Friday, April 20, 2012

Saying Farewell

Well today is my last day at Westinghouse, and it's hitting me a lot harder than I thought it would. I guess saying goodbye is never easy, no matter how close or distant you are to people, but I think what's hardest is saying goodbye to familiar faces and not knowing what's to come next. Yesterday, all of my coworkers got together with a farewell cake for me, and it was the sweetest thing. I was blown away that they all took time out of their day to celebrate with me and to give me a going away gift. I truly feel appreciated here, and they all keep gushing about how much they'll miss me. *blush* ....hopefully I will have greener pastures ahead!

After I leave here today, I'm on my way to a very exciting weekend in Bethesda, MD, celebrating my best friends bachelorette party! It's going to be a great time, but also bittersweet, as it'll be the last big 'Hooray' with my closest friends. Friends that have stuck with me since middle school, high school, college and so on! I know we'll all keep in touch and that I'll never lose them, but knowing that we won't have anymore camping outtings together or an impromptu weeknight dinner together just plain hurts.

On another note, I am looking forward to the fact that I will be with Ross soon, but that's about it! I've become quite the 'debbie downer' about moving south, after all of my optimism the past few months, it's finally worn thin. I'm ready to say "THIS SUCKS." I know Ross & I will have an exciting adventure ahead of ourselves and make the most out of it, but some days I just don't know. It'll be good for us too, I guess I just want to get over the hump of moving, and finally get settled down there.

Anywho. Enough pessimism for one day :) Let's go forth and do great things!!

*Kristin*

Monday, April 9, 2012

Happy Easter

Happy Easter to everyone! I spent the holiday with close family but it was still bittersweet without Ross around. He stayed behind in AL and simply relaxed on his long weekend, while I spent the holiday with both of our families, doing our same usual routine, although it was much lonelier without him around.

As much as I enjoyed the holiday, I can't wait for this next month to go by quickly!

Over the next few weeks, I'll be anxiously awaiting my move to AL and being with Ross again. I think the saying "Distance makes the heart grow fonder" is certainly true.  I have a few things coming up that I am looking forward to that will hopefully help the time to go by quicker, but more than anything, I can't wait to be with my husband again.

As for the house, we're moving right towards the closing date of 4/30 (even though my move date is 4/28). We settled and agreed to give the buyer's the money they were asking for, and I can't imagine any more bumps in the road until closing (aside from getting the appraisal price, which should be coming any day now).

So I think it's safe to say I'm allowed to start a countdown :)
11 days until my last day of work
12 days until my best friends Bachelorette Party!
18 days until I see Ross!!
19 days until I move to AL

*Kristin*

Monday, April 2, 2012

Two Steps Back, One Step Forward

So here's the latest update....Mr. and Mrs. Schmuck found a serious issue with the house that was never noted in our home inspection when we bought the house. But for the good news(!!), they've decided to not walk away from the deal. Right now, time is more valuable than money for us, and I'm happy they are still sticking around, on one condition..... they've asked for $5,000 to fix the problem. Now, that may seem like a lot of money, until you hear what they are going to have to deal with after they close on the house...

It's a fairly lengthy story, you can read on if you're curious, otherwise, your welcome to skip to the end :)
Apparently, their home inspector noted a very minor amount of rust coming from the furnace. They thought it was better to check it out fully with a contractor (or 3...since no one could give them a clear answer!) and lo and behold, some or most of the venting in the slab/underneath the house is rusting or corroded (not quite clear how extensive the problem is yet). Since we have no basement, the original owners built the floor ventilation underneath the slab.

Solution #1: Rip up all of the floors and foundation and redo all the underground ventilation. Now $5,000 doesn't seem like such an absurd request, does it? Not once you start thinking everything that the project entails.

Solution #2: My dad suggested an alternative, which wouldn't require ripping up all of the foundation, but those are answers we don't quite have yet and are still working on.

Ross & I were completely caught off guard from what they found, as was our Realtor. I had the worst gut feeling that they were going to walk away Friday afternoon. Of course, none of us had the slightest idea of the problem, otherwise, it would've been disclosed to the Buyer in the beginning. I'm frustrated that our home inspector did not find the problem when we bought the house, but then again, I'm happy that we did not have to deal with it, and fortunate that Ross & I are selling the house and never got around to putting new floors in the entire house (not realizing what was lurking underneath)! If we would've stayed there for the 5-7 years like we planned, we would be a lot worse off. So that is, of course, the upside to all of this. Also on the plus side, the rest of the home inspection came back quite well :)

So all in all, Ross & I have a few days to give them our final answer. In the meantime, my dad is trying to find our own contractor to come out and take a look. Otherwise, we'll take their word for it from their contractors' documentation.

So it's been a hell of weekend and an unbelievable amount of stress on Friday. I'm glad the weekend is over and the closing is still set for April 30th. So now I can move forward with my move :)  Thanks for the prayers!!

On another unrelated note, buried between all of this house business, was my best friends Bridal Shower on Saturday, which I think went fairly well and hope everyone had a great time. We had a ton of great food (lots of which I'll be eating for the rest of the week....HELLO leftovers :), a few games that provided comedic relief, and my friend received a ton of great gifts. Only 3 weeks until the Bachelorette Party and I can't wait to live it up!! Hopefully a little less 'PG-rated' style :P

*Kristin*