New house, being busy, and not wanting to do much

It has been almost a month since the last post. We got our furniture finally, though some of it was in bad shape. The folks who packed the first truck, the one that arrived last, did not use enough blankets, and some of my wooden furniture was scratched and damaged. I was NOT a happy camper. We worked first to get the kitchen, bedroom, and master bedroom set up. Then we worked on the kitchen. We got the new range (a multi-fuel Samsung – gas burners and electric oven that can be used as one big unit or subdivided into two) plus some great storage for the pots and pans.

It is called a Rev-a-shelf. It holds all my pots, the lids, and left enough space in the cabinet for my Kitchenaid mixer! I still want some more pull out shelves, especially in the bathroom that has deep cabinets, but those are on hold. We also got the blinds we ordered. We bought two at first, to make sure we like them. We did, and then ordered them for the rest of the house. These have cloth strips holding the cords, and I like the look. Oh, and notice the dirt mountain just visible behind the blinds? The first week we were here the developer started moving a huge amount of dirt from other construction sites nearby. This pile is probably 15 feet high and 50 or more feet long. Luckily I know it won’t stay since there will be a Road right through the middle of it in the next year or so. However all the trucks were amazing noisy, though my grandsons were entranced.

However, after all the big stuff needed to live was done, I have found it hard to get motivated. I say each day I am going to get X, Y, and Z done, but it just doesn’t happen. I admit my back is giving me fits, but I think it is actually a response to just too much happening.

Oh, and the motorhome is built and is either at the dealer or getting there soon. They will do an inspection, and we will arrive in Sherman, MS on 11 June to start the inspection and instruction how to operate it plus they will modify the Jeep Grand Cherokee to work as a toad. We then need to drive it to not far into AL for driving lessons! Lots of people just drive off in a big motorhome, but we though it would be much better to get driving instruction. It will be two 6 hour days, and we both will do it (together). This is what is getting exciting! Of course we are also need to sell the current trailer, and that is taking more time than I thought it would. Here in the Midwest there just aren’t as many people interested in this manufacturer. It isn’t like we need the money from the trailer to buy the motorhome, but we don’t intend on being here a lot and want it gone! We can’t sell the truck until the trailer is sold, and we will use the cash from the truck to pay off the Jeep. Lots nicer to be back to just one payment – the mortgage.

We own a house again

We were “homeless” for a few days between selling the Utah house on Monday and closing on the new Iowa house yesterday (Thirsday). Of course the bank account looked pretty nice for a few days LOL! We had hoped to leave for Iowa today, but weather came in to delay us. The truck packing got delayed for the same reason, so we are still at the KOA in Salt Lake City. We do plan on taking off tomorrow morning, hopefully about 12 hours behind the weather.

The house closing in Iowa was a mess. I really owe my son and daughter in law a lot for dealing with so much of it. I have never had a sale be so much trouble. We are literally finding things things wrong with the house about an hour ahead of closing!  The builder’s tradesmen are obviously not careful, and they added some more dents and bumps to the house since the walkthrough on Wednesday. We did get it all finished up, though we gave up on getting their cleaners to do a good job. I just hired another crew to come in Monday.

Still trying to get some sewing done too. I would love to have a baby quilt top completed by the time I have the quilting machine set up. The baby is due in May, and this quilt just might not make it in time.

 

Too much going on to post!

Well the house in Utah has sold, and we have bought a house in Iowa. The prices in the Salt Lake City area are quite high compared to Iowa, so we were able to get a really nice new construction place with better features than the one we sold. About the same size, but with granite countertops, a three car garage, quality appliances, and just all-around better construction. Of course this means getting a 5 bedroom, 2 living areas, and a huge sewing room packed and moved. Anyone who has done can agree it is a terrible job, but it is done as of 2 days ago. I have had hardly any time to do anything fun, but I did get some sewing done. Here is the baby quilt for my niece’s upcoming baby.

I like the Irish Chain design. She wanted something understated, and she likes grays and whites. The white is a bright white Moda and the gray is Moda Grunge which is shot with streaks of white. I used a pale icy blue for the quilting. I am particularly proud of my binding on this one.

I also got a bit of embroidery done on some burp cloths.

We are currently living at the KOA in Salt Lake City. Remarkably quiet and pretty nice. We much prefer staying in our travel trailer to staying in a hotel, and we need to stay here until after the Hamilton show we have tickets to on Wednesday. Then it will be off to Iowa.

Oh, and we did take a trip to Kodachrome Basin State Park a couple of weeks ago. I will do a separate post for that.

Pulled the trigger

We got the proposals for buying the motorhome, and we chose to go with a bid from Sherman RV Center in Sherman, Mississippi. They are near the Tiffin factory, and the salesman we had said they have more on order now than they have ever had. It will probably be 16 weeks until we can pick up the coach though. We are instead frantically cleaning, sorting, and packing the house. We had a “stager” come in to tell us how much furniture to remove, how many books should be in the book cases, even where to place the rugs. The biggest problem is my sewing studio. Luckily she says I can keep all the machines and thread, but I have to clean up the shelves and miscellaneous stuff. Sigh.

We also pulled the trigger on a new vehicle. We decided to get a Jeep Grand Cherokee Trailhawk. It is one of the few that can be flat towed behind the motorhome. We found a local dealer with a couple of units advertised at a good price. We went in, did a test drive, and struck a deal. Of course they didn’t want to honor the deal, but we convinced them otherwise when we got up to leave. So far I am very pleased with it. It has all kinds of safety features that are lovely. It is comfortable too, so we are going to take it back to Iowa with a load of canoes, snow thrower, lawn mower, propane bottles, and some other miscellaneous stuff. We will get a P.O. box and we have already rented a storage u it. We will also look at houses with a Realtor. We might even get lucky and make an offer contingent on getting the Utah house sold. I am crossing my fingers!

Here is a not very good picture of the Jeep. I don’t have one  when it is outside since it is snowing. I love the bright red color!

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Big changes coming

For the last three weeks Kevin and I have been thinking about the timing of selling our house in Utah, buying a house in Iowa (home of most kids and all grandkids), and buying a motorhome (required for long snowbird trips because, well, Iowa). We pulled the trigger last night. The Utah house is listed for sale with the first publicity and open house on 1 March. I am sending price requests to some big Tiffin motorhome dealers for a new 37PA motorhome, and we are checking out Realtors in Cedar Falls, Iowa. It isn’t as fast as it might seem, because we had been talking about the options for over six months, but it almost takes my breath away. The house timing is good. The Salt Lake City area market is fantastic right now for sellers, with multiple offers and top dollar being common. The market in Cedar Falls is solid, not spectacular, and homes are available. Rates are probably heading up, hurting buyers and sellers, so we might as well do it now. The motorhome has a floor plan very livable for us, and we can swing the price. So, off to the real work of clean up, paint, stain, and decluttering. We have a new housekeeper candidate coming to give us a quote (I was ready to fire my old ones anyway), another one with a quote in the next few days, plus a “staging expert” today. We bought boxes, and we are already packing things like clothes and stuff we know needs to be out of the house. Luckily we have a big storage unit to put stuff in. It is still rather breath taking.