I'm Not Moving Anymore

 In the past sixteen years, I have moved more times than I care to remember.  In the past three years alone I have moved three times.  I have become quite the expert packer, but I do not want to have to do that again for a long time.  Thankfully, I like where we live now.  The kids have friends, and I am friends with several of my neighbors. It's when the kids get home and all they want to do is go outside and ride their bikes with their friends. I am hoping that I will be able to find the money before Christmas to get each of them a new bike.

If I ever have to move again, it will be somewhere new.  I was looking online, and I found sites like rentedmonton.com are so helpful. I can look at properties in all kinds of locations and find the perfect place for me and the kids.  When we moved into this apartment, I had never set foot in it.  I knew it was a three bedroom, but I didn't actually view it until after I signed the lease because it was being cleaned.  I wish the apartment complex had a website so I could have seen it first, but they don't.  I was thrilled when it turned out to be the perfect place for us.

For now though, I am going to stay put right here.  The rent is reasonable and I can pay the bills on my own.  And that's important for us single parents.

We're Happier Now

A couple of year ago, we lived in a house that had a full basement. It wasn't finished by any means, and when it rained, the basement would flood. I'm not talking about a little bit of dripping here and there. There would be about an inch or two of water covering the entire floor. Junior would have to go down there and hook up a pump that diverted the water out a window. We had big plans to have someone come in and do some Basement waterproofing so that we could make a playroom down there. Not for the kids, though. We were going to put the pool table down there, and maybe a big screen television and couches. We wanted somewhere where the adults could go and hang out.

Moving out of that house was a blessing in disguise. I've heard rumors that it is literally falling apart, and I am just glad we are not still living there. Sure, we don't have as much room now as we did then, but we are a lot happier, and that is what is important.

At least to me.

Do You Know What's Nice?

Not having to bomb for bugs.

Junior and I are seasoned renters. In the 14 years we have been married, we have lived in several rental places. Most of the time, within a few days of moving, we find out that the new place is infested with creepy crawlies. It happened with the apartment, and with several places before that.

It's been a month since we have moved in here, and I have only seen one spider. Thankfully, I haven't seen any roaches. Those are the worst! One time, I made Junior move us out after two weeks because the bugs were so bad. I was afraid to turn the lights off at night and go to sleep. The landlord, of course, wouldn't do a thing about it, so we left. Thankfully, we hadn't signed a lease, so we didn't owe them any money.

It's so nice living in a pretty, clean house.

Planning A Move?

Are you planning on moving a long distance? Many of my old friends from New York are thinking of making the move down south, hoping to get away from a higher cost of living. When I moved to South Carolina, I was young. I didn't have very many possessions, so I loaded what little I had in my brothers car, and off we went. I would hate to think about moving all my things now. We recently moved across town, and it took us a week, and many, many truck loads to get our stuff to the new place.

If you are planning a big move, consider using U-Pack instead of truck rentals. With U-Pack, you only pay for the truck space that you use, and a driver drives the truck for you. This is a blessing, because it means that you can relax in your own vehicle, while someone else worries about your load. I know from experience that the trip from New York to South Carolina can take over 12 hours, and that is while sticking to the high end of the speed limit.

The best part about U-Pack is that they are comparable price wise to truck rentals, but with them, gas, taxes, and insurance are included in the price, so there are no surprises. So when you decide to move, let U-Pack move you.

Exhausted

I am beyond wore out. This past week has been crazy with moving, and then my sister being down from New York. I have been trying to unpack when I am not spending time with her, which means I am losing a lot of sleep. Last night we took the kids out to the circus, and we were really late getting home. This translates into a cranky brandi this morning, which was no fun. She had a good day at school yesterday, but there were tears again this morning, but I think they were mostly because she was tired.

Now that I have a few moments to myself, I thought I'd throw up a quick post. I am hoping to have pictures of the new place soon, but I want to wait until we are all unpacked. I guess that means I should get up from here and get cracking...

