projects and visitors

We moved all of our stuff in on April 27.  When I looked around the house at all the boxes I had no idea where to start.  Once the kitchen was put away I basically stopped.  Our house is two stories with a basement and there were boxes everywhere.  Britton left for California the following Tuesday and I was left to my own devices.  Luckily, my mother was feeling somewhat left out from our first house purchase so she jumped at the opportunity to fly up to help which made me even LESS motivated to unpack.  Why bother, mom is coming!  She will know where to start!!!

So at the end of the week Britton came home on Friday and mom came in on Saturday and that’s when things got really exciting around the new Wall house.  Britton and I have decided we are taking on a big project this summer by tearing out the three existing closets in the master bedroom in order to put in one large walk in.  We had a king size bed being delivered sometime on Saturday so we decided to start the demo portion of the project that morning to, more or less, make room for the bed where we wanted to have it.  To give you some background, three of the four corners of the room were turned into closets with the fourth corner taking up space from the bathroom.  One closet is original with the house, which is the one we were removing first while the other two were put in much later.

right closet is original, left closet was put in later. directly across from the left closet is the third closet in the room and it is exactly the same.

We also hate those built in cabinets above the windows and closets so those will be coming out as well.

So while mom unpacked boxes, Britton and I did some demo.  My mother in law came over to help as well so we had a full house, everyone doing something different to help up get our house in order.  I had an easy job in the demo, I removed the nails from all the framing and baseboards so that we could reuse it when we finish up the closets.

salvaging the wood

It’s funny, Britton didn’t think there would be much dust or debris so he didn’t even want to cover up our dressers and other closets…  He was dead wrong.

just the top parts of the closet remaining

Our wood floors are covered in dust.  That white in the corner is NOT our drop cloth.  Britton was just breathing in dust all day and refused to wear a mask.  Can’t imagine what that did to his lungs.  But despite the mess I think it all cleaned up pretty nicely.

the original closet is all out

I’m looking forward to finishing up this project this summer when we can get some help from Greg (my father in law).  He built his house from the ground up so he will be the best resource as we continue on our projects this summer!

to close or not to close

After our offer was accepted I assumed the process would fly by after that.  It seemed the biggest hurtle should be the negotiations.  What is it they say about assumptions?  I’m a dummy.  Around every corner there was another hurtle.  We were told we would close on the house on April 18th.  As you know I changed my job at the beginning of April which our loan officer assured us would not be an issue.  As you also know, I got married in September.  So two major life changes in the span of 7 months threw up a red flag the week of closing.  So they had to do an audit on me to make sure I wasn’t trying to commit identity fraud…

Friday, April 19th we were all set to close.  They had determined I wasn’t a criminal!  By about noon Britton and I were sitting on pins and needles waiting for the call with a time we would close.  We called our loan officer relentlessly and were getting little to no response.  Britton had taken half that day off so we could start moving.  At lunch time we went out to eat together both in rare form after the torture of waiting.  We heard around noon that we would not be closing after all.  The sellers had to install a Radon Mitigation system and they waited until the week of closing to get that taken care of.  What none of us seemed to know is that since we required it to be installed, our loan wouldn’t close until they had proof that the system was working.  So here is a timeline on this mitigation system:

• Installed on Tuesday April 16
• System takes 40 hours to begin working
• Follow up Radon Test takes 72 hours
• No follow-up test was requested until Friday when we were all notified of this requirement
• Radon Test began on SATURDAY April 20
• Results by Monday April 22

So needless to say, we weren’t closing and it would be tight to close on Monday but we were assured that would be the case.  Britton had his follow up at Mayo Monday and Tuesday so we moved some things around to accommodate the closing only to find out at 2 pm on Monday that we WOULD NOT be closing after all.  Nightmare-ish trip up to Rochester ensues.  You can read all about it here.

So after all that, we closed on April 24.  A full week after our official close date.  What’s funny is that our real estate agent told us our bank was known for late closings… Interesting.

We started home improvements that very night to make sure the house would be ready for move in on Saturday.  Britton and his dad, Greg, primed and painted the neon green room while my mother-in-law and I cleaned the bathroom and kitchen.  But the best part was our photo shoot on Thursday with Greg.

And thanks to Greg we were able to document our new house before it became a disaster which, I believe, is what happens to every house during the moving process… But then again, it could just be me!

negotiations

We found our house on a Monday.  It was the same Monday that the house went on the market.  Britton looked at the house again on Wednesday with his parents.  We put an offer on the house by Friday.  We were under the impression there was another very interested couple and we wanted to beat them to the punch.  We had a counter from the family by Saturday and our counter was accepted by Sunday.

