This weekend we went down to Exeter for our second trip of house hunting. What an emotional rollercoaster. We were so excited that we found some friends to watch both our girls and I worked hard all week to ween our little baby girl from breast feeding to bottle (eew sorry for all those boobie/milky grossed out people, I won't speak of it again).
We zoomed down there and made great time. We had three houses to see originally but one totally called and said they had shown it and it had rented. BUMMER! But we remain hopeful. We got a viewing last min on a house we weren't sure we wanted to see but because we had time in our day we thought "why not"
Once we arrived in exeter... wow... there was a massive car accident somewhere plus combined with it being Friday afternoon meant traffic was a beast. We have come to dislike almost every estate agents we speak to as they all say they are "for the customer" when clearly they just want the easy customer that has money....
Because we want to live in a house and share it as two small families we get to look at 1 out of 5 houses that are available.... and the ones we have been viewing just aren't going to work for us. Either the parking is horrendous or the kitchens are crazy small or the living areas is wickedly cramped, or the garden is non-existent. My husband and I spend most of the time diving back (and honestly driving around that day) arguing about what wouldn't or wouldn't work. We have the pressure not only of choosing a house for ourselves but also choosing a house for our sister's family to live in too.
Almost every house I walked in all I could see was the potential and all my husband could see was its short comings. By the time we argued to a compromise we would decide it wasn't for us. The last house we looked at again was on that Roydans Estate. We love it there so much, but the house we looked at was great for the bedroom lay out but the living space downstairs and parking was just too much of a compromise.
We sulked back to Colchester wishing that our house hunt had ended but feeling like this was just the beginning. We have to be moving in little over two weeks and we don't have any house to go to. We called our sister and brother-in-law and after chatting we all decided waiting .. even if it meant packing up our current houses and putting everything in storage and living with friends and family for a bit, would be better than taking up a tenancy for a house that just wouldn't work for us.
My husband and I decided to spend all day Saturday praying... well we set the alarms on our phones to go off ever hour and we would just shoot up quick prayers to God. Not necessarily that he would "hear our prayers and give us what we want" but to ready our hearts for whatever the future holds.
We all feel oddly calm. Oddly peaceful. We want a house to share more than anything but so many people have sent us message this week reminding to "wait on God, move in his time, not to rush, to wait of the right thing." We are confident we must wait, but it all seems so cloudy and hazy as to what our future will hold.
A few people have asked if we have messaged churches to ask if they had any help or support they could give. It seems like such a long shot sense we have no links or connection to them, but I gave it a try and messaged around to some churches, My husband reminded me of the church we had seen was running in a community centre on our favourite estate Roydans Estate. Its called Trinity Church and I love everything I am reading about it. How a group of Christians has purposefully moved out to this new estate to just let people know about Jesus! I said to my husband... this Roydan Estate seems to have EVERYTHING we are wanting and praying for... ACCEPT A HOUSE!
Ready our hearts God... Ready our hearts for whatever the future holds and may our faith stay strong in you!
Showing posts with label young family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label young family. Show all posts
Sunday, May 7, 2017
Monday, May 1, 2017
Rental Rat Race!
We headed down to Exeter/ the area this weekend to look for a house to rent. A little update is that our sister and brother-in-law have gotten jobs that are going to start the same time as my husbands and so we are looking to rent a big 4/5 bedroom house together.
we thought it would be fairly easy, find a big house, put down the deposit and rent it.
However, it is turning out not that easy. First off, about half (if not more) of the big houses listed for rent in Exeter/the area do not accept sharers of any kind. What a shame! with the world the way it is now and how hard it is to find places to live families working together to live and share the stresses of life is becoming more essential. Yet another hurdle to get over.
So out of a list of 7 houses we were able to see 3 of them. The first house we saw was on Roydans Estate. I couldn't recommend this area of Exeter anymore. We instantly fell in love with it. There is a train station, local parks, community centre (which runs an array of children/work out/ church/community groups), there is a shopping complex across the busy main road that has a big superstore (tesco), pet shops, furniture stores, fast-food (pizza hut/KFC!). We loved the house that we saw and put our referencing offer in straight away. Ex of Exeter Estate agents were absolutely brilliant. We had a guy named Ian show us around the house and he was very personable, honest and friendly. Unfortunately another family also loved our "most amazing house ever" find and we were passed over for their less complicated situation. This was totally understandable, but wow did it feel like a kick to our guts! We had been watching that house when it was listed as more expensive, then the week we went down to look at houses it dropped in price to our spend range, then they didn't have space to show us and then a space opened up. The lay out couldn't have been more perfect to host our families, it was set up so beautifully for our families... we even thought because the family that lived there had relocated to another country that they would sympathise with our story and go for us... hahah but sadly the world doesn't work that way.
We looked at two other properties (one right outside exeter near Ide) but even though it said it was only 3-4 miles from exeter it felt AGES away and there wasn't really anything happening there.... I can't see that working.
