Now that we found a place and move in a month, we needed to pack up our house and move our belongings out. We came back to Illinois this week to meet with a Remax, a 3rd real estate company, because the offers of the first 2 companies were so different. Yesterday Kevin went out to the house to supervise the packing, while I entertained Kileigh in the air conditioning at his parent's house. There were 5 packers and they arrived at the house before 7am. They were so efficient that not only did they get everything packed, but they got it all loaded on the truck too. All Kevin has to do today is go out to the house to have the carpets cleaned.
Now that everything is out of the house, we are planning to get it back on the market ASAP. In the meantime, we have renters that plan to move in September 1st.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Packing up and moving to Arizona
When we returned from vacation, we enjoyed a relaxing 4th of July and then my parents and brother and sister-in-law came up on the 5th. We started packing up and getting ready to leave on that Saturday. The corporate housing was putting us up in a furnished apartment, so we decided not to pack too much. Friday night the moving company came to pick up the truck. My car was finally finished, but the insurance was dragging their feet, so we couldn't pick it up and have it driven out there. Kevin's parents flew out with us on Saturday the 10th. We took our limit of 8 checked bags between the 4 of us, along with our 2 cats. Luckily we had must rides as the flight was completely full and Kevin got bumped to the jump seat. We just took clothes, toiletries, and books for Kileigh. After we arrived, collected our bags, we picked up our rental car and headed to our apartment. We dropped off our bags and the cats and headed to Macayo's for lunch. We unloaded our stuff, picked up some groceries, and then went swimming. Kevin's brothers came over and we had pizza for dinner.
After 2 uncomfortable nights, we were able to borrow a crib from Kevin's aunt and uncle and bought a mattress off craigslist. The 3rd night was much better for Kileigh.
So we have been in Arizona almost 3 weeks now and Kileigh seems to have really adjusted. She enjoys being able to go swimming. We took her up to Sedona this past week to see the red rocks. We wanted to have a picnic at Slide Rock and go swimming, but it was closed due to high bacteria. We pulled off at a picnic area, made a couple sandwiches, and then drove back into Sedona and walked around.
Kileigh has a new friend in the apartment complex, Alaina, who is 17 months. They have been swimming together and had a playdate on Friday.
Last Tuesday, we went hunting for a new place. We looked at 3 townhouse communities and ended up settling on the last place we looked at, which happens to be right across the street from where we currently are. It's a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom, 2 story townhouse with a garage. The master bedroom and laundry room are downstairs. The other 2 bedrooms, bathroom, kitchen, and living room are upstairs. There is a patio off the master bedroom and a balcony off the living room. The complex has a fitness center, pool, hot tub, clubhouse, grills, greenbelt, walking paths, playground, dog run, and disc golf course.
After 2 uncomfortable nights, we were able to borrow a crib from Kevin's aunt and uncle and bought a mattress off craigslist. The 3rd night was much better for Kileigh.
So we have been in Arizona almost 3 weeks now and Kileigh seems to have really adjusted. She enjoys being able to go swimming. We took her up to Sedona this past week to see the red rocks. We wanted to have a picnic at Slide Rock and go swimming, but it was closed due to high bacteria. We pulled off at a picnic area, made a couple sandwiches, and then drove back into Sedona and walked around.
Kileigh has a new friend in the apartment complex, Alaina, who is 17 months. They have been swimming together and had a playdate on Friday.
Last Tuesday, we went hunting for a new place. We looked at 3 townhouse communities and ended up settling on the last place we looked at, which happens to be right across the street from where we currently are. It's a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom, 2 story townhouse with a garage. The master bedroom and laundry room are downstairs. The other 2 bedrooms, bathroom, kitchen, and living room are upstairs. There is a patio off the master bedroom and a balcony off the living room. The complex has a fitness center, pool, hot tub, clubhouse, grills, greenbelt, walking paths, playground, dog run, and disc golf course.
Ozarks
June 26th (3 days after the tornado), we drove down to the Ozarks for our annual family vacation. Kevin's brother, aunts, uncle, and cousins from Arizona flew in and joined us, along with Kevin's parents. We rented a house on the lake in a quiet cove, that was pretty much vacant all week long. One day we drove to the other side of the lake to the state park and took a picnic, went swimming, and played bags. Most of the time was spent at the house, relaxing, playing the wii, playing bags, reading, watching tv, playing cards, fishing, swimming, and eating.
It was a nice relaxing vacation for the most part. However, because of the storm and the impending move, we (meaning Kevin) had to deal with a few issues. The insurance company couldn't pick up our car till we got home, so it could be repaired. The house had to be taken off the market temporarily. Then we found out we had to meet with a 2nd real estate company to get a competing offer. The corporate housing that Southwest was going to put us up in once we got to Arizona changed 3 times. Someone sent the wrong start date for Kevin, so his new boss sent him an email while on vacation saying I look forward to seeing you tomorrow. Luckily, he didn't have to cut his vacation short. All in all, the kinks got worked out.
It was a nice relaxing vacation for the most part. However, because of the storm and the impending move, we (meaning Kevin) had to deal with a few issues. The insurance company couldn't pick up our car till we got home, so it could be repaired. The house had to be taken off the market temporarily. Then we found out we had to meet with a 2nd real estate company to get a competing offer. The corporate housing that Southwest was going to put us up in once we got to Arizona changed 3 times. Someone sent the wrong start date for Kevin, so his new boss sent him an email while on vacation saying I look forward to seeing you tomorrow. Luckily, he didn't have to cut his vacation short. All in all, the kinks got worked out.
Tornado
It's been awhile since my last blog post and a lot has happened since then. Right before vacation, I was babysitting my friend's baby and without warning, we had a tornado rip through our neighborhood. I had taken Kileigh and Magpie upstairs to grab the bouncer and when we were walking downstairs, I heard a loud boom and the power went out. I looked out our big picture window in the living room to seem parts of our tree laying on and around my car. I called for Kileigh and didn't see, so I walked back upstairs and she was sitting at the top of the stairs. I grabbed Kileigh and took both of the kids to the basement. My neighbor didn't have a basement, so she brought her daughter and niece over. It was nice to have an extra set of hands, since Magpie had been crying for over a half-hour at this point. After awhile, Dee went upstairs to check outside and thought things had calmed down, so we went upstairs to the living room. Then they left and went back to her house to check out things and discovered a tree on her house. The neighbors had a big evergreen tree totally uprouted from the ground. Some of the other neighbors had trees on their houses, fences, and power lines. We got lucky that we only had a missing shingle and the house was fine. A firefighter from Mokena stopped by with a chainsaw and we borrowed one from our neighbors. A few neighbors and friends came by to help with the clean up that took a couple hours. My windshield was smashed in, the doors didn't open or shut, there were dents in the hood and side. We knew it wasn't driveable, but weren't sure if it would be totalled or not. More on that later.........
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