Things that describe me

One of the YW in our ward passed away this past Fall. I was immediately drawn to a piece of paper inside the program that was filled with words and phrases that described her. I didn't know her well, but after reading the memories and thoughts from her loved ones, I felt like I knew her.

I posted on our family website this idea of words and phrases that describe each one of us. Here is the list that some of my family came up for me:

Things that describe me:

Corin

(my list)

Baby Beans

Miss Merrie Bells

My best friend growing up was Bama

Crying when Bama left, waiting by the phone for her to call me

Didn't like eggs until mom introduced me to Gpa Steven's Crackers and eggs

Hair Spray in High School...went through tons

Finding "baby worms" at a park with Sean and Reed

Mud Ball

Salt Lake Temple goal

BYU goal

from my Mom

Myrna's thrift store

poem about towers of stuff in your room

Towne East information booth

Swim team

Summer rec

win Scripture chase at Seminary bowl.

Sew your prom dress from 2 patterns with Sister G.....m

Bus trip to see Emily in Omaha

ring in plastic bubble that would rattle in John's pocket

A Time to Love"I'm creating somebody wonderful"

Bleen

Beehive president with Emily as Advisor

S. Salveter and Mini Mission

Miss Merrybells

Army Reserves

push ups

Hurricane

pass out when donated blood

Mary D..n

Emily V.. W......

Pencil drawing portraits

Almost in a trance like state when drawing them...and they were SO GOOD.

Sew diapers for the dualies

Patriarch Orr gave you your Patriarchal Blessing.

Wonderful

Our first Temple Marriage...breaking us in!

ripping up the kitchen carpet

I won't go on a date until we shampoo this carpet. Maybe we shouldn't have done that! as bow would say tee hee....

Respected in your HS

Katherine P.....s

Kayleen A.....z

Mary M......s

Beth S.....r

winning smile

first to go on the "Contract"...Check book, laundry!

From Kelly:

Watching Julia in Utah while Corin had to do her army duties at the U

Having food poisoning in Texas when the whole ward had it (Corin and John didn't)

Corin leaving to BYU, really sad

Laying down with Shannon, Cara, Mom and Corin in a white metal day bed the night before Coring got married and talking/hanging out

The water colors she would paint

Sister Salveter-drew and painted a picture of her of when she was little drinking from water fountain

Senior class ring-Shannon got to wear it and I got the room

From Julianne:

Trips to Ohio - I loved going to spend time with the Meibos family in Ohio and watch Corin in her wonderful mother role.

outlet shopping

Corin bringing her whole family to our wedding - it meant so much to me - besides being married in the temple that was probably the most important thing to me was having our family with us.

Big sister - I admire and respect Corin so much, I have turned to her on many occasions for advice.

Sharing good talks. On our many visits to her home we have had some great talks. One especially stands out in my memory while driving somewhere in Ohio together she shared her gratitude for me and Brooke in her brothers' lives.

Wonder woman - I am truly AMAZED by all Corin does.

Our crazy last week in IL...moving

Looking back I can see miracles throughout this entire move...

It was a miracle that our home sold in 3 weeks. Our realtor was amazed. Of her 20 homes on the market, ours was the only one having any action. The realty office was pretty much dead. We had someone in the background wanting to buy our home sight unseen (although they saw it on the Internet). They wanted to know ASAP if the sale with the first buyers falls through.

Our relocation company (Cartus) was next to impossible to work with. The contract sat on someones desk for 1 week before they signed it (or floated to various desks because people were out of the office). They were actually not going to have the contract signed until Dec 26 because the attorney was busy. Our realtor called and said that was unacceptable. They had the contract signed in less than 1 hour. I hope we can leave feedback.