Packing Up My Craft Supplies

This morning I decided it was time to pack up all my craft stuff. Turns out I have a ton of wood crafts just waiting to be painted. Most of it is Christmas stuff I buy after the holidays, and then I forget that I have it. I found a few Easter crafts, too.

I packed up my paints and beads and everything else, and it took me most of the morning. I also threw away the things that I have just been moving from place to place and never using. It feels good to purge a little.

It Will Be A Wonderful Day!

I have done nothing but pack for the past few days, and it is really getting old. I wish I could just snap my fingers, and everything would be wrapped and packed, and all I had to do was watch.

It's amazing to me how much crap we accumulate as a family of five. I have my books and elephants, and the kids have the things they collect. Then there's all the everyday stuff, and I don't want to even get started on the kitchen.

I keep telling myself it is worth it, though, and that in a month or so, we will be living somewhere new. Somewhere with an intact ceiling and non-leaking bathtub.

I can not wait! (I think I've said that before, a time or two! LOL)

Three Bedrooms, And Maybe Two Bathrooms

I have been talking about moving a lot on my other blog. Junior and I decided months ago that when we got our tax refund in February, we would move. We are tired of living in an apartment that is falling apart. Making the decision to move was easy. The hard part is deciding where we want to live when we do move.

Our requirements are pretty simple. I only want on thing for sure, and that is three bedrooms. I would love two bathrooms, but I can live with one. We have gone online and looked at some house plans, and there are so many beautiful options to choose from. House Plans And More has thousands of house plans, and it was so hard picking our favorite. I wish we could afford to build a house right now, because then we could have everything we want. But, financially, we are not in that place right now.

Maybe in a few years...

I Love The South

I live in South Carolina, as most of you know. I grew up on Long Island, though, and lived there until I was in my early twenties. The high school I graduated from was huge. My class alone had over 1200 kids. At my graduation ceremony, it took over two hours just to call out all the names. I remember when it was over, walking back to the car with my parents, and it wasn't where I remembered they had parked it. I found out years later that they had left after my name was called (I was a "C") to go get something to eat.

I don't blame them. If I could have left I would have, too.

I love that my kids go to schools where everyone knows everyone. The staff in the office knows who my kids are when I walk in, and I love that. I wouldn't trade it for anything. I loved growing up in New York, but I would never raise my kids there. I am now a true southerner, even if I do still have my New York accent. I would recommend to everyone that they come visit South Carolina, and if they are anything like me, they will stay. Greenville SC Real Estate is really booming right now, and I have heard that it is a buyers market. I wish Junior and I could afford to buy our own place right now, but it's just not in the cards for us.

Maybe someday...

Management Companies

I have made real headway with the packing this past week. I am about ready to take out the Christmas decorations so I can use those totes to pack. Every year I put away my everyday knick-knacks to put out the Christmas ones, so I figured I would just pack the everyday stuff for good instead of putting it back out. Makes sense since we are moving in February.

I was researching online what recourse we have if any, with the management company. I believe with my whole heart that we are dealing with the worst one in the country. We have been here for almost 16 months, and for those 16 months we have complained about our leaking faucet. Well, I say leaking, but what I really mean is that the bathroom tub faucet doesn't turn off completely, so water pours from the faucet 24 hours a day. I'm just glad we don't pay the water bill.

During my research, I found Real Property Management. Now, this is a company I would love to rent from. They are award winning, and come out three times a year to check on their properties, making sure the tenants are taking care of their properties. If they do that, I am sure they are interested in keeping their properties in good repair. The company we rent from obviously doesn't care, but you have all heard my horror stories.

I just can not wait to move.

Three More Months And I Can Take A Bath!

Notice the exclamation point on the end of that title? That just shows you how excited I am to move. Don't misunderstand...I do bathe. I shower every day. It's just been a really long time since I have gotten a good book and soaked in a nice, hot bubble bath.

