The past month – moving and more…..
Well, its been a crazy month since the last blog update.
For those that don’t know, we sold our house in mid May after Vicki and I thought, let’s put the house on the market and see what happens. Well, guess what, it sold in 2 days to the first people that walked through. After looking at over 70 homes (variety of ages, prices, sizes and more), we came up empty handed. We made 2 offers and neither seller took them. The funny thing is that both houses are still on the market. Over those weeks of looking, I spent 3 hours a day researching houses. What I found out is that people paid too much for their houses a few years back (compared to new prices today), people believe their house is worth more than it really is, and the last is that most people do not keep up their house. I cannot tell you how many houses that we looked at that were in poor condition.
So where does that leave us, we decided to build a house in Prior Lake next to Cleary Lake Park. The house is nice but the location next to Cleary Lake is what really sold me. I needed to be close to a park system. We signed papers in early June and the house was to be started in early July for move in by mid-October. I still haven’t stopped looking at other homes. I am going with a parallel path in that we can still cancel our new house purchase if we buy something else (and lose our earnest money – not much). So why not, continue to keep looking.
Since we decided to build a house and had to move out of our house by June 27th, we need temporary housing. After looking at apartments and rental homes, we got lucky and rented my friend Greg’s house (since he moved to California last November). So Vicki led the charge with the packing and the move. We moved most of our stuff on June 22nd with the help of Scott, Bob, Grampa Milty and Gramma Peggy, and cousins Travis & Erik. The movers did the rest on June 26th. Vicki cleaned up the house that night and I finished it on Friday morning. I met the new owners (Scott and Janis) on Friday morning and showed them the ropes around 917 Southwind Drive. We went to the closing at 1 PM and unfortunately, the buyers had paperwork issues but we finally got the check later that day.
We had moved a 5 bedroom (+ workshop) house into a 3 bedroom house. So Greg’s house is packed with our stuff, most of our belongings are still in boxes and we have the majority of the garage full. There are days in which we cannot find what we are looking for but maybe we don’t need it. Within a few days of moving in, we met the neighbors and the people behind us are from Kaukana (next to Little Chute) and Park Falls (near U.P.). Small world.
Last weekend, we headed to Pine Grove Campground to see Vicki’s parents and Brad’s family. On Friday, July 4th. I competed in the Leopolis Triathlon. I was in the Jock class. The swim was 50 meters, bike was 12 miles and run of 5 miles. The swim was crazy, it took place in a river and halfway though the swim was a mucky sandbar. I did OK on the swim. The bike didn’t go well. My cycle computer stopped working before the race and I had an upset stomach from the energy bar that I skarfed down. I finished the bike course and hopped onto the run course. The race staff pointed me in the wrong direction and I ran the wrong course. I ended up running the short course (2 miles) when I pointed that out to the finish people, they told me to do another lap. Needless to say, I finished in 9th place but should have been closer to 20th place. Following the race, we all ate brats and burgers and stayed around for the parade. Wayne and I even drank a beer waiting for the parade to start. The parade was nice and short. The three kids (Brooke, Riley and Trent) must have collected 5 pounds of candy. On Saturday, my good friend Scott McMillan and his family stopped by the campground. We caught up on the good old days and his recent career in North Carolina. His girls (Brianna & Reina) had a great time. While at the campground, Trent and I went fishing and he must have caught 60 fish in 30 minutes. On Sunday, we left for home with 2 dirty kids and plenty of bug bites.
On Monday, July 7th, I attend my last Park and Natural Resources Commission meeting for Burnsville. The meeting went almost 2 hours with my resignation being discussed as the last topic. I hated to resign but since we are moving out of Burnsville, I had no choice.
On Tuesday, July 8th, Brad and Katie (with kids) came to visit us on the way down to Kansas City to visit her parents. I took Brad for a mountain bike ride at Murphy Hanrehan. I believe he liked it and he didn’t get hurt. I followed it up with a teleconference with a customer.
On Wednesday, July 9th, we stopped by the new house and the foundation was already poured. The house takes up the majority of the yard. Progress is being made. Many people have said to stop by the house every day to make sure they are building it properly. But since this house is a more of a cookie cutter house (standard configuration) and I don’t believe they need someone looking over their shoulder. The new house will be ~ 4000 square feet finished with 300 square feet of storage. There will be 5 bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms, 1 family room, 1 living room, 1 office and one huge amusement room. The house will be huge.
Well. I am going to cut the blog off here but here’s a sneak peek on our upcoming activities.
Thursday (7/10) – Bob and Loree coming over for dinner
Saturday (7/12) – Tot Shabbat and then Uncle John and Aunt Pat’s 50th Anniversary Party
Sunday (7/13) – Pool Party at Kathe and Franks
Wednesday (7/16) – Seagate Valleyfair Day
Saturday (7/26) – Outing Fun Run
By the way, we no longer have a home phone and using our cell phones for everything in case someone needs to contact us.
Well, its been a crazy month since the last blog update.
