Loooong moving update

Here's what's new in our crazy lives...

In the past couple weeks we have been so busy almost every day. There is so much to do when you're moving a whole family from a house. I've been so stressed, but Nate has been calm and cool, like nothing is happening. I don't know how he does it. I'm so thankful that I married him. If I was married to someone more like myself I think I would be dead from stress overload. He always keeps me sane.

On Tuesday (the 27th) we listed our home on the MLS using a company called "MLS for owners." It's awesome because you don't have to use/pay a listing agent, but you get the exposure of the MLS, so it's the best of both worlds. On Wednesday we had 2 or 3 couples come through our house and by Wednesday night/Thursday morning we had TWO OFFERS. It was shocking. I was fully prepared to have our house on the market for months and months. I was pretty stressed about it. So this was an unbelievable answer to our prayers. I feel so incredibly blessed. The two buyers went back and forth a little bit, which drove up the price and then one backed out, so we accepted the other couple's offer. We just have to wait for the appraisal next week and then we can put up the sold sign and it will be more official. In the meantime we are still showing the house just in case this falls through for whatever reason.

On Friday Nate and I drove to Portland/Vancouver to check out homes for us to rent. We stayed with my good friend Jen, who lives there. It's nice to know at least one person over there. We've decided to live in the Vancouver area to avoid the state income tax, plus it's cheaper there. But we were not super excited about most of the areas we checked out. Portland has lots of nice areas, but Vancouver... it's a little harder to find the nice areas. We were feeling kind of discouraged when we were exploring on Saturday, but then we came across an area in Camas, WA that we really liked. We were driving around a cute neighborhood and I got the idea to check craigslist again on Nate's phone. There was a brand new listing for a house for rent that was in that neighborhood. So we called the couple that lives there and they let us walk through it. We loved the house. Plus, it's right behind a new elementary school so I would be able to walk Paige to kindergarten. Also, there are lots of stores (Costco, Target, restaurants) within 1-2 miles of the house too. And Camas is a pretty area, so we were excited to find it. We put in the application this morning and the landlord is going to let us know when everything checks out.

The downside is that the couple that currently lives there will not be out until May 7th-ish. Nate starts his job around April 16th and I'm due May 5th. Yikes. So our latest plan is that I might stay here in our house until the rental is ready for us to move in, and Nate will be in a hotel over there in the meantime. Some of that time he will be at a meeting in Phoenix though, so he would be gone for a week anyway. But the big fat dilemma is... how will he make it home when I go into labor? He claims he will just hop on the first flight out of Portland, but what if the baby comes really fast? We talked about having me get induced, but we both really want to avoid that. So I think we will just hope/pray for the best. Yep. Good plan, huh? :) But I do feel better about having the baby here, so it's kind of a relief to me. We'll see how this all plays out. At least my Mom will be here with me, so I won't be totally alone if I happen to go into labor while Nate is away.