The E-mail That Changed My Life

Buying a House, Part 1

It started on a whim when I received an announcement in my e-mail informing me that our rent was going to be raised 5.75%  An increase that high just seemed ridiculous to me and I sarcastically determined that it was time to buy a house.  

In ten years of marriage, we have never felt ready to "settle down" and make a commitment to one place.  And why would we?  We went through employments that would keep us in Utah forever to employments that would never allow us to be in Utah again, and then we landed back in Utah.  We went through multiple phases of "student life" not sure where we would go next.  And that's what we were in the middle of.  Still living the student life in a place that we loved being.  

We moved to the U because we were prompted to do so.  I tried to fight it.  Seriously, I did.  I fasted and prayed for the answer to change.  But it didn't.  It was strong and clear, and as much as I wanted to ignore it, Andrew and I both knew we couldn't.  We knew we needed to go to U of U Married Student Housing.  

The timing was ironic.  We went to Andrew's graduation from the U and stopped in to see our new apartment on the way.  I told Andrew that I wouldn't be able to help him move because I would be spending the day crying.  The apartment seemed like a dungeon to me.  The ceilings seemed low, the carpet terrible (like the carpet between the doors at the grocery store and with no carpet pad), and the walls were made of cinder-block.  (Would I even be able to decorate???)

True to my word, I avoided the scene of the move in which took place June 30, 2010.  But oddly, I didn't cry.  We made the best of things and I quickly realized that I wasn't in a dungeon, I was in a fishbowl!  We had HUGE windows in every room and were on the ground level next to the mail box.  But somehow, despite living in a very conspicuous feeling fishbowl dungeon, we LOVED it there.

Having Ammon start his second elementary school in two years, I told Andrew that we needed to be there at least two years because my child deserved some level of stability.  I wasn't going to have Ammon go to three different schools in three years!  So the plan was to spend a minimum of two years at the U with the more likely possibility of being there for three.

And as it turned out, Heavenly Father knows SOOO much more than we do.  I thought I would hate life there because the apartment was terrible.  But it actually wasn't as bad as I envisioned.  One of our friends who helped us move in actually commented that the floor plan was better than his first home.  He was really impressed with the apartment.  His comments gave me new eyes with which to see the home that had been forced upon me through revelation.

And life there was great.  We had four buildings that opened up into a courtyard.  These four buildings comprised our ward (congregation) and living in such close quarters meant immediate belonging, friendships and comfort with one another.  It was a place that was warm and inviting.  By virtue of living there, you were a part of the group and immediately had an amazing base of friends.  I met so many wonderful, unique and amazing people that I will always remember and admire throughout my life.  I feel so lucky to have been a part of that ever-evolving ward!

So here we were, one year and ten months into our "at minimum" two year stay.  Things were changing; close friends were moving.  And defying all reality, we were feeling that our time there was over.  But the year started with months of unemployment - we were maybe four weeks into a new job after about ten weeks of no job.  Change did not seem to be coming in the foreseeable future, despite the strong sense that it was time for us to move on.  And so it is, with that background in mind, that I began looking at houses in jest; an angry and bitter response to the rate increase.

In the end, a recently released counselor to our Stake Presidency heard of the plight of the married students and also happened to sit on the board of trustees.  He went to bat for us, and the extreme rate increase was deemed unjust and bordering on illegal.  The increase was adjusted to be the standard cost of living increase and was made to take effect beginning July 1.  Everyone could relax - no need to be upset anymore.  Life at the U would continue as planned.

But the wheels had already been set in motion.  Andrew has said with amazement that the e-mail sent out that day was purely for our benefit.  Had we not had that knee-jerk reaction to the e-mail, we would likely still be there.  That frustrating little e-mail full of upsetting and discouraging news is what very suddenly and unexpectedly began our house search and encouraged us to take the seemingly impossible next step in life.

To be continued in The Search Begins