Time for a change...

When we bought our house 3.5 years ago, we knew we wouldn't be here forever. God blessed us with this house at a time that we needed it more than ever, and what He gave us was above and beyond what we ever deserved. We absolutely LOVE this house, but it is in a very unfortunate location. Where we are now, our house is zoned for Birmingham City Schools, and Hayden will be starting Kindergarten in exactly one year. WOW. I always knew that we would attempt a move about 6 to 8 months before he started Kindergarten (he could go to private Kindergarten if we couldn't relocate in time), but Curtis decided that now is the time! He seeked the advice of several RE agents, who advised us to sell now. Interest rates are low, house prices are low, and the market will most likely begin to pick back up and our neighborhood will most likely not go with it. So while now may not be the ideal time to sell, it is the ideal time to buy. Luckily we bought this house out of foreclosure, so we are pretty confident that we will be able to walk away and break even. We had always hoped that we would make a few bucks on our house, but it doesn't look like it is possible in today's market. We are putting our trust and faith in God and we know that if we are obedient to Him, everything will go according to His plans. He has never let us down before!

Ultimately, I would love to get Hayden into Trussville Schools. Paine Primary and Intermediate Schools are beyond amazing, and I love how they are still kind of the unsung heroes of Elementary Schools. It looks like we wont be able to get what we need (house-wise) within that school system though. I grew up Over the Mountain and went to Homewood Schools K-12, but there are a few reasons while I am not rushing around trying to get him in there. I would be thrilled to send him to Vestavia, but that is definitely not in our means right now. So we narrowed down to Springville or Moody, and it looks like Moody is winning the race. I like the location and proximity, as well as the things the town has to offer. We have picked a neighborhood and a floor plan, and it looks like we will be going to "new construction" route! We are very picky, so this is going to be our best option. And we are certainly not in the mood to be doing any home repairs or painting ourselves. We will be sacrificing some things (a big yard, back deck, storage and huge bedrooms), but gaining others (More square footage, Separate offices for Me and Curtis, bigger kitchen, updated features, etc.) The biggest drawback... building process will take 3 months. Luckily my mom has 2 extra bedrooms at her house, so if everything goes as planned we will sell our place, sign the papers on the new construction, shack up with my mom for 3 months and then get our new place. Know what that means? We will most likely be 'bringing home baby' to Momma T's house! Yes, I am crazy.

Curtis has been working his butt off in this August Alabama heat sprucing up the outside of the house, while I have been knocking out the inside. Our Real Estate agent hired a "home stager" to come through our house and detail out what we need to do to have our house "show ready." Lots of decluttering and packing stuff away, which is great because we will be that much farther ahead for moving day, but it is a little sad because we had to take all of our personal photos and things down, so it doesn't really feel like home anymore. But it will all be worth it!.... Right? :)