two bathrooms and all that jazz. And if we had our own backyard I could maybe convince John to let us get a pup! So I've been searching craigslist for a house to rent in our price range ... but that's easier said than done.
Wednesday (june 3) John and I checked out two houses and drove around for an hour and a half looking for "FOR RENT" signs in a couple neighborhoods we like. A cool house from the 1920s in a cool neighborhood, that I had set my heart on, that I could totally see us being happy in, hanging out on the porch together, with a backyard (with room for a pup!) and crazy quirks ... ended up not living up to my expectations. There was something just not right about it. The living room was set up really weird -- we'd have to put the couch right next to the front door -- and the bathrooms had no counter space and the kitchen was ugly and there was no dishwasher ... If we were going to go through the trouble of renting a house, I wanted it to be just right. Or at least have some counter space in the bathrooms.
I spotted a house while driving around that looked cool on the outside ... like a little pueblo (John made fun of me and said it looked like a fort! ha!) ended up being totally nasty and creepy on the inside. We drove and drove around but couldn't find anything else. The night left me hopeless and depressed. I know, I know ... it had only been one day. But still. We didn't have much time! People were coming to look at our place in two weeks!
I found another house on Craigslist that I fell in love with -- and actually got totally pumped about moving! Starting a new adventure. It was perfect ... hardwood floors, a beautiful backyard, big living room, nifty architectural details ... Only problem was there was a mother-in-law suite in the back. What's the point of paying to rent a house if there's a stranger living in your backyard? Days later John and I hadn't found anything we loved, we were feeling desperate and the house was still on Craigslist so we called back and asked to see the inside. It was gorgeous ... but the place didn't include water/garbage in the rent ... Or lawn service ... And it also didn't have a washer/dryer ... or a fridge. Or a freakin stove! What the hell. Who tries to rent a place without a stove?!?! So yeah. With the price of a stove, fridge, etc. etc. It was totally out of our price range.
SO. I could go on and on about places we checked out ... like the house we were considering even though it was right next to the train tracks. Turns out it also had a mother-in-law suite in the backyard (apparently an old man named Vern lived back there) -- and the landlord forced us to take off our shoes when we checked it out ... even though when we walked inside we found funky, mismatched shag carpet with stains on it! Um. Yeah. And this landlord was the only one who required a $30 application fee (per person!). I don't think so. No way Jose.
The more we checked out places, the more I compared them to our condo ...
This blog post is already WAY too long so it's time I spilled the beans and told you there's a potential happy ending to this story. We learned on a Monday that we might have to move out and a few days later our condo already had an interested potential buyer. My mom mentioned to a couple of her coworkers that we had to move -- and two of her coworkers turned out to be interested in an investment. They drove by the complex and then asked to see the inside.
The following Monday (June 8), just a week after we learned we had to move, my mom's friends/coworkers came to check out our place. John and I spent the night before cleaning, cleaning, cleaning, hoping our little home would be up to par. Guess our efforts paid off because the next evening they put an offer on the condo. Which means, if their offer is accepted, we get to stay in our home -- and my mom's coworkers have promised to pay to fix the issue we have with our stinky neighbor! Hooray! It would be a win-win situation ... for my mom's coworkers, our old landlord and us.
Now we just have to wait for the offer to be approved. Wait and see if we get a happy ending.
Or, if that doesn't work out, maybe we could move in here:
Do you guys think we could maybe rent
this place for $1000 a month? I could maybe pay $1100. I'm hoping it includes water/garbage/lawn care. And hopefully has a stove. And no funky shag stained carpet.
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