Boxing it all up...again!

So what had happened was....
Originally, when getting stationed in North Carolina, Bud & I decided we would live on base.
Upon arriving here we found out there was a long list of people waiting to move on base.
We went ahead and put our name on the list anyways because where else would we find a 2400 sq ft home with 4 bedrooms & 2.5 bathrooms and only a 5 minute drive to Bud's work?
Since we had to wait a while we decided to get a short term lease on an apartment, 3 months to be exact.
Well those 3 months came and went and we transitioned into a month to month deal with our complex...hoping and praying that we would move up on the housing list quicker and quicker.

The next thing I know it's getting colder outside and let's just say walking 2 big dogs 2x a day with a baby in all kinds of weather is less than appealing to either Bud or myself!
Bud called to find out where we ranked on the list...number 14....we had only moved down 7 spots since we moved here and they were predicting we may not get into a home until May-ish...MAYBE.
Thus started Bud's desire to find us a home.
It all started less than 1 week ago (Wednesday or Thursday).
He hit the internet hard and started looking for a place that his housing stipend would pay for.
That's right, the military either provides housing (if they aren't already full) or covers the cost of housing based on a scale that each region has.
We looked at so many houses online and all weekend we drove around neighborhoods...writing down phone numbers of homes that had FOR RENT signs in the yards.
Some realtors called back only to tell us that dogs weren't allowed.
Others called back to tell us the house wasn't in the price range we wanted.
And still others didn't return our calls at all!

We thought we found the house of our dreams, but when we called to apply for it on Monday morning we found out someone else had beaten us to the punch...bummer!  Oh well that house needed almost all the walls repainted and I didn't really want to tackle that kind of task.
However, right around the corner from that house was one that I didn't think would fall in our price range, after all it had a screened in back porch and I thought that would mean it was definitely more expensive.
We called anyways and found out that it was a little more than we wanted to pay.
We asked if the price was negotiable and the realtor didn't think it would be...so we dropped it.
The search continued and we hit dead end after dead end.
One place we negotiated the price, but the yard wasn't fenced and the realtor wasn't willing to discuss the fencing options with the home owner until we paid the deposit.
We weren't willing to pay the deposit until we knew how much we'd have to pay to put a fence up!
Finally after driving for hours and eating out because we lost track of time...Bud called the screened in porch home again and asked that realtor to please contact the home owner about negotiating the price IF we signed a longer lease term....2 years (after all we are military and will be here at least that long, also if we DO get orders to move they have to let us out of the lease no penalty...a benefit of being military).
Sure enough the homeowners agreed to the new price and we got ourselves a new place to live!
The bad part is that we had to pay rent at our apartment for November...and we will have to pay a pro-rated rent at the new place...ouch!
Not to mention the price of the deposit and the pet deposit....November is going to hurt our wallet pretty bad....but we will recover after the holidays!
The good thing is that we will have a lot of time to move our stuff to the new place as well as clean the old place....and it means we will be settled in our new home before Thanksgiving when my Dad is coming!!!
Another good thing, at least to me, is that the walls are already colors I like....different shades of tan (I know this sounds boring to many of y'all, but to me..it's better than the white walls we've had in each apartment we've lived in).
My mother-in-law is probably going to come help us move, which may strictly involve her holding her grand-daughter so I can help Bud pack and load.
So....here is a quick picture of the new place....

it's a 3 bedroom, 2.5 bathroom home.  With a great room over the garage which will be our office/craft area.  The backyard is huge so the dogs will be in heaven!  There is more cabinet space than I know what to do with....more storage via hall closets/pantries/and closet space!  Also there is a gas fireplace w/ a blower in the living room which I'm fairly confident will get used on a daily basis this winter.  

We have worked it out with the property management company that we will move in next weekend...so now all we have to do is find more people to help us move!

More pictures to follow once we get moved!

I hope you all had a Blessed Tueday!