Curve Ball

Sometimes life throws you curve balls. In this case it was a good one. A REALLY good one. But a curve ball none the less.

I had typed up half a post last week about how my life feels like an episode of "This Old House." Allow me to explain. When we first moved to Utah we moved in to the house my in-laws own here in Provo with Mike's sister and brother. The plan was that we would move as soon as we found jobs. Come March we started looking for a place to live. But Mike's parents decided they wanted to buy another rental property since interest rates were so low, and they wanted us to wait so we could rent from them. It took until mid-June to find and close on a house, and it is an older house here in Provo that needed lots of work. So several months after we expected to move, we still haven't. But the end is in sight. Mike's dad is a teacher and so he's spent his summer out here working on the house. Here's what's happened in the past month and a half:
- entire basement demolished (floors, dry wall and ceilings)
- entire kitchen demolished
- nasty carpet ripped up to reveal nice wood floors
- wood floors sanded
- electrical re-done in the entire house
- plumbing re-done in the kitchen to add a dishwasher
- ceiling in hallway demolished
- kitchen re-dry walled
- hundreds of other small projects

Now, Tony (Mike's dad) has one week before he has to go back to California. So we're down to crunch time and there's still a lot of work left. The walls in the kitchen need to be primed and painted so that the cabinets and appliances can be installed. Most of the painting still needs to be done and the ceiling in the hallway needs to be fixed. Hence why I feel like I live in "This Old House."

Needless to say we have been really excited about moving in to this house.  For one thing, it's a HOUSE! We got to choose the paint colors, we will have a yard, we will have a lot more space, and we won't share walls with anyone. SO exciting!

Enter the curve ball....

Last week Salt Lake Community College contacted Mike. He had interviewed with them for a teaching position in January but hadn't gotten it. They had been really impressed with him but just found someone better qualified. Well, they had another teaching job open up for the Fall and offered him a job!! It's just one class, but it will be such great experience. For someone that wants to become a college professor teaching at a community college is a huge break. So, we knew there was no turning down the job. BUT, it's a 5 credit hour class that meets Monday through Friday and SLCC is a 40 mile drive one way from Provo.

The big question became, should we move to Salt Lake?  There are pros and cons on both sides. Here in Provo we stay in the same ward, get to live in the house we've worked so hard on, rent from family for a great deal, etc. In Salt Lake, his drive would be much shorter but we'd pay more in rent and be back in apartment. It was a hard decision. But we decided to stay here in Provo for at least this semester and see how it goes. Mike will still work for Sorenson too so when he can schedule Salt Lake appointments before or after work they will reimburse his miles so that will help make the drives worth it. Front Runner also starts up in December and next semester he will see if he can teach only a few days a week.

Exciting times with exciting curve balls. I love my plans and sure hate when they get changed. But sometimes those changes are good. This one was a little bitter but mostly very sweet. Wish us luck this week with the house:) We will need it to get it done.