In my my last blog I talked about MFH’s (My Favorite Husband) job search.  He’d been looking for about a year.  We were a little discouraged but knew there was something amazing out there, we just needed to be patient and wait on God’s timing.

Sometimes that’s such a hard thing to do!

MFH had an interview a week ago today (Wednesday).  That evening, the owner of the company called (I didn’t know at the time it was the owner) and asked to speak to MFH.  I explained that MFH was in Des Moines and he was talking to Mississippi.

The poor man was confused and me being me, I started blabbering.  I was trying my best to explain that MFH was visiting with his parents while also interviewing.   Of course I had to tell how MFH and I had grown up in Des Moines…. blah, blah, blah. I knew the man’s eyes were glazing over.  I could hear it over the phone but I couldn’t make myself shut up!  It was after business hours and I knew this was a GOOD thing~him calling.

Finally, I stopped for air and asked if he’d like MFH’s cell number.  I could hear the relief in his voice.  Too funny! I gave him the number while FB msg MFH saying he was going to get a phone call and finally freed the man on the other end of my line.

All of that and this guy STILL offered MFH the job!

YAY!!!

That was Thursday evening.

Friday morning, MFH accepted the job offer and later that day, resigned his current job, taking early retirement.  He had 21 years at the current job with full pension so this was a very happy thing!

Friday, MFH also drove home from Des Moines and then went to #1 Son’s house to babysit the grandpups, Alice and Arlo.

#1 Son was down on the Gulf Coast at the Mississippi Press Association’s Conference where he won 4 Awards!!!  He brought home 2 personal awards and 2 shared awards with colleagues.  YAY, #1 Son!!!

After finishing babysitting, MFH came home later on Saturday.  I did his laundry while he rested the we hit the sack.

We were both up early Sunday morning, packed the car and drove up to Dubuque, Iowa to begin shopping for a house.  We gave ourselves a total of 3 days to shop, make an offer and get back home.  We simply didn’t have any more wiggle room for a leisurely shopping trip!

MFH’s last day with his current job is next Friday, July 5.  His first day at his new job is July 22.  We wanted to buy the house, close on the house and be all moved during the week of July 15.

That’s a pretty aggressive schedule!

Now, we had made our shopping list of what we wanted in a house.

1. Usable garage.  Neither one of us wanted to have to chip snow/ice off the windshield during the winter.  MFH also wanted a place to call his own for his projects.  He enjoys his hobbies so this was important to him.
2. Hard wood floors.  NO carpet! I despise carpet with every inch of my 4’11” self.  Simply put, if the house had carpeting in a room, it was immediately off the list.
3. A partially fenced in yard for our #PetitePooch, Tess.  We knew with the price of land in Iowa, we’d be in the city.  Land is premium in Iowa and we wouldn’t be able to afford all the wiggle room/privacy we have here in Mississippi.  With a fenced in portion of the yard, we wouldn’t have to walk Tess every time she needed to visit the grass.

You wouldn’t believe how hard it was to find houses with all three of these items!  Either the garages weren’t usable or there was carpet.  The fencing wasn’t too big a problem.

We actually found ONE house that fit the bill!  Both of us loved the house, too!!! *small miracle*  So, we put an offer on it Tuesday afternoon, opened a local bank account, got pre~approved for a new mortgage, went back to our B&B and rested.

Wednesday morning, we packed up the car and drove home on pins and needles.  Would they accept our offer?  We offered pretty low BUT the house had been on the market 3 months.  We offered well under the initial asking price so we knew it’d be a bitter pill to swallow.  Still, we crossed our fingers and turned the car south to Mississippi.

They had until 2:00pm Thursday afternoon to accept OR counteroffer.

About 10:00am, we got the text (I think we were in Missouri at the time) that they’d accepted!!!

Happy Dance!

So what do we do now?

We ordered packing boxes and supplies off Amazon.  They’ll be here Saturday then the fun begins!  *Reminder to self that I need to reserve a moving truck, too.

#1 Daughter and #1 SIL are flying in from Colorado to help with the actual move.  My parents have offered to help pack.  We’re getting stuff done!!!

We’ve contacted doctor’s offices to get medical files.  I still need to contact the vet for Castro and Tess’ stuff.

Are we selling our current house?  We’ll know by Saturday.  We have someone interested in renting.  He’ll look at it Saturday and then we’ll know.  If he decides against renting (and that’s fine) we’ll put it on the market.

I think that’s all we’ve done this week besides grabbing a few sanity keeping miles here and there along the way.

It’s been a mind blowing week!!!

Isn’t it awesome when you see God answer a year’s worth of praying in one week?  BOOM!!!

#IRun4Aiden