I’d say that process happened pretty dang quickly!  After looking at houses and finding nothing until this one.  We dove in head first when we knew it was the right house.  I guess you could say its like finding your soul mate.  When you know, you know.  And there’s no point in dilly dally!  Our offer was accepted contingent upon the family’s offer being accepted on the house they were interested in.  It turns out, they put their house on the market because they found a house they wanted.  So the contingency plan was that they had 10 days for their offer to be accepted otherwise our accepted offer was off the table.  We heard within a few days that we were good to go and had our 10 day inspection period.

We paid extra in our inspection to test for radon… FYI, unless you have to do this for your loan or some other reason, leave the radon test alone.  Pain. In. The ARSE!  Because our house tested 3 times the acceptable levels of radon so that meant we needed to have a radon mitigation system installed.  Look that up.  I’ve got no clue what ANY of that means.  Our offer post inspection included the sellers to pay for a radon mitigation test, clean the humidifier and fix a rotted window (the house has almost all original windows, beautiful, pain to clean).  This counter offer was accepted on the condition that we split the cost of the radon mitigation system at closing.  We were good to go.

So in the span of 2 weeks we found, offered and were on our way to becoming home owners.  I was a little scared but VERY excited.

house hunt

Now that the whole brain tumor thing is over I say it’s appropriate to move on. A few posts ago I mentioned that we started looking at houses… Being cooped up at home with the tv keeping us occupied, we began watching HGTV. Bad idea if you weren’t planning on buying a house. The weekend before I went back to work we went out for fun to look at houses. Mostly houses we probably couldn’t afford but a few that we could. It was really meant to be just something fun to do on a Sunday to get out of the house. So lets keep track here… Mistake #1: Watched HGTV. Mistake #2: Pretend looking at houses on a Sunday is “just something to do.”

By Monday we had scheduled two showings (Mistake #3) for houses in the area that we were interested in. Not just fun and games anymore. Britton and I were in a debate about whether we wanted a real fixer upper or a move in ready home so we looked at one of each. As most of you know, Britton travels for work so to me, a real fixer upper would be one that I would spend more time being annoyed over than it was worth. Britton on the other hand could see the $$ in his eyes whenever he looked at a fixer upper so it was a real debate.

By the next weekend we were actually planning our weekends around open houses (Mistake #4). I have every open house scheduled into my phone so we could keep track of when they all were. This is the weekend we started looking at realistic house options. This weekend we sort of decided on a realtor as well so I guess we got pretty serious about it.

The next few weeks we were scheduling showings as fast as there was an MLS on a property (Mistake #5) as long as it was in an area that we were interested in and a house that fit our basic requirements, 2+ rooms with 2+ baths and at least a partially finished basement. I fell in love with a little cottage with all new updates but Britton hated the area. Britton would lean towards a bigger house with little character. We needed to find something in the middle and it was tough. In February people were just beginning to put their houses on the market so the selection wasn’t too great.

Outside of our realtor we were also looking at some brand new places being built in various places across the Sioux City area. We almost went in that direction and considered a town house but ultimately we decided they weren’t worth the price tag.

Britton and I had no intention of buying a house until we moved to Florida, and anticipated doing that in the next year. However, when I was offered my DREAM JOB working at the Salvation Army of Siouxland as their newly created (just for me) Volunteer and Development Director, we decided Florida could wait and purchasing a house was a reality. So while we were making the mistakes, the job offer turned our mistakes into great research opportunity because one night in February we found the one.

and it’s over!

This week was the big reveal for Britton having post opp appointments to clear him following surgery. It was an adventure to say the least. We had moved his appointments around to accommodate closing on our house that was supposed to happen last week but didn’t (much more on that later as i transition to blogging about the entire experience). The weather up here has been bizarre this “spring” and Monday’s forecast was no exception. It rained all morning and snow was predicted that afternoon. As we waited around to hear about our supposed close on the house I began to get anxious with the impending bad weather. Finally, around 3 pm we heard from our loan officer that we wouldn’t be able to close (she knew at about 1 pm) and so we decided to ditch Sioux City and head back up to Rochester.

After taking a pit stop at home to take care of the cat we were on the road by about 3:30.  About 30 minutes into the drive we realized it was going to be one heck of a trek as sleet began piling up on the highway causing a weird slush to form on the road.

