Bittersweet

Life has been unbelievably stressful the last few weeks.

Last week, my uncle passed away. He was 86 years old and my dad's oldest brother. My aunt, my dad's sister, is the only one left of 9 children. Although my uncle lived a long life, it was still hard. I know what it is like to lose a father. It isn't easy no matter what age.

In the middle of all of this, I moved out of my apartment.

Thankfully, I was able to hire movers. It was the best decision. And they were fantastic! If you are in the Toledo area, I highly recommend Maumee Valley Movers. They drove out to Pittsburgh to pick up my stuff. It was a long day, but I am so glad the whole process is over.

Poor Luna was so confused during the whole thing. She whined and was extremely clingy. When she was a puppy, she would want me to hold her while I was getting ready for work. It was much easier when she was half the weight she is now. But it is still sweet that she wants her human mom to comfort her.

I thought it would be harder to leave my apartment. It was my home for the last 2 and half years and I enjoyed my time there. But I was happy to get away from the smoke smell. It was quite terrible, especially after being away.

I finally closed on my house last Friday! So amidst a funeral, moving, emotions and traveling, I have a house to call my own. And the fun starts now! There really isn't a thing in and out of that house that doesn't need to be touched in some way. It will be a long process, but I can't wait to get it moving!

Decisions, Decisions

So….I think I have found my house. It is in a great area. It has almost all the features I would want in a house, and some that were bonuses - dining room, two living areas, two bathrooms, a decent size kitchen, a fireplace, fenced yard, an attached garage. It is a good size, not to big and not too small. The price is right, too.

But, I don't have the emotional attachment that I have felt toward other houses. In a way, I almost feel indifferent toward it. It would feel comfortable in my decision knowing that it would be a responsible purchase. I think my biggest hinderance is that it isn't updated at all. Most of the houses I have seen have been updated in some way. That isn't to say this house is in bad shape because that isn't true. It was clean, but dated. There is a lot of wallpaper.

I am okay with putting in the work and also waiting for work to be done. I know then it will truly be my home and not a home that other people worked to update. I told my mom this morning that if it had new carpet and paint, I would probably feel much better about it. The master bathroom also needs a lot of love. It was a bit gross. I feel a little like those people on HGTV's House Hunters. Some of those people are absolutely ridiculous in their expectations.

In a way, I think not being emotionally attached is a good thing. I wouldn't want to be so "in love" with the house that I side step structural issues or any other major issues that I would have to deal with down the road. There is a possibility that the house is in a floodplain. But I will have to wait to talk to the bank to see for sure. 

Either way, the next few weeks will be interesting. I am ready to truly get settled and I am just not able to do that at my mom's. It is a good place to be while in transition, but I am ready to be on my own.

So this story is to be continued….

The Pain Of Moving

As I have mentioned before, I am in the process of moving back to Ohio. I still have my apartment in Pennsylvania for a few more months, so there wasn't a need to pack everything up right away.

I was back on Saturday because I had to return my cable and internet equipment. I was a little annoyed about the trip because I was supposed to return my when I left before Christmas, but I couldn't disconnect the cords because they were screwed on too tight. So I came back with a little tool to help me with the task.

I drove the 4 hours over there, cleaned up a little bit so it would be presentable to any prospective renters, returned the equipment and drove the 4 hours home. I went to Comcast on a Saturday, so traffic was much lighter than it would have been the Friday before Christmas. I realized that because of construction and detours, there would have been no way for me to return the equipment when I would have wanted. I think that would have made going back much more frustrating.

When I was in my apartment, I did get the sickening feeling have having to pack all that stuff up. Stuff….way too much stuff. Hopefully, I will have a little time and can go back on a few weekends. My landlords listed my apartment, but of course there isn't a guarantee that anyone will be interested. Even though it is a nice little place in Pittsburgh.

I am always so worried about my own schedule and getting things done when I think they need to be done. If I would instead rely on God's timing, I would realize that He has a perfect plan. He knows if I will have to move my stuff before March or if I won't. He knows when I will find my new house and that it will be the right one for me. And God is not looking at my timetable.

My whole job situation has turned out to be an incredible blessing that I would have never dreamed about. But God knew what would be happening in my life and all that I would be able to do because of it. And it was in His timing.