Why, you ask? Because this apartment we rent has the most disgusting bath tub. The tub is really old, and apparently rusting. So the management company just slapped a coat of paint on it, making it look pretty when we viewed the apartment for the first time. About a week after we moved in, the paint started peeling up, and the rust showed through. It's fine to stand in and shower, but there is no way to enjoy a relaxing back without scraping up whatever body part touches the tub.

Now, in a perfect world, when we move it will be into a place that has a jacuzzi tub, with a separate shower. We used to live in a trailer that had both of those things, and the only thing I hated about it was that the shower stall didn't have a door, just a curtain. It leaked water everywhere! Junior actually looked into Shower Enclosures, thinking maybe he could put one of those in. We had no idea how expensive those things can be, and it was a rental, so we didn't want to invest the money. Luckily, we had another bathroom with a standard tub/shower, so it was no big deal.

I miss that trailer...we never should have moved from there, but three kids and two adults didn't fit in a 14 foot wide by 70 foot long 2 bedroom trailer too happily.

Three More Months

I have been dreaming lately about moving. I know we have another couple of months to go, but I can't stop wondering where we will end up. I know where ever it is, it will be s lot nicer than where we are now.

I want beautiful accents, like this light fixture, which is minka item number 6723-355. I no longer want to live in an apartment where the paint on the ceiling is falling down, and I have to put out buckets whenever it rains to catch the leaks. I want better for myself.

I want better for my family.

Possibilities

Three months from now, Christmas will be over.

We will once again be facing a new year; a year full of promise and possibilities.

I have been thinking about a lot of things lately, and how I wish we were already living in a new place. I hate packing, and I hate change, but I am really looking forward to this.

I have been asking the kids what they want for Christmas, and I haven't gotten many good ideas. I was browsing online for ideas, and came across beach cruisers for sale. These bikes look kind of old fashioned, and I think my girls would love them. Come to think of it, Kasi did mention that she wanted a new bike a couple of months ago.

I just don't want to get them too much stuff, because it would just be more stuff we have to move in February.

Walking Away

It was a year ago this month that we moved into this apartment. By moving, we walked away from all the anger and hate, and started a new life. In this past year, we have gotten closer as a family. Junior is more relaxed and has learned how to manage his stress. We do more things together, and we have never been happier.

There are things I miss about our old house, though. I miss the four bedrooms, and everyone having their own space. I miss our big yard, and mowing the grass. I miss my little work space in the basement, and the pool table we had there. I miss doing all the home improvements. We didn't hire Kansas City remodeling to do the work; Junior and I did it all ourselves. We decorated each bedroom the way the kids wanted. We made that house a home, and sometimes I miss that.

But once I remember all the strings and manipulation that went with living there, I don't miss it anymore. We may be cramped in this apartment, and we may not have our own bedrooms anymore, but what we do have is happiness.

And you can't put a price on happiness.

Fingers Crossed

My mom went and looked at the house today. She said it was nice, and that she would probably make an offer. It is a foreclosure, and needs a little work, but most of it is cosmetic. The carpet would need to be replaced, and the walls repainted. She said the kitchen was kind of small, and somewhere down the line she would look into Rochester remodeling to maybe make it a little bigger. They weren't sure if the pool filter worked, but she did get to look in the building out back. Apparently the previous owners were making it into a pool house because there was a toilet and shower already installed. The rest looked to her like it was used as a workshop, and she told me that Junior would be able to work on cars in there. Her realtor found out that the offer that was made on the house was for less than half of the appraised value. Did that make sense? The good news with that is that my mom can offer a little more than they did, and still get it for a steal. Her realtor warned that it could turn into a bidding war, but that's okay. If it's meant to be, my mom will get the house.

I really hope she does, because I will be over there every night swimming. It's good exercise, you know.