The packers came Dec 27 and 28. They did an extra long day on the 28th so they wouldn't have to come back on a Saturday. The moving truck driver decided to do the loading in 1 day rather than 2 days. We thought that would be great! We were scheduled for loading on Mon, Dec 31 and Wed Jan 2. We planned on loading on Dec 31. Purchased tickets for Jan 1 for the gang. Monday came. No truck. John called the driver. They decided to do the loading on Jan 2. We had to change our tickets. I couldn't leave the home without signing all of the paper work for the moving truck and then not clean it too! Argh. We lived in the house packed with boxes. No pots and pans. Frozen dinners got old. Frozen breakfasts did too. John headed to CO on Monday, Dec 31 hoping to miss the weather. He still hit some snow, but arrived safely. We spent New Years Eve with Keith and Debra (and David)...we pooped out early.

The moving truck came on Jan 2. The driver realized how much stuff we had and called for 2 extra guys. About noon one of the guys asked me if I was going to follow the driver (his name was John) to CO. I said no. I said that the van was scheduled to go on the moving truck. John's face was shocked. It wasn't in his paper work. So, a tow truck was ordered to come and pick up the van. About 2:00 p.m. the driver realized that he wouldn't have room in the truck for all of our stuff (53 foot truck; 18 wheeler). He told me that another truck would be by in the morning. I told him that wasn't going to work because we were closing on the house at 9:00 a.m. and had to be out. Another truck showed up at 6:00 to load up the garage and the back yard items. It was the size of a very large U-haul.

It was cold that day. 2 degrees in the morning. It warmed up to 20! (That doesn't include wind chill!) They took the doors off of our home. I turned off the heat. It got down to 39 IN the house. I took pictures of the temperature gauges. It snowed on Tuesday. I was trying to keep the snow off the driveway and sidewalk. We still had snow all over. If they had come on Monday (39 degrees), there wouldn't have been the snow!!!I finally had the place clean by 8:30 p.m. What a long day. The kids hung out in the house too. They were glad to be done too.

Thursday was closing day. It was nice that we did not need to show up; Cartus, the relocation company, "owned" the house. They "bought the house from us"; we got the equity out of the house from them the day before closing. All issues now belonged to Cartus....yah right. We slept in until 8:45. 8:15 the buyers had their final walk through. 9:30 John calls. We are heading out to get breakfast; the kids are starving. The buyers want the Christmas lights off the roof. Remember...there is 3 inches of snow on the roof...icey too!!!! They are of a different religion and didn't want the lights. Argh. I understand not wanting the lights due to their religious beliefs, but I don't think they took safety into consideration for their request. We would have taken the lights down before the closing on our home if it was safe…we put the lights up because we didn’t think we would sell so quickly!!! We put breakfast on hold. On the way to the house to remove the lights John calls again. I need to sign a fax for the closing to be completed. I've got to be 2 places at once! Argh again!!!

I head over to the house and get my favorite next-door neighbor Ms. Marie to help me. I borrow her ladder since ours is on the way to CO. She holds the ladder. I yank the main level lights off of the gutters. She climbs the ladder too to help in some areas. Some break off and we use wire cutters to trim the frayed ends. I borrow her broom. I "break in" with our garage code and go to the top floor and removed the window screens. I sweep the snow below me and lean out and hang on for dear life and yank again. The lights are frozen to the gutter. Somehow they manage to come off; a couple break so I had to use wire cutters again. The moving truck for the new owners is in front of the house. They watch Marie and me.

Kids are starving. Need to sign the fax. John calls again. The fax at the hotel isn't working. This is what I knew: Closing today (Jan 3) at 9:00 a.m. at Caldwell Banker and I know the name of the realtor that is working with the buyers. I was heading back to the hotel (25 minutes away from the house) and thought I would try to find a Caldwell Banker office. That is super easy! Do you know how many Caldwell Banker realty offices there are!!!?!!! Tons!!! I decide to stop when I saw a sign. I told the kids to hang on. I go into the office and ask if they know @#(%^& #&(&(%*#@& (name of the realtor that is working with the buyers). No. They told me that there are hundreds of Caldwell Banker Realtors and many different offices in our city alone. I told them that I need to sign some papers so that the buyers could take possession of the house. The receptionist at the desk told me that a closing was going on down the hall. I decide to take a peek. It was the closing on our home!!! What are the chances?!?! Talk about miracles.

