not that one… this one

Two weeks ago, we made the sad decision to pull out of the contract on the house we wanted to buy in Cosmopolis. The inspection brought to light a ton of pricey repairs – the main one being the roof. Three different roofing companies estimated between $20k and $35k to remove the cedar shake roof and replace it with architectural composite shingles. (The high-end quote also included re-routing the downspouts, which were draining toward the foundation of the house instead of away from it.). We tried to negotiate with the sellers so that we’d have a reasonable amount of money available to do the repairs, but they were not willing to work with us. So, we moved on, and decided to increase our budget a bit and look at some turnkey houses.

Within a couple of days of our decision, our agent, Kavita, took us out to see six more houses on the market. We really liked three of them – one in Hoquiam, one in Cosmopolis, and one in Montesano – though they’re all very different. Kavita and our lending company worked some magic with the numbers, and we came up with a strategic offer for a beautiful 99-year-old turnkey house in Montesano that was low enough to give us some wiggle room in our budget when the sellers countered back. To our surprise, they accepted our offer outright! The home inspection was last Friday, and was soooo much better than the Cosmopolis inspection! No red flags, no worrisome repairs necessary. So, we are moving forward, just requesting a couple of small fixes from the seller (no money being negotiated at all).

Escrow is scheduled to close on May 10, and shortly thereafter Tori and Jurell will be coming up from Portland to house/dogsit while we head to San Diego to empty our storage unit – our last vacation for the foreseeable future. Once we’re back here, we’ll list the RV for sale and settle down – officially ending our #nomadlife season.

Though spring hasn’t formally arrived up here yet, we’re still in awe of the beauty of our surroundings, and loving the newness of everything – rivers that flow in and out with the tides, crazy weather patterns, all the drawbridges, spin bridges and vertical-lift bridges… and we haven’t even seen the Quinalt Rainforest, checked out the resort town of Seabrook, or gone clam digging, berry picking or mushroom foraging yet – not to mention discovered all the beauty of the Puget Sound!

We’re working on exploring, when we can, though… this morning Deron and I checked out a local restaurant – Brunch 101 – with a really unique menu and friendly staff. Usually we cook all our meals at home (I made some delicious Pad Thai las week), but Brunch 101 was so yummy, we’re going back tomorrow! I’ve discovered some super cute shops (I can’t wait to start buying décor for our new house), Deron’s having fun getting to know co-workers and customers at Tractor Supply, and we’re both appreciating the great people we’re meeting at Harbor City Church. Last weekend we enjoyed a yummy spontaneous Sunday dinner with Evan and Adda at Billy’s Bar & Grill, and yesterday we went with Pastor Doug and Lois to their Easter family dinner at Lois’s brother’s gorgeous home in Olympia…so many wonderful people and so much delicious food! Olympia is an hour away, so we had plenty of time to chat with Doug and Lois about ministries, our testimonies, and life in general.

All in all, we feel like Grays Harbor has become home. We’ll let you know as soon as we’re settled in and ready for guests – we want to share all these great things with you!

praise & prayer

We’re praying for a smooth transition into our new home, and for all the things that come afterwards – address changes, driver’s licenses, car registrations, emptying our San Diego storage, etc. We’re also hoping to purchase Deron a used truck to use for work, so that I can eventually volunteer somewhere or get a job as well.

This has been such a fascinating season – we’re so appreciative of all of you who’ve prayed with us, offered help in our times of need, and who’ve followed this blog. I’m currently trying to decide if I should renew the schutzonthemove.com webpage and morph it into a PNW exploration blog, or a foodie blog, or ??? If you have any thoughts on that – please let me know!