2 strikes

We got another offer on the MI house this weekend. It was a LOW offer. Considering we have already lowered the price $22,500 over the last 6 months and we currently have the house listed for the price we purchased it for almost 8 years ago, the potential buyer offered 10k lower than our current listed price. He was not willing to go any higher and we weren't willing to go that low. This is our 2nd offer that hasn't panned out. I wonder to myself if buyers are just so confident that they can abuse sellers that they just make offers on houses they really can't afford to buy just hoping they will find a desperate seller who will give the house away. I also wonder to myself, what is the lesson I am suppose to learn out of this experience? I don't think the lesson is to move back to Michigan, aside from the house, this transition has been unbelievably smooth. All of us have adjusted very well to our new life. Bill and I have jobs we both love, the kids are doing great in school, so I ask again what is the lesson to be learned?

So for all those sellers who have been taken advantage of from their buyers and settled out of desperation, this one is for you. We turned down the buyers offer and said we would wait it out a little longer. Here's hoping the 3rd times the charm!

It was meant to be

I started a new job this week. When we originally decided to move, we had made a pact with each other that I would not go back to work for 1 year as we tried to adjust to our new life, however, as we started to get settled and as the kids started back at school and as the stress of the house still for sale has taken its toll, I had 3 moments of weakness in which I hopped on the computer, found ads for open positions and sent off my resume. 2 times I did that, within hours of sending out my resume, I got a response from the potential employer asking to set up an interview. I went to the 1st interview and immediately fell in love with the idea of having that position. I felt the interview went well and I knew I would get called for a 2nd interview. That same week, I had another interview with the other potential employer. That interview also went well. The first employer was a part-time position at a church. I really connected with the panel of people I interviewed with and I really liked the idea of working in a church environment. The 2nd employer was a full-time position in the medical field. I was not thrilled with the thought of working full-time yet, but knew that part-time positions in my field are hard to come by.

I first got an offer for the full-time position. It was with great contemplation that I decided to turn down that job offer. In a leap of faith, I really felt that I was better suited for the part-time position and that the part-time position fit better with my family needs. It was a tough decision. The full-time position would have been enough money to continue to pay the house payments in Michigan forever and would have eliminated a ton of stress, but it would have also added different stress to our family and we decided it really wasn't worth the strain on the family for me to work full-time. So without knowing if I would get the offer from the part-time position, I turned down the full-time position.

A week later, I returned for a 2nd interview with the church. I got and gladly accepted the offer for the position. As I talked with one of the pastors about the position, he commented that they were really worried that they would find a qualified person who would be willing to work part-time. That struck me as so interesting, because I was on the other side of the fence thinking that part-time positions don't come along very often and I need to grab it while it was available. It was definitely a situation in which God had a plan!

I have only been working there for a couple of days now, but I can already tell it is a place I will fit in well and will enjoy working.

As far as the 3rd resume goes, I have had a phone interview for that position prior to the offer from the church. I am curious if I will be called for an actual interview for the position. I am a little tempted if I get a call to go to the interview just to see if I would get the job offer. Then I would be 3 for 3!

Labor Day Weekend

The Davidson clan

We decided to go visit Grandma Davidson for Labor Day weekend. Now that we have moved closer, it isn't such an ordeal to go visit. We decided to take advantage of the holiday weekend to visit. Grandma was very excited to see the kids. It had been about 1 1/2 years since she last saw us.

On Saturday, the boys were in the back yard playing with some relatives that also stopped by to visit. They were in the backyard building a fort by dragging sticks out of the wooded area into the back yard. They were working really hard on it for a long time. Aaron came on the porch complaining of chigger bites. He was itching feverishly at his legs. Someone suggested spraying him with bug spray. Dad lifted his shorts leg to spray his legs and found hundreds of seed ticks all over his leg! We immediately started trying to get the ticks off his legs while also checking the other boys. Both Aaron and Evan were covered in ticks. Both boys were immediately stripped down to their skiveys and the removal procedure started. We found yet another use for duct tape. It worked the best at getting the ticks off. The boys were crying and howling because not only were their legs itching, but their hair on their legs was getting pulled everytime we pulled a piece off tape off. Evan kept crying telling me "I only like Michigan and Waterloo!" Needless to say, they didn't go anywhere but the porch and driveway for the rest of the weekend.

Aside from the tick episode, we had a great time visiting with family.

The Fort

The tick victim