On the Move!

Today I am deviating away from the normal recipe and organization stuff to bring you a special announcement!  We are moving!

We currently rent a very old, not-well-taken-care-of (by the landlord, not us) rental-home with a landlord who does not care that the walls are literally coming down.  This coming Friday was the deadline to give notice if we were going to stay for another lease term (12-months).  As much as I hated the idea, we are trying hard to pay off some long-standing debt and save a down-payment for the house.  Keeping that in mind, Corey convinced me to stay for one more year, with the idea that we would be buying a house and only move one more time.

It tricks you by bring cute on the outside!  And yes this is Corey from Google Street view.  he's famous, kinda.

About a week ago our washing machine drainage pipe overflowed/clogged for the second time in the two years we have lived there, the first being our very first night in the house.  We called the landlord and a long three days later he gave us 30-minutes notice that he would be there with a plumber.  I left work early to meet him, the plumber was very efficient and friendly.  I made small talk with the landlord and he started asking how we liked it here.  I took the opportunity to gently remind him of all the repairs Corey has made to the house that he hasn't refunded us for yet (as agreed upon) and the wall that is falling down in the bedroom. I also mentioned how much we love the backyard and the area, so as not to be too complainy (yes that's a new word).  He pretended he forgot about the wall and promised to have it fixed soon, I have mentioned it to him at least 3 times in the last several months.

Apparently he does not realize that if we move out he will have to repair all these things before anyone else moves in because on Thursday we received a letter stating that if we renew our lease our rent would go up and it will be a two-year lease.  I found it funny because the end of the letter said "the only other change is that the lease would be for two years" all nonchalant like, expecting us not to notice?  Enter angry Joanna on a rampage to find a new rental house.  Keep in mind, Corey barely had me agreed to one more year.  With my luck, it was a Holiday weekend so we had a hard time getting anyone to respond to us and had several spam responses (who falls for these?).  After two full days of driving all around Richmond and almost giving up on staying in our beloved West End, we found a house!

New house!

The house was built in 2012, 3 bedrooms and an open floor plan. Our new landlord lives next-door (she bought the lot to avoid cookie-cutter houses being built and surrounding her like they do on the other side of her lot). She is a CPA, super easy to get in-touch with, an animal lover (big plus for our family of 3 pets), and just very nice and easy going.  Right now the backyard is not very big but she is working on clearing out more of the 2.5 acres the house sits on.  Once she gets some of the small trees cleared out it opens up to great old trees, which will be fun for walks and the dogs.

We are very excited but stressed at the same time.  I spent all day Monday purging an entire SUV load of stuff to Goodwill, trashing several bags worth of stuff, listing items for sale on craigslist and starting to pack.  My normal packing routine (including numbered and very organized boxes) takes awhile, so it may be a little below Joanna-moving-standard this time, but it will get done!  I cannot wait to decorate this new place, did I mention it has real closets including two in the master?  One has a shoe shelf!

Thank you to all our family and friends who helped look for listings and my mother-in-law for helping us find a wireless dog fence!