THEN we went down to Dawlish and WHAT A PLEASANT SURPRISE. The town/community felt family friendly, beautiful and possible. The train station is LITERALLY on the sea, there are loads of little coffee shops, tea rooms, fish and chips and small quirky shops... I liked it... I liked it more than I thought. They have such a beautiful little brooke that runs through the centre of the downtown and there are lights set up, a little duck sanctuary, ice cream shops a little community theatre! The vibe was definitely more exciting and liveable than I thought it would be. The house we saw there would work... but it felt very tired and there were a few things that just made it feel not right.
We found out while we were sitting on the grassy green in Dawlish that we didn't get accepted on our first house of choice and it did put a bit of a sour perspective on things. I seriously almost cried. I just want a home. Something we all could be proud of and happy in and settled in. We were so sure the Roydan Estate house was THE ONE!
We spend the 5 hour drive back to Essex just talking and talking and talking this move to death! What will we do now. We only have 4 more weeks. Maybe living together won't be as easy as we thought! why is it so hard to find a house for us to live in? how long can we go on with out a plan? We talked it over loads with my husbands parents. They have lots of wise experience moving and that helped to calm our nerves and emotions.
After talking with them we decided that we really need to priorities my husband and brother in laws jobs and being in a place that will make them settling into their work as smooth as possible. And also making sure that we stick to our guns and get a home that will have the space we need.
When we got back to Colchester, Essex we sat on our couch after wrestling our two babies to bed, we were exhausted. Our creativity and fight for making this move fun and exciting was at an all time low. But some how we managed to get out our phones, make a new list of houses we maybe could see, write a list of ideal characters our rental property would have and a list of things we would compromise on.
We took deep breaths, we prayed again and we planned our next trip to Exeter sometime next week or the week after. Money is running out, time is running short..... wow moving has a way a stretching us!
we thought it would be fairly easy, find a big house, put down the deposit and rent it.
However, it is turning out not that easy. First off, about half (if not more) of the big houses listed for rent in Exeter/the area do not accept sharers of any kind. What a shame! with the world the way it is now and how hard it is to find places to live families working together to live and share the stresses of life is becoming more essential. Yet another hurdle to get over.
So out of a list of 7 houses we were able to see 3 of them. The first house we saw was on Roydans Estate. I couldn't recommend this area of Exeter anymore. We instantly fell in love with it. There is a train station, local parks, community centre (which runs an array of children/work out/ church/community groups), there is a shopping complex across the busy main road that has a big superstore (tesco), pet shops, furniture stores, fast-food (pizza hut/KFC!). We loved the house that we saw and put our referencing offer in straight away. Ex of Exeter Estate agents were absolutely brilliant. We had a guy named Ian show us around the house and he was very personable, honest and friendly. Unfortunately another family also loved our "most amazing house ever" find and we were passed over for their less complicated situation. This was totally understandable, but wow did it feel like a kick to our guts! We had been watching that house when it was listed as more expensive, then the week we went down to look at houses it dropped in price to our spend range, then they didn't have space to show us and then a space opened up. The lay out couldn't have been more perfect to host our families, it was set up so beautifully for our families... we even thought because the family that lived there had relocated to another country that they would sympathise with our story and go for us... hahah but sadly the world doesn't work that way.
We looked at two other properties (one right outside exeter near Ide) but even though it said it was only 3-4 miles from exeter it felt AGES away and there wasn't really anything happening there.... I can't see that working.
THEN we went down to Dawlish and WHAT A PLEASANT SURPRISE. The town/community felt family friendly, beautiful and possible. The train station is LITERALLY on the sea, there are loads of little coffee shops, tea rooms, fish and chips and small quirky shops... I liked it... I liked it more than I thought. They have such a beautiful little brooke that runs through the centre of the downtown and there are lights set up, a little duck sanctuary, ice cream shops a little community theatre! The vibe was definitely more exciting and liveable than I thought it would be. The house we saw there would work... but it felt very tired and there were a few things that just made it feel not right.
We found out while we were sitting on the grassy green in Dawlish that we didn't get accepted on our first house of choice and it did put a bit of a sour perspective on things. I seriously almost cried. I just want a home. Something we all could be proud of and happy in and settled in. We were so sure the Roydan Estate house was THE ONE!
We spend the 5 hour drive back to Essex just talking and talking and talking this move to death! What will we do now. We only have 4 more weeks. Maybe living together won't be as easy as we thought! why is it so hard to find a house for us to live in? how long can we go on with out a plan? We talked it over loads with my husbands parents. They have lots of wise experience moving and that helped to calm our nerves and emotions.
After talking with them we decided that we really need to priorities my husband and brother in laws jobs and being in a place that will make them settling into their work as smooth as possible. And also making sure that we stick to our guns and get a home that will have the space we need.
When we got back to Colchester, Essex we sat on our couch after wrestling our two babies to bed, we were exhausted. Our creativity and fight for making this move fun and exciting was at an all time low. But some how we managed to get out our phones, make a new list of houses we maybe could see, write a list of ideal characters our rental property would have and a list of things we would compromise on.
We took deep breaths, we prayed again and we planned our next trip to Exeter sometime next week or the week after. Money is running out, time is running short..... wow moving has a way a stretching us!
Thursday, March 16, 2017
Southwest here we come!
