Suite Life

Life as we know it is quite different nowadays!

If you remember, I posted at the end of last year (link) that we would be moving from Nebraska to Pennsylvania for Dan's job. Well, that relocation is now *nearly* complete! Our house got packed up at the end of May and we made the drive across the country from Lincoln, Nebraska to Easton, Pennsylvania over Memorial Day weekend. 

However, we did not secure a home during our March house hunting trip to Pennsylvania. That means we were left with finding temporary housing until we could secure a more permanent solution. Cue "The Suite Life of the Clark Family"!

Since we arrived on May 27th, our family of 3 has shared a two bedroom, one bathroom hotel suite smaller than my and Dan's first apartment! 😂 We hope to close on a home here by the end of July but have the hotel booked until mid-August, just in case. Let me tell you, it has certainly been an adventure!

So if you ever find yourself in a hotel for a long-term stay, here are my favorite tips for loving the "suite life":

1. Don't overpack! Your room will probably end up being smaller than you think so be as ruthless as you can when packing. I'm pretty sure we all overpacked a little on clothes but thankfully the storage has helped it not be too much of an issue. 😉 I most definitely overpacked lightweight jackets and sweaters. Scour your hotel's website to see if they have a list of what's in the rooms along with diagrams of the layout. Especially if there is a kitchenette, check what they keep in it so you know what you don't have to bring. We also checked with the front desk when we found out that they have items they can lend to guests. That said…
2. Pack something that will help it feel like home. This is especially true if you are going to be there an extended time like we have been. I brought some artwork that friends had given us as going away gifts along with my essential oils (which the moving company wouldn't pack anyway) and a compact diffuser to use with them. I even packed my crock pot to make cooking meals in the room a little easier. All of these have helped bring a bit of beauty and familiarity to our temporary home.

   

   Beautiful gifts from wonderful friends

3. Unpack! Make use of all the closet and drawer space in both the bedroom and bathroom. It feels much better pulling clothes out of a drawer than it does a suitcase. Related to that…
4. Stow the luggage. Once you've unpacked, make use of every space and corner to get your luggage out of the way. Nest it inside each other and stuff it in the corner somewhere. The more you condense it, the more space you have to move around the room.
5. Don't feel like you have to get it all right immediately. Figuring out the storage situation will take time. We had things lined along the kitchen wall behind the entrance door for weeks before I figured out better places to store them.
6. Get to know the staff and make use of their resources. It has been fun getting to know the staff at our hotel. Shay at the front desk has been indispensable in helping us, Willmary in hospitality gave our munchkin crayons and pictures to color while I got done work done on the hotel computer, and Jason in maintenance helped to quickly fix some issues in our room. We figured out pretty quick that we needed more hangers and that a place setting of 4 was not enough silverware for us, even when we try to use some plastic silverware. A quick call down to the front desk landed us some extra hangers, forks, and spoons. Don't be afraid to ask! The worst they can do is tell you no or that they don't have what you need. If you're there long-term, it definitely pays to make friends.
7. Be flexible! Some things are out of your control or the staff's control! After six weeks in one room, the roof started leaking and we had to move to another room that same night. Most things that have happened are merely an inconvenience and not any fault of the staff's. The more you can roll with the punches, the less stressed you'll be about things that are outside your control anyway. Control what you can (your emotions and actions, etc) and don't stress about what is already in God's hands. As some military friends taught us, "Semper Gumby!" 

That's about all for now! It has certainly been an interesting 7 weeks so far and we probably have about 2.5 weeks left before we are fully moved out and into our new home! I know I'm definitely looking forward to having a full-size kitchen again and my own bed to sleep in! Until then, I will continue to be grateful for the ways God has provided during our stay here and pray that closing goes smoothly!!

Soli Deo Gloria,

Meghan

Moving Day!

It's the follow-up to Closing Day (finally)! :)

The day after we closed on our house, friends descended on our rental to help us move our stuff!

Our moving truck...not sure why NC is associated with Venus Fly Traps...

