Give me Patience...

I suppose it is time to tell you all what has been going on. The whole story is very long but I will try to summarize. Dave has been unhappy in his job for the last year or so, since his boss was fired for no good reason. The upper management didn't like the guy, so they got rid of him and put in someone else. That is where the trouble started. Let's just say the new boss was sort of a jerk and always said one thing and did another. Dave complained about things but I didn't take it too seriously until he came home from work one day this past summer and told me he had serious concerns over the security of his job. That made me think about the possibility that he could become one of the many unemployed. What a stressful situation! I could go to work full time to pay the bills, although I would rather not do that. I only work 8 hours per week now and that is just perfect. It is enough to get out of the house and do what I love, but not so much that the kids are negatively affected from my absence.

I had noticed the stress level rising in our home and the way it made me feel was not acceptable. We talked about waiting things out and hoping things would get better at work, but Dave was not happy there and for me, not knowing the security of the job was more than I could take. We decided to look for a new employer. Dave found a posting for a job in Boise at Micron. He had several friends that have worked there in the past, all of which liked it. He applied for a position and almost immediately was contacted for an interview. The HR screener was impressed and scheduled an interview with the hiring manager. That phone interview went very well, and next was an in person interview. It was scheduled for two weeks later. As the appointed day became closer, our anticipation grew stronger and stronger. Just days before the scheduled interview, the HR director called to reschedule the interview because of conflicts, so we had to wait another two weeks. Ugh! It was so hard to wait. On the other hand, it gave Dave more time to prepare.

The interview in person lasted all day and consisted of several technical interviews by the managers of several departments. Dave had studied up on the material but had no previous experience with DRam in his previous job. He sailed through the interview and was given an offer of employment. We were so relieved and considered the offer prayerfully. It was a very easy decision for us. He accepted the job and gave two weeks notice to his boss at ON. His boss said he was surprised and disappointed to have him go. In the back of our minds, we know this guy may not be sincere, but he offered for Dave to come back any time if working at Micron wasn't going well.

Now it was time for some serious work. The relocation company required us to have two Realtors come and do assessments on the value of our house and use the average price they came up with as a listing price to sell the house. They also were to be the ones to arrange which Realtors to use. We were not allowed to contact anyone about selling the house on our own or we would forfeit the benefit of them paying the Realtor fees. It turns out that when you are in a hurry, it seems that no one else is. It took them a month to get everything finalized to get the house on the market. The Realtors came up with the same listing price so we listed at $184,900. Our home appraised at $194,000 18 months prior to that when we refinanced for a 15 year mortgage. We thought that listing below that would be the right thing too. The housing crash had not affected Pocatello as much as other areas. We had only 2 showings in the first two months. It was terrible. We had an open house two weeks after listing the house and it brought in 3 families. One liked it a lot but couldn't get a loan. The other two were looking for something else. We lowered the price by $5000. A month later we had a second open house. This time 9 families came. One of the families wants to buy the house but has to sell their own first and we are not allowed to accept a contingent offer per the relocation company. Then all of a sudden, over the past several weeks, we have had multiple showings. Saturday was our third open house. 25 families came through. I was thinking no one would bother because of the Christmas season and all. Several liked the house but are not ready to commit. One lady said she would buy the house today if it were on a half acre. You just have to make trade offs, so hopefully she'll consider the huge city park that is just across the way. The waiting game is killing me.

In the mean time, in all of this, we were sure we would be out of this house by November. Didn't happen. The company paid for Dave's apartment for 60 days and then he was on his own. Then we thought, for sure by Christmas. Still isn't happening. Dave has stayed with his sister for a few weeks. Now he is staying with his brother in Caldwell. It is so awesome of them to let Dave live with them. He looked into renting an apartment but the shortest lease was 3 months and the rent was more than we could afford. So we are relying on family and they are coming through for us.