Well my husband has gotten a full time job... in EXETER. Which means we are southwest bound!!! well in June 2017 we will be. There were lots of emotions wrapped around his success as I really wanted the opportunity to go back to work and prove that I could support our family finically. BUT
<warning alert for non spiritual/God people I'm about to get weird>
But, we prayed so hard... I PRAYED so hard that God's will would be done, that whatever was best for our family would happen and that my heart would trust the outcome of us putting this move in God's hands... I was scared to pray this at first because I don't want to become one of those women that gets married, pops out babies and then never uses my degree skills in a professional setting. (yes yes I know momming takes all sorts of skills and is WAY harder then most professional jobs... but I still have dreams and desires beyond my children and home keeping).
All that time praying and trusting I think paid off because when my husband told me he got an interview, I was excited and just thought "God, your will be done" and then when he went to the interview and felt it went well and we sat together holding hands and hoping for the best I was so excited as I thought "God, your will be done" and then when the call came that he GOT THE JOB, my heart (and stomach) leaped with happiness... It was happening, our dream was coming true... we will be able to head to the Southwest.
There was about 5 min of sulking where I was like "darn... I wanted to be the one to get a cool job in the southwest that was paying enough to support our family and show that woman are strong and capable!"... but I'd like to think that my maturity in both spirit and soul led me to think... "if this is what is happening then it is what is best. God isn't saying no to you chasing your dreams and being successful or doing big things... He just is providing a way for your family to get to the Southwest and he still has you, he still cares massively about your dreams and desires and he will provide for you personally too." I took a big swallow...because, come on that is hard to swallow in a moment, but I said "ok... lets do this"... and because my husband and I are both so into this adventure together his success professionally, for this season, feels like my success as well. Because to be honest it will take us both working really hard to man the ship of our lives so that both our home and work is successful...
so the hunt for a house to rent is on! we are super nervous because it seems too expensive and hard to move to the southwest. We wish there was some sort of initiative to help families move to the southwest! because that would be so helpful! house rental is going to be our biggest hurdle. I just contacted a couple estate agents as we are in the area in a couple weeks on a family holiday and am trying to arrange us going to speak to them to make sure we are up to speed on all that needs to happen and make sure we are registered.
I've chosen Bradley's in Newton Abbot and Winkworths in Exeter as our Estate agents to begin with as they had good properties for rent on their website and also had good reviews on google. I'll give updates on how those appointments went in a few weeks.
Our faith is really being tested because we would love to move in with my sister-in-law and her husband but he would need to find work... he has been applying for work but isn't having any success. So we are remaining hopeful. Over the next couple of weeks I'll be attempting some tidying and packing and posting tips (if I find any).
Its all go now!
<warning alert for non spiritual/God people I'm about to get weird>
But, we prayed so hard... I PRAYED so hard that God's will would be done, that whatever was best for our family would happen and that my heart would trust the outcome of us putting this move in God's hands... I was scared to pray this at first because I don't want to become one of those women that gets married, pops out babies and then never uses my degree skills in a professional setting. (yes yes I know momming takes all sorts of skills and is WAY harder then most professional jobs... but I still have dreams and desires beyond my children and home keeping).
All that time praying and trusting I think paid off because when my husband told me he got an interview, I was excited and just thought "God, your will be done" and then when he went to the interview and felt it went well and we sat together holding hands and hoping for the best I was so excited as I thought "God, your will be done" and then when the call came that he GOT THE JOB, my heart (and stomach) leaped with happiness... It was happening, our dream was coming true... we will be able to head to the Southwest.
There was about 5 min of sulking where I was like "darn... I wanted to be the one to get a cool job in the southwest that was paying enough to support our family and show that woman are strong and capable!"... but I'd like to think that my maturity in both spirit and soul led me to think... "if this is what is happening then it is what is best. God isn't saying no to you chasing your dreams and being successful or doing big things... He just is providing a way for your family to get to the Southwest and he still has you, he still cares massively about your dreams and desires and he will provide for you personally too." I took a big swallow...because, come on that is hard to swallow in a moment, but I said "ok... lets do this"... and because my husband and I are both so into this adventure together his success professionally, for this season, feels like my success as well. Because to be honest it will take us both working really hard to man the ship of our lives so that both our home and work is successful...
so the hunt for a house to rent is on! we are super nervous because it seems too expensive and hard to move to the southwest. We wish there was some sort of initiative to help families move to the southwest! because that would be so helpful! house rental is going to be our biggest hurdle. I just contacted a couple estate agents as we are in the area in a couple weeks on a family holiday and am trying to arrange us going to speak to them to make sure we are up to speed on all that needs to happen and make sure we are registered.
I've chosen Bradley's in Newton Abbot and Winkworths in Exeter as our Estate agents to begin with as they had good properties for rent on their website and also had good reviews on google. I'll give updates on how those appointments went in a few weeks.
Our faith is really being tested because we would love to move in with my sister-in-law and her husband but he would need to find work... he has been applying for work but isn't having any success. So we are remaining hopeful. Over the next couple of weeks I'll be attempting some tidying and packing and posting tips (if I find any).
Its all go now!
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