Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Okay, here's the scoop

After spending a grueling day trying to figure out our taxes (procrastinating anyone?), I thought I'd grab the laptop, turn on the GLEE episode I've been all geeked about watching for a week, and finally fill in the gaps from my last post about moving.

Since January, my posts have been few and far between because we've been doing a lot of sprucing up around here. We've painted the entire upstairs... a job that desperately needed to be done 4.5 years ago when we moved in. We've also figured out how to decorate a wall or two, find drain pipes under concrete and walls, put in a bathtub/toilet/sink/flooring/etc. and overall make this place look downright cute in some places! Come to think of it, all of these things would have been nice to have done 4 years ago! It's been a lot of work, but it's also been great to know that none of these tasks were IMPOSSIBLE! With some incredible help from our brother-in-law, Jason, and hiring out some key plumbing and drywall work (for a killer deal on both) it has come together quite nicely.

But yes, we are trying to sell, because right now is a really great time to upgrade your house if you can. Since Paul changed jobs over a year ago, he's been working from home and has needed a home office space. So he's been functioning in the back of the family room downstairs. I also run my speech therapy business from home, and while that doesn't take a TON of space, my stampin' up! demonstratorship does. So, we're going to see if we can sell this place and hopefully break even. We're not in a position where we need to short sale the house, but we also don't have a ton of wiggle room on the price. But thankfully, we're not desperate to sell either. Though it's sexy to be looking at some nicer homes with more space, we love our house, love our neighborhood, and love our ward. So if we don't get any viable offers, we'll stay... and maybe finish off the 4th bedroom.

As for where we're going? Hopefully not far. Our boys attend a charter school that we've liked really well so far. It would be great to still have quick access to the school, so we're looking for homes here in Springville, Mapleton, and Spanish Fork. We want to stay close. We love this area.

So do you want to see it?! Here are some pics.
We'll start with the front room/first impression:

Next, onto the kitchen:

Now the bedrooms upstairs:

The TWO bathrooms we now have!: (for the record, this is the first time in my 10.5 years of marriage that we've had more than one toilet at our house... it's wonderful!)

Here's the boys' bedroom downstairs:

And finally, the family room/office - (aka: the part of the house we hope buyers will overlook after being impressed with the rest of the house!):


So, this is what we've been up to... and what I WILL be up to for who knows how long. In the first week, we've had 3 showings, 2 of which were to the same people. We've gotten great feedback so far, so we're hopeful, but trying to stay chill about the whole thing. Send us your "happy showing" thoughts and your "happy offer" thoughts, and while we're at it, your "happy help-Diana-somehow-keep-the-house-clean-like-we-don't-live-here" thoughts... cuz we could sure use a lot of those!

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

For Sale

It's official. This morning we finally put our house officially on the market. More details to come later. In the meantime... pray for us!