ketchup

Back in elementary school, I can remember my teachers say, "today is a ketchup day."  I was always excited because that meant that we weren't going to do real work; but I never really understood.  Now that I am a little older, and am using the "ketchup day" idea in my own classroom, I get it.  It’s catch up, not ketchup.  It's a day to complete the unfinished, the neglected, and the forgotten.  Today is my catch up day.  Here is what's been happening in the Savini house, I supposed houses since we've relocated, in the past while.

Back in April, we got the word that we would be transferred from San Antonio, Texas to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri.  Once we got past the shock and we were able to compose ourselves, we made a list.  The list had everything we needed to do before moving.  We slowly began to cross items off and the reality began to set in.  Our time in San Antonio was coming to a close.  A chapter was over.  Our time was up.  

First on the list was: put the house on the market.  After a bidding-war situation, we were under contract.  Crossing this item off the list directed us to item two: find a house in Missouri.  We saw a long weekend as the perfect opportunity to throw together a house hunt.  28 hours by car in 4 days, with an infant, not fun.  But we made it and found the house of our dreams.  Life was good.  We made the deposits, signed the documents, met the landlord; all was right in the world and I was living a dream.  Then we got a call saying our perfect house didn't want to be rented anymore, it wanted a real owner.  After many tears, phone calls to the owners, listing agent and our families; we decided to sign a longer lease with the option to buy this home.  We still haven't put in an offer as we are finding too many things we'd like to do it the house.  But it's an option we're keeping open.  We were back on track.

Our closing date came and went and still weren't moved out of the house. Living nightmare.  The new owners were polite enough to let us have the entire day to move and we needed until 11pm to clean out.  The Uhaul was packed and had the jeep loaded on a dolly behind.  Graham and I went to our friends' house where we would be permanent residents for the next month.  God bless Jenna and Leo Pacheco for putting up with us!  Meanwhile, Matt and Wheati hit the road.  When they arrived, some paid workers off craigslist (shady!) were waiting to help unload.  Three days later, Matt made the drive back to Texas to finish his last internship in San Antonio.  My mom and I met him on our way up to Missouri with Graham.  We stopped for a bite to eat at a crummy fast food stop and passed off Wheati and went back to driving in different directions.  As I watched Matt drive off in my rear view mirror, it became real; we're moving.  It should have hit me sooner but it didn't.  Pulling into the driveway to the new house I was filled with many different emotions: anticipation, anxiety, happiness, sadness, and fear, but I somehow knew it was right.  We were where God wanted us to be at this time in our life.  Two weeks went by and Matt finished his rotation and Mom and I had the house looking like home.  We headed back for Matt's Graduation.  Another 13 hour ride with big G.

As we drove to San Antonio, we had family on the east coast packing their suitcases for weather over 100 degrees.  Smiles were all around in anticipation to see Matt get his Doctorate.  Mom and Dad Walters, Mom Savini, Anth and Jess (Matt's oldest brother and wife) and Aunt Gerri (Matt's Mom's sister) all arrived and the party began.  Matt graduated, Graham was dedicated and then before we knew it flights were departing.  Family had to fly home and we were back on our way to Missouri, for the last time, this time.  Our time in San Antonio had expired.  Leaving was tough.  I cry just thinking about leaving our friends.  "God has plans for us.  Big plans."  I kept telling myself.

We have been in our new home for a month now.  I think we still left a few things behind in our San Antonio house, because they couldn't fit.  We're slowly realizing things are missing here.  Like the plunger.  

Graham will be 7 months on October 1st.  He is growing like a weed.  He is wearing 9 month clothes and size 3 shoes.  His head is huge; we make fun of him.  He laughs so hard you have to laugh too.  He is cutting teeth.  Everyone says how bad it is, and it is so true.  I want to cry too.  He is saying sounds like "mo," "ba," and precious ooos, cooo and ahh.  He is eating solid foods and can't get enough of them.  He yells at you if you're too slow at giving him his next bite or if you're multitasking.  He is adorable.  

Wheati has had 2 bacteria infections since we've been here, poor boy!  Needless to say we found a vet and she is fabulous!  He hates the vet office, but he loves the open grounds here at the house.  We have pups on both sides of us so he's on cloud nine.  We have a cool basement and tile floors he can't get enough of.  Now that the seasons have changed, he just lays on the deck and lets the wind blow his hair.  He looks like a dog model.  He's sick in the head, but we love him.
 

Matt is "in-processing."  His days are full of classes about the area, base rules, the dos and don'ts.  Most are silly but some are helpful.  He always comes home and tells me the best ones from the day.  He takes his big test at the end of October to become licensed.  He studies a lot.  He goofs off a lot. ;)  He is excited to be, what I call the "real deal" PT.  He also turned 30 last week!  We went out on a date; second one since Graham's arrival.  Our sitter is amazing.  She has agreed to quit her job and be our full-time nanny when I get a job.  She's perfect, right?!



I am staying at home with Graham and love every second of it.  I set my alarm for 8 am and when I walk into his room his head turns like an owl to see me and gives his big ol' grin and starts my day off right.   We have a great routine going.  Teething has really thrown a wrench in it, but we'll get back to it.  I'm looking for a teaching position but being in a small town, it is almost harder than the big cities.  Turn over is almost not existent.  God will open the door in His time.  I just have to be patient and not a control freak.  I have trouble giving things over. ;)

Now you're up to date!  Life is good.  God is great.  Keep us in your prayers.