My Sister Is Moving

My sister is moving in a couple of weeks. In fact, I think the move is scheduled for Father's Day weekend. I know she looking into moving trucks to make things a little bit easier. I found this one company, ABF U-Pack Moving, that will drop off a trailer for you to load before the move, then they come and drive the trailer to your new home, and you get to unload it. The convenient thing about this is that you have three business days to load it, and then three business days to unload it. There's no rushing and stress about having to return a truck within twelve hours. This is one of my pregnant sisters, so she needs to be able to take things slow.

Apartments In Georgia

My husband has been wanting to move away from here for a while now. If he got his way, we would leave the state of South Carolina. In the past, he has suggested we move to Georgia. I don't want to move that far away, but was curious about the cost of living there. I wanted to compare the prices of Marietta Apartments, and promove.com was able to show me side by side comparisons of the apartments that matched my needs. It was free to see what they had to offer, and made easy work of sorting through all the properties available. I found some awesome apartments, but I still don't want to move. I like living close to my mother.

It's Moving Time

I don't remember if I wrote about my sister putting her house up for sale. I think it was a couple of months ago that her and her husband decided to try and sell their house. It was on the market for just a month or so before it sold. She is now in the process of packing for the move, and looking for a new house to buy. The house they are in now has a Diesel Generator, and I am pretty sure they are going to want to have one at whatever house they move to as well. With a two year old and another baby on the way, it's always good to be prepared for power outages. Living in the South, we get bad ice storms, and your power could be out for days at a time. Junior and I have looked into Diesel Generators too, but don't want to buy anything permanent, because we just rent here. They do have Towable Diesel Generators which would probably be perfect for us, that way we could easily take it with us if we moved. We don't plan on moving any time soon, but it's always good to be ready for the future, and I am hoping that someday, we can buy a house of our own.

Pits

A few weeks ago my neighbor got a puppy. Her name is Shada. She really is pretty cute, but she has to go.

Why?

Because she is a pit bull.

I know right now she is not a danger to my kids, but the older she gets, the more nervous I get. I know there are people out there who love these dogs, and they are cute, as puppies. But every story you hear about the family pit bull who attacked starts with, "s/he has always been so gentle with the kids" until the day s/he ripped the kids face off.

I am sure I am insulting some dog owners out there, but I do, from the bottom of my heart, believe that these dogs are inherently vicious dogs. They are bred to fight. My only hope is that the landlord gets wind of the dog, because we have breed restrictions here. Owning a pit bull voids the warranty, and they will be evicted immediately. I could suggest a great Dallas Moving company to help them move, because they will have to move quickly. Junior and I would never be the ones to tell the management company, especially since their lease is up soon, and they don't plan on renewing. I just hope Shada doesn't grow up and hurt their daughter.

Should We Move?

Our lease is up in a few months. I think we have to resign in August. I am not sure what we are going to do.

On one hand, I like where we live. It's off the road, so the kids can play in the yard without me worrying about them getting hit if a car veers off the road. It has the creek, and Ryan loves dropping his minnow basket to see what he can catch. We have seen a variety of fish, snakes, and craw fish over the last nine months, and I know he is looking forward to seeing what he can catch this summer. We also just planted our garden, and I would hate to move before we get every last vegetable off those plants.

But, and there is always a but, the roof still leaks. They do send someone out every time we call, and i guess they do try to fix the problem, but this is getting old. Poor Kasi has to sleep on the floor when it rains, because we have to put a bucket where her pillow is to catch the water leaking from the ceiling. The little piece that you push down to drain the tub broke, so the water stands in the tub for a long time before it finally drains, making it nice and slippery. The walls need to be painted because of the water stains, and I think they should have to pay for the paint. I'm not looking for them to buy a different color, I just want the water marks gone.

Junior is wanting to move further away from his family. He has been talking about leaving the state. I'm not too sure about that, because I have family here, but I agreed to at least look at other places. He wants to check out Austin Realtors and maybe move to Texas. I was born in Oklahoma, so it might be nice to be able to live close to where I was born, but I am not making any promises. I am just looking.

Who am I kidding. I would never move that far away from my mother.