I find out where John needs to send the fax. The fax is sent. I sign it. They are able to close. If they weren't able to get the final paper work signed (by me), their moving truck that was sitting in front of the house watching me and Marie remove the lights would be sent back to the main hub, unloaded and put into storage for a day. The next day the truck would need to be loaded up again and then delivered. The buyers didn't want to pay for that. No comment.

The kids FINALLY get to eat breakfast at 11:30. We then head to see and say goodbye to Bama and Papa.So....I'm glad it is all over. I am amazed at how the Lord's hand was VERY evident in our lives the past couple of months.


What my family had to say on our family website:

Mike- Jan 4, 2008

WOW, you guys are amazing!!!!! Count your many blessings name them one by one...


Cara - Jan 5, 2008

That is quite the day. Seems that packing and moving is enough in my book, but having to go through all this is crazy. You were sure watched over.

Mom - Jan 5, 2008

OH MY! Thank you Miss Marie! We put your names in the temple again...on Thurs. Keep us posted on the house in Colorado.


Brooke - Jan 5, 2008

I would have a lot of no comments!
Glad you made it through it all without any injuries!

Shannon - Jan 5, 2008

INSANE! After reading that....I don't think we'll be moving....maybe forever!...unless Kelly comes and packs us up! tee hee hee

From IL to CO

We had a wonderful yet tearful goodbye with Bama and Papa and Aunt Cynthia yesterday. The kids were also able to see their friends one last time at their church youth activity.

We headed to the airport and had a very uneventful flight out. It has been a crazy week. I'm glad it is over.

Update on our move

The truck was scheduled for today. We found out this morning that the driver decided to put off the loading until Wednesday. Talk about a huge monkey wrench. I was flying out with the kids tomorrow...we changed our plans. Things are working out for the better; I'm able to take the kids to see Bama and Papa before we head out. The truck will be loaded on Wednesday. John is loading his car now; he will be taking this computer shortly. John will be heading out today. Hopefully the weather cooperates.

The rest of us fly out to CO on Friday around 12:30 p.m. on American Airlines

We put an offer on a house

We put an offer in yesterday for this house. It is a pre-foreclosure. Needs new flooring, paint is in great shape but I don't like the color, change kitchen counters and possibly paint cabinets, reface them or replace them. There are 4 bedrooms upstairs and almost a full finished basement. One area we will turn into another bedroom with a walk in closet (Julia's request). The basement has a full bathroom which will be nice for her.

There was another offer put in on the same house yesterday. It is a bargain...we went a little higher than the first offer. We shall see. We are not going to turn this into a bidding war. We'll just go find something else.

The inside layout is very nice. 20' entryway and formal living room. There is a dining room that we will most likely turn into a music room. The kitchen is a decent size; much bigger than what I have. It is a considered a gourmet kitchen because of the double oven (convection on the top oven!). It has a glass electric cook top. If/when we redo the kitchen I will have that changed to gas. There is also an office on the main floor. I can't remember the bathroom on the main floor. All of the "tile" in the house is vinyl. We will replace that. White tile in the entry...it would have been nice to have the wood floor go all of the way through from the kitchen to the entry. Something to think about. There is a family room with a fire place off of the kitchen/eating area.

The upstairs has generous sized rooms. The kids room are larger than Jenna's, but smaller than Kerst/Kendall's room. Jack and Jill full sized bathroom for 2 of the rooms upstairs. The other room has a very nice sized full size bath. The master bedroom isn't as large as what we have here, but is a nice size. The bathroom is a decent size...not as insanely large as some of the other homes we previously saw (as large as the master bedroom). It also has a fireplace (two sided) in the master bedroom and bathroom. The master bedroom suites in a lot of the houses take up half of the entire upstairs. I think that is insane. Maybe because I am too busy to spend time in the bathroom.