Done and Done

Well, here we are almost a week after closing on our first house and the Savini family couldn't be happier. We have a few more curtains to hang and bins to unpack, but other than that, it looks and feels like home.  My commute has been so nice and Matt has only been stuck in terrible traffic once.  We both feel like we made the right decision to buy this house and we all know Wheati couldn't be happier.  Thanks for following our journey of ups and downs and being so supportive.  We look forward to making happy memories here and sharing our home with others.  God Bless and come visit :)

You're kidding me...

So, we were all panicked about the $5,000 we had to bring to closing and when we arrived and went over the paper work, we were asked to cut a check for $3.02.  bahahahaha!  God has a sense of humor alright!  Bad news is that the owner decided to take the refrigerator so we're in the market for one of those before we move in on Saturday.  When we finally cross one hump, I feel like we're already hiking up another, but I guess that's the way life is.  It has been a long and awesome day and Wheati couldn't be happier.  More to come soon, so stay posted :)

Makin' Progress

I just wanted to throw out an update to you and bring you up to speed.  We were able to get everything together to close this Thursday.  Surprise, surprise, something came up we didn't know about.  It turns out we have to bring like, THOUSANDS of dollars to closing (when we negotiated them into the contract...).  Apparently in Texas, you have to pay 13 months of taxes in October and they decided to add them into our closing costs, UGH!  We're working on that and all I can say is "thank the Lord for my job!"  He has placed me at the right place at the right time, just like he always does.  I am in the middle of my first week of teaching Kindergarten and signing my life away after an eleven hour day is just a little much, so I told Matt he is in charge of moving us :) Aren't I sweet?  I'll help on the weekend, but since he wanted to do it so fast, he is in charge :)  It goes without saying that we need help packing.  If you love to pack dishes and see how much will fit into one vehicle and still have the truck shut, all in over 100 degree heat, come on down!  ha!  Please pray for us as we go through this exciting and stressful experience.  Hopefully the next post will have a picture of the keys to our new home. :)

Big News

After waiting for reports from the roofer, plumber, electrician and builder, we were finally able to submit our repairs to the seller.  After waiting for what has felt like forever, really 2 days, Ramsey called with the news that the seller is going to fix EVERYTHING!  Praise the Lord!  It was another dance party in the computer room.  Just as Matt was filling me in on his call with Ramsey, I receive this message from HGTV, "Hey Rachael, Just so you know, everyone on our end is on pins and needles.  The possibility of working on your story has brought some cheer to our group."  Talk about buzz kill.  They have been calling, and asking how we have been doing and if our offer somehow fell through.  If the seller hadn't agreed to fix everything, Matt and I were willing to walk away and find another home and if that had happened, they were going to come out and film the rest of our house hunting journey.  It is really a shame, but everything happens for a reason.  But on the bright side, we now have two spare bedrooms for guests, so book your vacation with us :)

Inspection(s), CHECK!

Matt and I had thought that it would be smooth sailing after we heard Ramsey say the words, "they accepted your offer; you got the house!"  The worst was over.  No more internet searches, late night drives, showings, or frustration because WE found the perfect house and it was going to be OURS.  Boy, were we wrong.  We, I really mean Matt, has been on the phone with our lender every day this week (I feel like I need to add him to our Christmas card list) trying to eliminate some of the many documents they need before we can move forward.  After much searching the file cabinets, Tupperware I had crammed in the back of the closet and both of our computer hard-drives, we finally finished the last thing on our list and are hoping to close early.  We once again, were on cloud nine thinking we really have this whole "house buying thing" down pat.  WRONG-O!  We underwent our inspection, you know, the really expensive one that makes you paranoid about every little thing, well, that's what happened to me.  We were e-mailed a copy of the inspection report to find a few, I say few, but really enough "needs attention" to fill eight pages.  Ramsey says that is pretty good since he just had a client's come in at thirty-five pages.  I'm counting my blessings after hearing that!  Well, these eight pages have had my full attention lately.  I've met with the plumber, roofer, foundation experts, and the builder to review the home and discuss how they were going to hook me up and straighten it all out.  I can say now, $542 later, that the house is in great shape and I am certainly not going to say that we have a handle on this process because I don't want to see how God will show me that I don't, but we are on schedule to close August 31st, hopefully early.  Prayers appreciated :)

One last thing before I head to bed... I have to give props to Matt.  He has really grabbed every challenge by the reigns and refused to get discouraged.  I am so thankful to have such an awesome husband fight to find me the perfect house to make into our first home <3

We are UNDER CONTRACT!

WE GOT THE HOUSE!  The Savinis will be relocating to Live Oak.  We chose the home the GPS brought us to (read all about the background story in "Hot Off The Press").  Matt and I feel like God picked this home out for us and we couldn't be more excited. 
Our new home is a single-story 1614 sq ft home with three bedrooms, two baths, and a two car garage.  I know how much Matt and I love the house, but does it meet all of Wheati's wish list?
-Fenced in yard for blitzing around like a mad man, CHECK!
-3+ bedrooms so that he can get his mom and dad's office out of his room, CHECK!
-2.5 baths ("one for mom, one for dad, and mine with NO SHOWER please!") Single story so he'll get over it, CHECK!
-Tile or hardwoods somewhere in the house for him to lay on during the hot Texas days, CHECK!
He is going to LOVE his new home :)
We are looking forward to the house getting inspected and appraised and keep us in your prayers! :)