We made it to the Minnesota line with little issue but that’s about as far as we went before our 4 hour trip became a 7 hour nightmare.  About 5 miles east of Jackson, MN and at about 5:30 pm, we hit a slick patch of road that sent us into a slow and steady spin resulting in us sliding into a ditch in the median.  Surprisingly, I didn’t panic.  We were spinning so slowly into that ditch that Britton just told me to relax as he reached over to calm my nerves and so I did.  Once we were in said ditch Britton immediately started to get us out of it, rocking the car forward and backwards to get some traction.  It didn’t work.  I was already reaching for the AAA card while he attempted the save.  Mud spewed all over my car.  Our back left tire was in about 8 inches of water and mud and there was no way we were going to make it out ourselves.

After I had AAA set up with a tow a Highway Patrol showed up to make sure we were alright.  He waited on the side of the road with us with lights flashing while we waited for our tow.  We were in the ditch for about an hour before our saviors, Danver Towing, showed up to get us out of the ditch.  Just a simple pull and we were out.  We had hoped to get ahead of this storm just east of where we landed in the ditch… That was before we were stuck there for an hour.

Once we were on our way again the storm got worse instead of better.  Visibility was WAY down and we were driving an average of 45 mph for about the next 90 miles.  There were even a few times that our car began to slide but going so slow (often as low as 30 mph) we were able to remain in control.  Once we hit Albert Lea the snow turned to rain again and the roads were warm enough that there wasn’t any ice!  Thank goodness!

We pulled into Rochester at around 10 pm and had to stop for fast food for dinner (barf!)  I think we were asleep by 11/11:30 only to have to wake up at 5:15 to make it to Britton’s MRI by 6:15 am.  It was a long night of tossing and turning.  We hadn’t thought much about his appointments since we have been so wrapped up in the house situation but it was hitting me that night.  We would finally get to see how he has progressed with actual documentation, not just our belief of progress.

After his early morning MRI we had an audiogram at 10 am and then our appointment with the neurosurgeon at 11.  We got a print out of Britton’s audiogram results right away and had his last one to compare it to.  It was amazing.  His last audiogram showed he had only 80% word recognition in his right ear.  That was the issue from the start, not being able to discern speech.  This time he had 100% recognition.  One Hundred Percent.  All his doctors said he wouldn’t gain hearing back but he proved them all wrong.  He is a miracle.  Immediately following surgery his surgeon said he would probably have no hearing in that ear.  And now we have proof it IMPROVED!  Britton said they did the entire test through the right ear so he even received instructions through his right ear and he could understand everything!

The appointment with the neurosurgeon was next and our trip just got better and better.  We talked with Dr. Link about Britton’s progress and he did a few minor tests to see how his balance was and everything was awesome!  He was as shocked as we were with his audiogram results and had nothing but good things to say about his progress.  We got to look at Britton’s MRI’s side by side to see the change and it was amazing.  Where there was once a bright white tumor (that’s how it shows up in the MRI) now there was black space and brain!  Just as it should be.  There was one bright speck of white that he said we will need to watch over the next few years but nothing of major concern!  Next year we will get another MRI done in Sioux City and have the results sent up to Dr. Link to review.  That process will probably go like that for the rest of his life to make sure nothing grows back but that’s something we can definitely live with!

Our drive home was beautifully uneventful  and we closed on the house this morning.  So what started out as a miserable week has already turned right around!  Thanks to our friends and family for all of their support over the last six months.  We couldn’t have done it without you!

2 months out

I haven’t had much to post about the past few weeks.  Britton has been recovering so well!  The last week in February Britton took his first work trip to Oregon.  He went with a co-worker so he wouldn’t have to lift anything.  His only restriction at this point is the lifting so it’s important that he continues to follow that one rule.  So he left me for 2 days to do business in Oregon.  While he was there he was fortunate enough to be able to meet up with a friend that recently moved out there.  This trip was not at all what we had hoped it would be for his first trip post surgery.  We had anticipated him spending the whole trip with his colleague that would be helping him if he needed it but he ended up having his own meetings.  He started that Tuesday at 3 am and it didn’t end until after 10pm.  Needless to say, he was exhausted by the time he returned to South Dakota on Thursday. 

This morning Britton left again on another trip, this time to Florida.  I feel a lot better about this trip than the last.  He and another colleague are doing every meeting together on this trip.  They have a show to do in Ft. Lauderdale on Wednesday and some other meetings in south Florida.  At the end of the week I am joining him in Florida to spend a week down there visiting friends and family.  This week’s business trip for Britton is a lot more laid back, leaving a lot more time for him to relax without being overwhelmed.  I’m looking forward to a relaxing weekend with him after his second business trip.

