Two Week Notice

Usually that phrase is used to give your boss when you're sick of your job or it's just time for you leave for one reason or another. I'm bummed to give this two week notice because it means that's when we will be leaving La Verkin. I guess I never thought I'd be sad about leaving LaVerkin. It's not the most glamorous places to live but it's been our home for the past three years and I'm going to MISS IT! Silly, I know. I'm actually getting teary typing this.

I thought I would try and post one thing each day for the next two weeks that I'm going to miss about this place, but they are not necessarily in any particular order.

So, here's one thing:

Our house

I have to say house because we can't take it with us like we can our 'home'...if that makes sense. You all know that home is where the heart is and I plan on taking my 'home' with me wherever we end up. I will really miss this house. It's been perfect for our family. Not too much to keep clean but plenty of room to have 'too much crap'. I was prego with Julia when we built it. I remember when we first bought the lot a year and a half before we built anything on it, I would always want to dive past it--but of course it was a little out of the way unless we were on our way to Zion or Kolob. I even talked Todd into getting a Little Caesar's pizza one night and taking our camping chairs to go eat on the lot. Sounds silly now, but it's a good memory. 

Todd worked is butt off to build me a nice house and he did an awesome job. He's done such a good job in fact, it's made it really hard to love any of the houses I've been through while we're house shopping, trying to find something else to call our house.

It's our first house. Of course I will miss it. Of course we will find something else. Of course I'll never forget it...I hope.

We had some trade when building it so we thought we'd have enough sweat equity to actually make a little profit on it. We thought the market would turn around in a few years so we could sell it and use the money to buy something in St. George. We thought it would be easy to leave La Verkin after a couple years and never look back.

We thought wrong.

Getting Settled

Well, it's been a whole week since our first night at our new house and I am loving it! The hardest thing is to let the kids be kids and not be so panicked when I hear noises that I think the kids are doing something to the walls or floor or anything that might cost money. I'm definitely not as laxed in my parenting as what food's allowed where and where the toys should end up as when we were at my parents (sorry mom). It's great to have the kids in their own beds again--less fighting at night that so-and-so touched them--not that my sisters and I ever did stuff like that! I was always waiting for one of them to yell, "Mom, Porter's out of bed!!" I haven't gotten all the boxes emptied but I think I'm only down to three left. Stuff that I just don't know where to put it. And of course there are pictures to be hung on the walls. It probably wouldn't suprise you to know the only thing hung on the wall is Todd's buck. I had to take a picture for some reason. Someday we'll get to the landscaping but for now I'm a happy girl.

Moving Day

So Yesterday was moving day. Whew!! Thanks to all you helped. Blair and Tav helped Todd clean out the half acre which had our couches, chairs, kitchen table, tv, and beds. Then Thursday my family helped muck out g-ma and g-pa's house and rid it of all the Calico crap. I had no idea that we had so much stuff...most of it just sitting around with nothing to do but sit there. We spent our first night at the new house last night and it was pretty fun. The boys did pretty good...for the most part. When they came in our beds in the middle of the night there wasn't enough room on the old queen size bed like we used to have on g-pa's king size bed to Todd took them back to their beds when they had fallen asleep. My favorite thing about our new house is our shower. We each have our own shower heads and we each had our own preferred temperature. It was awesome! Thanks to Dave, Jeff and Randy and Stef's family for all the muscles they provided with their helping hands. We couldn't have done it without you. I'll post pictures when I find where the camera is hiding. Still so many boxes to unpack as well as the boxes that still need to be packed with stuff back at the old house. Thanks mom and dad for letting us live there. Payton asked this morning if we have two houses. I think we're down to about one and half now.

Almost a Home Owner...Almost

So building a house isn't as tough as some say. It's actually going pretty darn fast. We're in the process of insulating now and then later this week (so Todd says) we're supposed to be getting some of the dry wall completed. It's actually looking like a house and pretty soon I'm going to know what it's like to pay for a house. I'm enjoying the process while we go. Of course there are a few set backs and I'm learning what it's going to be like when we have our own home that we have to take care of and manage...even when things go wrong. Yesturday we went and met w/ the guy doing the insulation and he pointed out our first broken window. Someone had thrown a rock through it and it will have to be replaced. Bad thing is we haven't even paid for the windows yet (still waiting for that invoice).

I guess things happen to home which make it a liability with all the upkeep. I am excited to be moving in the next couple months because it's our FIRST HOME!! Payton is loving the neighbors and will love living closer to his best friend Luke.

I will have to take some more recent photos of the house but I keep wanting to wait until the stucco is done or the roofing is finished.