New home....we hope

A few things on the horizon...we close on the sale of our current home in a week. and the week after on our new home...at this time everything is progressing well...no more hiccups at this point so we are optimistic about the moves(that they will happen). Getting antsy knowing whats ahead, the packing and move, and changes that will come with it, but excited as well. As much as our home has been a challenge(the constant remodeling and size of projects we have taken on over the last 2.5 years) Im getting sad to leave this home. We finished the last major project just a few months ago- the master bath...) and we finally took a breath. The home is really perfect now. I love it....each day I even go down in the basement just to look at the kitchen we installed a few weeks ago just to look in awe. Everything in the home - every piece of tile, the patterns, the finishes were all redone and picked out specifically for the space. It wasn't new construction but its been 100% redone and now we will be leaving it. Jonathan has done so much work, his blood sweat and tears are in this house. We love this neighborhood, and ward( oh how we will miss our ward) And more tears than I care to admit as while we were doing all the of the work we butted heads and fought like crazy.... And now without even being able to enjoy it- its time to move on. I think we are a little crazy - but really this move will be financially for the best. After running all the numbers and even considering renting the basement out, we just couldn't justify staying here, when we could sell and start over and be debt free. So a lot of people have asked me why did I pick the house we are moving to? Its 17 years old, needs all the updating that we just did to our current home, and we MUST be crazy to embark on such a journey again. Well heres why....the new house that we bought in Bluffdale never felt right...we had some concerns with it while we were in escrow. While it had all the finish work that I loved, and new construction, I felt uneasy. So when the original sale of our home fell through and we lost that house in bluffdale ( we had to pull out and loose our earnest money because we couldn't afford two house payments) I was upset but felt like it was going to be fine. I looked at probably another 8 houses in Draper and Lehi and none felt right. I didn't even want to look at our new house because it was over our price range but with a recent reduction I put it on the list. Immediately when I walked in...I felt right at home. It was like being at grandmas house. Welcoming, warm, loved....The place while not having been updated since it was built, had a single owner ( a recent widower ) and she wanted to downsize. Everything had been maintained well and its a very sound home. I could see us raising our kids there, and the space and layout were perfect. I had visions of what I would do, how I would change it all ( in good time) and I was super excited to be still in the same school district and just a few streets over from where we live now( ward will be new- every few streets in Utah is a different ward lol). So when we put an offer in, we were surprised to hear that it had a contingent offer on it and it had been several months...we were panicked...Here I thought this was the house and it already had an offer....they had 72 hours to make their offer a "hard" offer of pull out. It was the longest 72 hours of my life. JK. Well kinda. Jonathan and I both were on the edge of our seats hoping for good news. When it came I just felt overwhelmed and grateful as I really knew this was a good home for our family. Ive included some pictures of some of the spaces below - and be assured that pretty much the major stuff will get a makeover in the future ( kitchen, baths, and flooring ) but the rest of the house is done...the basement and yard are done - although we will likely put in a fence and some garden stuff down the road. Specs: Its a rambler...2200 each floor. ( main and basement) total sq 4400 oh my guys...the basement has 12 foot ceilings! The basement sold me...I could envision the boys running around playing down there for hours! 6 bedrooms 3 baths. Open floor plan which I love. Large laundry room and a separate 700 sq ft storage area for food storage and all our CRAPola! 3 car garage which Jonathan gets part of it as his man cave which hes excited about...Valley views :)! I will miss our current backyard...seeing the entire SLC valley and no neighbors and backing a park....couldn't get better- but this is a good runner up....kitchen is large, and while it and our master bath need work, everything works! No broken cupboards- so we will be able to really take our time in changing things as nothing needs repairs. Well that's about it...wanted to share with the family the pics and latest info as the last two months has been literal hell for us and Jonathan specifically( job , school, home issues..)We have been put through the ringer. We are excited about 2014 and all the new changes it will bring!

37th...

My birthday kinda got celebrated with Jetts as we had Jetts dinner on my day.  No biggie --good time – had everyone over for dinner and had a great relaxing day. 

I got some very thoughtful gifts and Jonathan was especially good to me with a bracelet I had been asking for.  The one thing I wanted was a picture with the boys on my day.  Its hard to get them all together for a picture let alone a good one, but we tried.

my oh my

things couldnt get tougher for the bechtold family.  our house went under contract a couple weeks ago.  we found another house in bluffdale.  great neighborhood brand new home.  a few minor issues- near trax.  new construction means no landscaping, basement isn't finished, needed updated carpet and blinds.  so some costs.  PLUS out of our preferred location and not so great school district.  but inventory is low and we need to stay in a few places- lehi, draper area close to freeways, elijiahs carpool etc.  the house itself is adorable so we put money down.  however with the loss of our buyers last week- they pulled out... we aren't able to buy another house right out-so with the feeling of bluffdale being just so-so Ive started to look for houses again.  GOODNESS there is nothing for sale in our price range, desired location, with the finishes I want with NO work.  its a tough one.  what do I sacrifice?  location, school district, DRAPER? Or a house with no work?  I dunno.  However what is amazing to me is for a new house even in Lehi, that is not very big(2300 sq ft) we are talking close to 400K.  So pricy to me.

on a good note jonathan found a job! yippee! starts in Jan so we are very relieved.  hes super excited and out of the crappy situation that is the current role soo on ward.

so while there are numerous other things going on that cant be discussed its a miracle neither Jonathan or I are in the funny farm.  we are hanging in and will just keep plugging along.