In other news, in the midst of Britton’s recovery we decided to go on a house hunt.  We hadn’t really thought much about buying a house but spending so much time cooped up in our apartment, watching HGTV, we got the bug and started searching.  We found the perfect house and made an offer at the end of February.  Following the inspection last week we put in an addendum to our offer and should hear back early this week.

I think back to the beginning of this year (and I am referring to the school year since I am still accustomed to years being determined by school) and I am amazed at how much has happened.  The week we got married, I lost my grandmother.  The week we returned from our honeymoon, Britton was diagnosed with a brain tumor.  Now we are in the process of buying a new house as I start a new job.  Coupled with tragedy we have found the positives.  Last night I posted on my facebook page how truly amazing my husband is and I am inspired every day that I watch him live his life.  We are so blessed and I am so thankful for all of the positives we have in our life right now.  I’m looking forward to sharing some joy this weekend in Florida with my friends and family from the south.

at home

We left the hospital a whole 4 days after Britton checked in and had surgery. We were amazed. Rochester , MN is about a 5 hour drive from where we live in South Dakota so to break up the drive we stopped in Okoboji at Britton’s aunt and uncle’s house for a night.  Britton slept the whole drive which was perfect.  We didn’t want him getting dizzy from watching things pass on the road so I was very glad he was able to sleep.  That night we took it easy, brought food to the house and watched a movie.  We didn’t want to overwhelm Britton on his first night out of the hospital.

The next morning, we spent some time relaxing in the sun room, soaking up some rays.  It is absolutely beautiful at the lake in the winter.  The snow was so pristine and it was so peaceful.  Very different from the summer months when its a bustling town!

We headed home early that afternoon and stopped at Britton’s favorite place on the way home… Chick-fil-a.  We planned on just pulling through the drive through to avoid any extra stress on Britton but he was up for the challenge of going in and sitting down to eat.  When we did finally make it home Britton went straight to bed for a nap.  He was exhausted after two days of travel and being out of the reigns of the hospital.  At home we were welcomed by a bouquet of flowers from Britton’s colleagues out in Los Angeles.

My mom stayed with us for another few days to help us get settled back in.  Britton was doing so well that he didn’t need a whole lot of attention.  I had worried he would need more care than he did!  We spent a LOT of time watching tv and movies. January 19th was the annual BPI Winter Party and since Britton was feeling so well we decided to attend.  This meant we also had to head out to the store to pick up a new jacket for Britton.  I am still amazed at how quickly he was able to get into normal routines like going to the store and the mall or walking a few miles outside.  Britton got a lot of attention at the party and after about 2 hours we were both beat and headed home.

We spent another week after the party together just hanging out and relaxing together.  This was the most amount of time we have ever spent together due to his constant travel.  It was awesome.  I’ll admit, despite the situation, I loved being able to be lazy with my new hubby for a solid 2 weeks… just the two of us. I think he feels the same.  Since he wasn’t in a whole lot of pain or in need of constant care, we were able to just be together.  We are so lucky.

In that last week at home together Britton finally gained the courage to take a look at his scar.  I had been taking pictures along the way, once right after the bandage had been removed, once after the staples were removed and then a week after that after it really began to look like it was healing.  After he saw the most recent picture he took the plunge and looked at the progression.  He got a little queasy looking at the one with the staples but he was as amazed as I am at how awesome it was looking present day (and now its even further along and awesome).

You can see. It’s amazing. We are so blessed.  And we’re not only blessed because of how amazing his recovery was.  We are blessed because we have so many friends and family supporting us.  We received gifts galore to help us through the quiet times like an amazon gift card, a cookie bouquet and a candy gift basket.  And these gifts came from the most unsuspecting places too!  My friends from Florida, his office and even old family friends that barely know Britton at all!  Thank you to everyone that has supported us and loved us through this adventure!

Britton went back to work one week after me (February 4th for him) and he is still doing great.  It seems Thursday mornings have been the roughest on him so far and the weekends have been busy causing minor headaches.  All  in all, I am impressed and amazed at his recovery.  No travel for him until April (except a short trip to Oregon with a co-worker) so its just office work for him for now.  We are thankful that BPI has been so flexible with Britton through his recovery.  I’m glad to have him home for another month and a half.  Its been awesome having him around.