We rented a truck and one of our friends helped direct the loading of the two truckloads of boxes and things that we moved to the new house. We prayed the weather would hold out since it was pouring earlier in the morning, but by the time everyone had arrived, things had cleared up considerably and there was no rain the rest of the day! What a blessing! Also thankfully, we still had boxes left over from our move out here and about one-third of our stuff was still packed from that move too. :) That made it much easier to get ready for the move.

Mostly unloaded now

Our friends were such troopers! They carried boxes all over the place and no one complained when lunch was a little late (store remade a couple pizzas that got burned). They were truly a Godsend for us. Being new to an area, it can feel hard to ask for help or can feel like no one will be willing or able to help with such an endeavor. But I was praising God that day for all the wonderful friends he has provided us since we moved to Lincoln.

Goofing around :)

Thank you to everyone who came and helped us move into our first home! You made it such a smooth process and a wonderful welcome to homeownership! :) Now to just keep unpacking all those boxes!

Soli Deo Gloria,
Meghan

Closing Day

Well, I guess I owe you, my readers, some updates. :) A ton has happened in the past couple of weeks!

On Friday, May 24th, Dan and I closed on our very first home!

It was pretty exciting! We had to make a last minute stop at the bank on the way there, since we'd been given an incorrect amount for closing costs and had to pick up another cashier's check for the difference. Otherwise, it went really smoothly and quickly.

We spent most of the rest of the day at the new house taking care of business. Our realtor helped us get our locks re-keyed and we had to have an electrician come by to drop an extra electrical outlet in the basement (part of the inspection fixes). We also stopped by the Salvage Warehouse nearby and purchased our washer and dryer, a wonderful used pair with large capacity at the price one of them would be new and they work great! Who knew you could be this excited about appliances? ;)

So now the settling in process is in full swing! I'll draw up another post to tell you all about moving day and our wonderful friends that came out to help us. Let the adventures in homeownership begin!

Soli Deo Gloria,
Meghan

Letting go of "Not The One"

Well, friends, our house search has been going in earnest. We've seen seven houses so far with two more on the schedule for tomorrow evening.

But today was the first time one of the houses we had seen was placed under contract. This particular house was the one we had placed at the top of our list so far but were still not "sold" so we kept looking, figuring we'd come back to it and revisit the idea if there was nothing else.

Granted this house was not "The One", but it was still the one we had seen so far that we considered a best fit for us. Not only that, but it was the very first house we saw in our search. After seeing the other six houses, we kept coming back to this one, even though we knew there were still things we wanted to change and felt (along with our realtor) that it was overpriced. It was on the older end of the spectrum and needed a little work, but all feasible.

Despite deciding that, while it was the top of the ones we'd seen, it wasn't for us, I was still slightly crestfallen when I found out it was under contract. But there have been some positives in our search. After speaking with the loan officer, we've decided to expand our search a little by raising our price limit. There is plenty of stock within our price range, allowing us choices in what to see and the ability to exclude those whose layout we have completely discounted (i.e. split foyer/entry).

So we continue to press on. It's a first, but really minor disappointment in our search. We know that God has a place out there for us, we just have to persevere in finding it.

Soli Deo Glori,
Meghan

The Hunt is On!

Let the search begin!

On January 22nd, we had our first meeting with a realtor here in Lincoln, NE. While slightly depressing learning we couldn't afford as much as I originally thought if we wanted to keep our monthly payments on target/budget, it was still a very informative meeting and a good chance to start getting to know our realtor.

We've been looking at listings he's sent us and got to see our first ones Saturday morning! We had originally picked out seven from the initial list of 28, but now two of them are under contract and one has been taken off the market to be rented. So we were able to see four different places around town. We immediately eliminated at least one of them but it was a good start to our search. :)

We are really excited to start this phase of our lives. I'm already starting to imagine painting and fixing up a place so that it suits us and becomes our home. Now just praying that God will lead us to the right home and give us wisdom as we work through the process.

Look for more blog posts in the future as we walk this path as first-time homebuyers! :)

Soli Deo Gloria,
Meghan