I'm tired out. I am so tired of trying to keep a spotless house by myself with four small children. I am tired of not having my husband here. I am also tired of wishing and hoping. Dave was here this past weekend and I asked him for a blessing to help me through all this. In that, I learned that there is a reason things are happening the way they are and that we will understand it after it is over and look back. Also, that there is a plan for us and we will be together again soon. I feel much better now. Just trying to keep a positive attitude. Our Realtor says our home is the biggest and best option under $190,000. I just hope a buyer recognizes that too.

When we decided to accept the job in Boise, we went there for a weekend to look around. We went to all the open houses we found on the internet that day. We spent the day going from one to the next. We saw a wide variety of homes. Some were nice and some were not what we were looking for. The biggest thing I wanted was bedrooms and storage space. I have about 800 canning jars which means I need a place to put them. We wanted a basement for storage but found not that many homes have basements in Boise compared to Pocatello. Also, we wanted it to be in a neighborhood where kids were, so my kids could have friends nearby. It took us most of the day, and toward the end, there was one more open house on the list that was ending soon. I said, "Let's just skip it" since we were running out of time. Dave said, "No, let's just go. If we are too late, then they can send us away." So we went and the Realtor showing the house was packing up, but said we were welcome to come on in. We loved the house. It had the things on my list I wanted: a formal dining room (never had one, but wanted one), storage space (had a full basement), was huge (4500 sq feet), and had the bedrooms on a separate floor than the main living space (something I did not like about our current home lacking). Out of all the homes we had seen that day, that was our favorite. It felt like we belonged there. As we left, Dave said, "We should put an offer in now. Someone else may buy it." The problem was that our house wasn't even for sale yet. We were not in a position to do that. So we waited and looked at in on the internet and dreamed.

After our home was finally on the market, we went out with a Realtor that the relocation company assigned us to. We liked her. She took us on a tour of the city and showed us a few houses I had picked out from the internet to show us. Some of the houses were terrible. One was a foreclosure that was disgustingly dirty. Others were nice. The storage problem was a recurring theme. Nobody had storage space even if they did have a basement. One house we liked had a really nice huge yard. There was a basement, but no storage space. We thought that house might be the one. We could figure out a way to store all my food storage. Our Realtor checked into it and they were already in negotiations with another buyer. It wasn't too late, but we didn't feel like it was right.

One night, after fasting and prayer, I sat and thought about everything. I had a spiritual experience which I knew that we were supposed to be in the home we had seen at that first open house and later had viewed with the Realtor. I knew it. So we decided to go ahead and put an offer on the house. We did, we were able to come to a consensus and they accepted our offer contingent on the sale of our home. The thing I am not understanding here, is that we have to lift our contingency, or have an offer on our home, by Feb 1. It is hard to understand why the Lord would tell me to choose that house and feel like it was right when our house isn't selling. We may not have an offer by Feb 1. If not, we might still get the house if someone else doesn't beat us to it. I just pray every day. I know things will work out. It would just be nice to know when and how.

So that is where we are now. Waiting and hoping and trying to have faith. The last open house was very encouraging and the comments that were made help me to think we are getting closer. Dropping our price is not a good option. If we are asked to pay the buyer's closing costs and also accept a lower price, we would not have enough for 20% down on the new house. Our lender says no problem, just pay mortgage insurance. We are so against debt that the idea of getting a bigger mortgage in the first place goes against the grain. We figured we would live the rest of our days there and just pay it off as fast as we can. At least we won't ever outgrow the place.

I love my house and will be sad to leave it. All of my children have learned to walk in this house. We have so many fond memories of it. Finishing the basement and all the hours spent here in laughter and screaming children are days gone by now. I will not forget the 9 wonderful years of my life in this home. I love my neighbors and friends. Too bad I can't take them all with me. It's so hard to leave them. It is so hard to leave my calling and my ward. I was released recently as the Relief Society President. I know every sister in the ward so it is hard to go somewhere that you know no one. I see my Young Women going off to college now and will soon be starting families of their own. I see the kids I taught for years in Primary passing the sacrament and going to high school. Wow. How I love those kids.

Now I can't see through the tears. So, I better end this. I guess I didn't keep it short after all. Should have known.