The basement is 80% finished. It looks like they had a room set up for game tables. Funky lights (crystals on the ceiling light). Plumbing for a "soda fountain". We will most likely put a kid in that room until we finish one of the two unfinished areas as a bedroom. Full bathroom in the basement. Large nook off of the stairs in the basement for a computer area. There are also 2 areas in the basement that are kind of odd spaces. Not sure what to do with those areas...one could be for entertainment/media. If we get the contract and close on this home...I sure could use some advice!

Our realtor suggested painting the cabinets. She said that a 3 layered paint roughed up is really neat. Kind of like what Brooke did in their flip house. She said she has seen some cabinets painted black with a red and mustard paint underneath. When you rough up the edges, the other colors show through. That would probably look pretty sharp. We want to paint the trim in the house. It is wood, but seems to be a little rough in some spots (animals/dogs?). I would like white trim anyway to make the colors pop more. The wood on the window sills are rough too...paint...

It is an exciting opportunity. I also like the price compared to the other homes we are considering. It would be a dream to build, but my frugal side kicks in...thanks dad and mom.

There is a hot tub in the back...next reunion at our house, that will be the bathtub for the kids. ;o)

House Hunting

Kendall and I headed to CO on Thursday late afternoon to go on a house hunting trip. The other kids were farmed out to friends. It was actually nice to not have to deal with the wailing on their last day of school.

Jenna came down with the stomach flu on Thursday night. She was unable to go to school her last day to say goodbye. I felt so bad I couldn't be home to take care of her...

We saw a TON of homes. We even went through some custom build homes that are gorgeous. The only problem is that a couple we really like won't be done until next fall. One that will be done in Feb/Mar/April backs right up to a busy street. Another issue is that the homes are SUPER close to each other. I guess that is typical in this area but even close in this development. These homes are tempting...so beautiful. I just don't want to move twice. backcountryco.com is the website for this community.

We saw a bunch of homes today (narrowed down by the "million and one" homes John already previewed, drove by and checked out, etc.). Of those homes we really like 2 of them. John is always looking for a good deal. One of the homes is like that. The current owners are heading into foreclosure. They have dropped the price of the home about 100K if not more. We still need to run comps. It will need new flooring and we would most likely gut the kitchen. The home is only 10 years old. The basement is finished too (although we might make some changes to that as well). It has a decent yard compared to what we have seen. Neighbors are pretty close but we are not peeking into each others windows like some of the other homes we have seen.

The other home is beautiful. Ready to move in. Closer to John's work. 15 minutes. (the other mentioned is about 25-30 minutes...still better than the 50-60 minutes in Chicago). The basement isn't finished. Other than that there really isn't much we would need to do to the home. The backyard has a pretty steep slope...not as functional as the other home.

There is another home that intrigues John. It is in the mountains. Another foreclosure. It is now owned by the bank. The homes in that development are over a million (gated community of about 10 - 15 homes). John sees potential in this property. I don't want to even touch it. 5 acres. Beautiful area. House needs some TLC. The big issue I have is the seclusion. If it snows we are most likely trapped for awhile. 40 minutes from church. What do you do about early morning seminary? Friends? No thanks for me!

Christmas Card 2007

I can't stop laughing ... what are we going to do next year?
(Thank goodness for photo editing programs! I had to replace Jenna's head and put in an entirely different Kendall. Plus Kendall's shirt was blue! We were in the process of selling the house during this time. We were all set for the photo shoot in the sunroom when a realtor called and asked if they could show the house in 15 minutes. We had to take everything down and try again in a couple of hours. Thankfully Kendall cooperated and the sun was still up for natural lighting!)