For those that don’t know, we sold our house in mid May after Vicki and I thought, let’s put the house on the market and see what happens. Well, guess what, it sold in 2 days to the first people that walked through. After looking at over 70 homes (variety of ages, prices, sizes and more), we came up empty handed. We made 2 offers and neither seller took them. The funny thing is that both houses are still on the market. Over those weeks of looking, I spent 3 hours a day researching houses. What I found out is that people paid too much for their houses a few years back (compared to new prices today), people believe their house is worth more than it really is, and the last is that most people do not keep up their house. I cannot tell you how many houses that we looked at that were in poor condition.
So where does that leave us, we decided to build a house in Prior Lake next to Cleary Lake Park. The house is nice but the location next to Cleary Lake is what really sold me. I needed to be close to a park system. We signed papers in early June and the house was to be started in early July for move in by mid-October. I still haven’t stopped looking at other homes. I am going with a parallel path in that we can still cancel our new house purchase if we buy something else (and lose our earnest money – not much). So why not, continue to keep looking.
Since we decided to build a house and had to move out of our house by June 27th, we need temporary housing. After looking at apartments and rental homes, we got lucky and rented my friend Greg’s house (since he moved to California last November). So Vicki led the charge with the packing and the move. We moved most of our stuff on June 22nd with the help of Scott, Bob, Grampa Milty and Gramma Peggy, and cousins Travis & Erik. The movers did the rest on June 26th. Vicki cleaned up the house that night and I finished it on Friday morning. I met the new owners (Scott and Janis) on Friday morning and showed them the ropes around 917 Southwind Drive. We went to the closing at 1 PM and unfortunately, the buyers had paperwork issues but we finally got the check later that day.
We had moved a 5 bedroom (+ workshop) house into a 3 bedroom house. So Greg’s house is packed with our stuff, most of our belongings are still in boxes and we have the majority of the garage full. There are days in which we cannot find what we are looking for but maybe we don’t need it. Within a few days of moving in, we met the neighbors and the people behind us are from Kaukana (next to Little Chute) and Park Falls (near U.P.). Small world.
Last weekend, we headed to Pine Grove Campground to see Vicki’s parents and Brad’s family. On Friday, July 4th. I competed in the Leopolis Triathlon. I was in the Jock class. The swim was 50 meters, bike was 12 miles and run of 5 miles. The swim was crazy, it took place in a river and halfway though the swim was a mucky sandbar. I did OK on the swim. The bike didn’t go well. My cycle computer stopped working before the race and I had an upset stomach from the energy bar that I skarfed down. I finished the bike course and hopped onto the run course. The race staff pointed me in the wrong direction and I ran the wrong course. I ended up running the short course (2 miles) when I pointed that out to the finish people, they told me to do another lap. Needless to say, I finished in 9th place but should have been closer to 20th place. Following the race, we all ate brats and burgers and stayed around for the parade. Wayne and I even drank a beer waiting for the parade to start. The parade was nice and short. The three kids (Brooke, Riley and Trent) must have collected 5 pounds of candy. On Saturday, my good friend Scott McMillan and his family stopped by the campground. We caught up on the good old days and his recent career in North Carolina. His girls (Brianna & Reina) had a great time. While at the campground, Trent and I went fishing and he must have caught 60 fish in 30 minutes. On Sunday, we left for home with 2 dirty kids and plenty of bug bites.
On Monday, July 7th, I attend my last Park and Natural Resources Commission meeting for Burnsville. The meeting went almost 2 hours with my resignation being discussed as the last topic. I hated to resign but since we are moving out of Burnsville, I had no choice.
On Tuesday, July 8th, Brad and Katie (with kids) came to visit us on the way down to Kansas City to visit her parents. I took Brad for a mountain bike ride at Murphy Hanrehan. I believe he liked it and he didn’t get hurt. I followed it up with a teleconference with a customer.
On Wednesday, July 9th, we stopped by the new house and the foundation was already poured. The house takes up the majority of the yard. Progress is being made. Many people have said to stop by the house every day to make sure they are building it properly. But since this house is a more of a cookie cutter house (standard configuration) and I don’t believe they need someone looking over their shoulder. The new house will be ~ 4000 square feet finished with 300 square feet of storage. There will be 5 bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms, 1 family room, 1 living room, 1 office and one huge amusement room. The house will be huge.
Well. I am going to cut the blog off here but here’s a sneak peek on our upcoming activities.
Thursday (7/10) – Bob and Loree coming over for dinner
Saturday (7/12) – Tot Shabbat and then Uncle John and Aunt Pat’s 50th Anniversary Party
Sunday (7/13) – Pool Party at Kathe and Franks
Wednesday (7/16) – Seagate Valleyfair Day
Saturday (7/26) – Outing Fun Run
By the way, we no longer have a home phone and using our cell phones for everything in case someone needs to contact us.
Here's pictures in revers order (from newest to oldest!)
Our new home foundation.
Grandma Carol making the famous ice cream cake.
Trent and Brooke celebrating their candy colelction at the Leoplois triathlon.
Grampa and Riley in their July 4th best!
Where did Gramma hide the keys? Gavin (18 months) was the first one to drive the cart by himself.
Riley is just hanging around to see the lil' chipmunks.
Riley ready for the slip and slide
Our old home.... 917 Southwind Drive
The kids looking out of their temporary home....
Father's day celebration with Grampa Milty
Vicki and Brooke at the hole digging of the house
Talk with ya later!
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