Ready to Move!

Our house is officially getting closer to being done! The (supposed) move in date is December 23rd. It has been quite a rigorous few months and I'm not sure I ever want to do it again. My Dad assures me that it will be like having a baby and once I'm in, I'll be talking about how much I love it and picking out plans and changes for round #2. I'm not convinced. We have done (with obviously some serious help from my patient and kind brother, Brandon) our own excavation, septic (thank you Dad, Brandon, Matt, etc), parts of our 900 sf wrap around porch, hardwood floors, a few extra lighting fixtures (thanks to my brother-in-law Anthony), painting (thank you Walker!), concrete (thank you Richie!) work.... and the list goes on. The good news is that Mark and I are still married. :) We had to rebuild parts of the porch, the septic requires FIVE 70 foot drainfields that have to be level within an inch from start to finish, the heat pump got fired up with the owners' manual in it and broke, our cabinents got back ordered, the line to the well has broke, the roofing was at one time the wrong color, and currently we have a 200 amp electrical box and the load is at 200.7 so now that we are almost done we have to have that upgraded to a 400 amp box. Oh, and Launa is angry because recently her favorite color has changed to orange and her room is pink. Ahhhhhh!!! It has been a learning experience, and almost every member of our family has helped us with something. I don't know where we would be without all the help we received (well, I do, probably at each others throats!:). The good news is that I love it. It's simple, but welcoming and cute -- exactly what I would want in a house. Did I mention that we sold the other half of our lot to my best friend Jande, that I grew up with and lived with in college for two years. Our kids are the same age, and I'm pretty sure that she knows and can tolerate all my quirks so the neighbors are going to be fantastic! Oh, and her husband, Chad, is the local game warden, which will only feed into Mark's hunting obsession I'm sure. Mark is also excited. The house is on Mark's family farm and Launa is excited to live so close to "Papa Rich" (Mark's Dad) because he spoils her and takes her to Bob's Korner and let's her eat as much ice cream as she wants (in her words). What are Grandpa's for, right?

We are so excited for this new little chapter in our lives. I will miss living so close to my parents and being in my old Basin City ward, where I have been once again inspired by so many people who played a role raising me as a kid. On the up side, in Othello, they all blame our kids "feistiness" on Mark-- in Basin City, they tend to lean a little more in my direction. :)

Thank you, thank you to everyone who has helped us so much!! I feel like I'll be owing favors to people for the next ten years of my life, but I am so grateful!