 |
| My quick view of Seattle. |
We knew immediately that we didn't get offered enough in the moving package. We had already priced out what it would cost to move, and knew we needed at least $1000 more dollars. And since we were hoping to get a "little extra" in the moving package, we countered for more than that.
But, we didn't get it.
They had already offered above and beyond their typical allotment. Again, flattering. But not helpful. But, we have felt driven to pursue this course, and $1000 didn't seem like something that should hang up our resolve to follow revelation when we have been seeking answers for as long as we have, so we bit the bullet and accepted the offer anyway.
The next big concern was housing. Though the raise we have received is significant, we knew it would still be a tight budget and that housing could literally make or break us. I found the PERFECT house in the PERFECT price range and when we talked to the local bishop he told us it was the PERFECT location and very very ideal. Sadly, it immediately went under contract to someone else. I was heartbroken. But Andrew kept telling me that things would come together the right way. We had just felt too good about this for them not to.
In the end, we opted to rent for now. We are downsizing back to a three bedroom apartment. (Right as we are in the midst of expanding our family.) It wasn't ideal, but more and more we felt like we could make it work. We found a place that had a rock-bottom price AND heat was INCLUDED in that price (we were told that heat would typically cost $300-$500 per month so that was HUGE). I felt better about it once I saw the pictures. It is definitely going to be squishy, but I think it is certainly livable (there aren't any cynderblock walls like we had at the U, so that is a plus). It is super central to everything important to us. From the church to Andrew's work is about 1.5 miles and the boys school, our home, and the hospital are all on that route.
We wanted to take both vehicles with us, but with our tight moving budget and the logistical concerns of getting the moving truck up in addition to our two vehicles, and considering our proximity to everything, we decided to say goodbye to the Explorer. It's been a great blessing to us while we've had it and we are happy to pass it on to someone new.
We got our house listed for sale and the showings have been consistent. We got an offer today - 14 days after listing it. I kept telling people that I wouldn't even expect an offer until it was listed for two weeks. That is just how the market it going right now. Still, it is great to have gotten it IMMEDIATELY at that threshold. It is one thing to assume something is going to work out and another thing to have it actually happen. Phew. Hopefully everything goes well with the process, but things are looking good and at this point I have no reason to think they won't.
The biggest glitch has been with the passports. Andrew was SO excited to get the passports set up that he filled out the paperwork for us both. But he has spent his entire life marking "male" when asked for gender. This went unnoticed by everyone until I received my passport back and noticed that I was marked as a male. ACK! By this time we had less than two weeks before crossing the border.
So, I FLEW TO SEATTLE for a day. Just to get it changed. Now I will tell you that I am a MAJOR homebody of a person. I don't want to go to downtown SALT LAKE to run an errand like this. Flying to Seattle was WAAAAY pushing it for me. My in-laws generously negated a big portion of the expense of this and bought the plane tickets with credit card points they had accumulated. But I was still the one who had to go. After looking into just about any other option I could think of, I finally relented to the fact that this was really what needed to happen and we booked the flights. Everyone was going crazy at once. My father-in-law was on one computer booking the flights, my mother-in-law was looking up the cost of car rentals vs taxis. Andrew was calling the passport place to make an appointment for me. I just sat there wondering how I was going to leave my kids the day after Andrew was heading out of town for a week, and less than two weeks before I was supposed to be moving.
My family stepped up to the plate big time for helping out with the boys. Dan came and hung out with Ammon and Peter until they had to go to school. Then he drove them there. My mom took me to the airport and also ended up being on call to make my house presentable for the THREE showings that were requested that day AFTER I was gone. Krista was able to have the boys come home with Kambria and fed them dinner. Then my mom picked them up and kept them out during a showing and eventually took them home for bed, where she waited for me until Nikki picked me up from the airport and took me home.
The travel itself was about as seamless as could be.
My brother warned me to consider leaving earlier than I did in case I got into rush hour traffic. But my dad felt like I would be OK with the half hour commute time I had planned. We got to the airport exactly as scheduled and my mom dropped me off. I got into the security line just in time to hear several people commenting that they had NEVER seen it that long, but the line moved quickly and I even had the fun opportunity to see a couple of friends. I got through the line in plenty of time to sit down and eat breakfast in one of the airport restaurants.
The flight itself was fairly empty. I was worried about my pregnant bladder so I opted to sit on an isle seat in case I needed to get up. As it turned out, I ended up with a row to myself. I enjoyed a pleasant flight reading a gentle regency era romance novel I had borrowed from my dad.
I followed signs through the airport and was able to find the shuttle that took all airport passengers to a rental car compound. It was the nicest rental car set up I have ever seen/been to. (Admittedly I don't do a lot of travel so my comparison is limited.) It was easy to find the correct counter to be at and since people arrive shuttle bus at a time for a variety of rental companies, I waited in a line with only one person ahead of me (and no one behind me). I checked in, they told the the number of a stall, and went down the escalator and found my car waiting for me.
Thanks to the navigation system on my phone, the drive was easy and I quickly found where I needed to be. The biggest glitch was figuring out parking. I found several lots with two hour limits and I assumed I would potentially be longer than that. But I had plenty of time to drive around without panicking, and I was able to find a lot that didn't limit the time.
From the lot, I walked a few blocks to the building I was going to and went quickly and easily through security. I found the correct room and ended up being at a DMV style situation. I got checked in, was assigned a number, and sat to continue reading my book while I waited. I got called up a good half hour after my "appointment" time even though I had gotten there a good 20 minutes early. But I didn't have anywhere else to be, and I was content to read my book, so that was no big deal.
The man who worked on my passport was very nice. When he learned that I was just there for the day to get my passport taken care of, he set me up with a "will call" order and told me I would have to come back at 3:00 (about two hours later by this point) to get it. He then gave me very nice directions on how to walk down the very steep hill to the ocean side where there was plenty of options for eating lunch and for entertainment.
I was worried about trying to haul my pregnant self back UP those steep hillsides, so I promptly ignored his kind directions and found a deli on the main floor of the building I was in. Then, realizing I still had time to kill, I decided to check in with the car and get my phone charger. It took me a little while to find where I was parked in the parking structure, so it was helpful to get all the kinks worked out when I had time to kill. As it turned out, I had my charger with me in my purse, so that was kind of silly, but I was glad to have figured out exactly how to get back to my car.
I went back to the building, charged up my phone and finished my book. Then I went to get my passport, and, like magic, it worked! Every step of the day seemed to be flawless, and at this point I knew I had accomplished the purpose of my trip. It was such a relief!
I couldn't find an address for where to return the rental car, so I just put the airport back in my navigation system and hoped there would be signs. Sure enough, clear as day, the signs directed me back to the rental car compound and returning the car was easier than checking it out. Then, in a flash I was back on the shuttle to the airport. The lines for security were short and I had whatever time I wanted to leisurely look around and plan what I might want for dinner. At the time I was still quite full from lunch, but dying for some ice cream. So I got a McFlurry from McDonalds and just hung out reading some more.
Eventually I was ready for some dinner so I got a piece of Sbarro's pizza. By this time I was getting pretty tired and ready to head home. But the time for the flight came and we were quickly boarded. This flight was even more sparse than the one in the morning so once again I had my own row and was even closer to the front than I had been before.
Nikki was there to pick me up within about a minute of me getting to the curb and before long I was home.
Phew! What a day!
Now the passports are ready, the house is going under contract and we just need to PACK!
No comments:
Post a Comment