I think of there as being 5 seasons in the year: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, and Miserable (also known as January and February). Winter is this beautiful time of year when snow is falling and everything is pretty and the cold is not too cold, but chilly. You wake up and everything is bright and you drink your hot coffee and think about how beautiful it is outside. Then 10 days later I'm over it.
The good news is that the months of 'Miserable" were not so bad in PA this year. It was pretty mild everywhere, but here the snow really didn't stick and the cold wasn't that cold. It's not nearly as brutal as MN. We saw signs of spring early and there were plenty of days that a jacket wasn't needed and the sunroof was open in the car. Again, I know it was mild, but I'll take it.
While not a terrible winter, we were looking forward to our vacation. During Spring Break we decided to road trip down the East Coast and make our way to FL, where Andy's dad and Kathy spend a few months in the winter. We took a week and spent nights in Charleston, SC, Savannah, GA, and Charlotte, NC on our way home. In Florida we had a great time golfing and overall just relaxing. It was so fun to see so much of the country that we've never seen before, and to catch up with some of our family.
The following weekend, Andy's dad and Kathy came up to PA on their drive back to MN (detour, we know, and we are so grateful that they did!). We got to show them where we lived and do some sight seeing around PA. It was really nice to have them here and to spend more quality time with them. We also got to see some things we hadn't seen before. My parents come in May, so I'm really excited to do similar things with them!
Leading up to our trip, February and most of March were spent in PA hanging out with friends, getting into a routine of life, and not doing a whole lot. We spent weekends on other peoples' patios having bonfires and bringing Deb to their yards to run and explore. It really started to make us want a house again. We were fine living in a brand new, big apartment for the first few months. Not doing any yard work or having to fix anything in the house was glorious. And now we're over it. Not that we WANT to do yard work and fix stuff, because anyone who knows us knows that is not the case, but we want space again. We want a patio or a deck and a yard for Deb to roam around in. I don't want to smell the neighbors cooking, or worry that me setting off the smoke alarm when I cook will set off the sprinklers for the whole building (yes, that is a legitimate concern of mine and yes, I do create that much smoke when I cook).
Therefore, we have started the game called "House Hunt". Whoa, roller coaster of emotions. We had looked online and I checked out a few open houses. Nothing. We got serious after break and met with our realtor to go look. Day 1, nothing for us. Day 2, we found the house! It was great and fun and perfect for us! We went right home and got the paperwork together and figured out our financials to put in an offer (above asking because we were serious) and got it in first thing the next morning. I didn't sleep, I couldn't eat, I was so excited! The phone call came and we were out bid by an all cash offer. WHAT!?! Ok...seriously, what? Who has that kind of cash just chilling in their pocket? Well, I guess it was hot in their pocket as they decided to spend it all at once on our house. Which is not our house, because we don't have that kind of cash. So, we're playing the game still. Back to the internet, looking at houses, and we go out again today to look.
Now, in all honesty, I'd rather get beat out by an all cash offer that we had no chance at, than finding out we were outbid by a measly amount. Also, I'm not convinced that was THE house. It was awesome, and we would have loved it, but I'm also sure that there's more than one house I can live in and love. Deb will get her yard and she will love everything about it, we will get our house that hopefully needs minimal updates, and the Black Family will continue to live on in PA happily ever after.
The End
The good news is that the months of 'Miserable" were not so bad in PA this year. It was pretty mild everywhere, but here the snow really didn't stick and the cold wasn't that cold. It's not nearly as brutal as MN. We saw signs of spring early and there were plenty of days that a jacket wasn't needed and the sunroof was open in the car. Again, I know it was mild, but I'll take it.
While not a terrible winter, we were looking forward to our vacation. During Spring Break we decided to road trip down the East Coast and make our way to FL, where Andy's dad and Kathy spend a few months in the winter. We took a week and spent nights in Charleston, SC, Savannah, GA, and Charlotte, NC on our way home. In Florida we had a great time golfing and overall just relaxing. It was so fun to see so much of the country that we've never seen before, and to catch up with some of our family.
The following weekend, Andy's dad and Kathy came up to PA on their drive back to MN (detour, we know, and we are so grateful that they did!). We got to show them where we lived and do some sight seeing around PA. It was really nice to have them here and to spend more quality time with them. We also got to see some things we hadn't seen before. My parents come in May, so I'm really excited to do similar things with them!
Leading up to our trip, February and most of March were spent in PA hanging out with friends, getting into a routine of life, and not doing a whole lot. We spent weekends on other peoples' patios having bonfires and bringing Deb to their yards to run and explore. It really started to make us want a house again. We were fine living in a brand new, big apartment for the first few months. Not doing any yard work or having to fix anything in the house was glorious. And now we're over it. Not that we WANT to do yard work and fix stuff, because anyone who knows us knows that is not the case, but we want space again. We want a patio or a deck and a yard for Deb to roam around in. I don't want to smell the neighbors cooking, or worry that me setting off the smoke alarm when I cook will set off the sprinklers for the whole building (yes, that is a legitimate concern of mine and yes, I do create that much smoke when I cook).
Therefore, we have started the game called "House Hunt". Whoa, roller coaster of emotions. We had looked online and I checked out a few open houses. Nothing. We got serious after break and met with our realtor to go look. Day 1, nothing for us. Day 2, we found the house! It was great and fun and perfect for us! We went right home and got the paperwork together and figured out our financials to put in an offer (above asking because we were serious) and got it in first thing the next morning. I didn't sleep, I couldn't eat, I was so excited! The phone call came and we were out bid by an all cash offer. WHAT!?! Ok...seriously, what? Who has that kind of cash just chilling in their pocket? Well, I guess it was hot in their pocket as they decided to spend it all at once on our house. Which is not our house, because we don't have that kind of cash. So, we're playing the game still. Back to the internet, looking at houses, and we go out again today to look.
Now, in all honesty, I'd rather get beat out by an all cash offer that we had no chance at, than finding out we were outbid by a measly amount. Also, I'm not convinced that was THE house. It was awesome, and we would have loved it, but I'm also sure that there's more than one house I can live in and love. Deb will get her yard and she will love everything about it, we will get our house that hopefully needs minimal updates, and the Black Family will continue to live on in PA happily ever after.
The End
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