Our New Home (Again).
It's been a wild ride the last couple of months. The thing about relocation promotions within Enterprise is that the move happens fast. The person being promoted has to fill a vacant spot in the new region or group so there's not a ton of flexibility when it comes to the start date. James found out he got the spot in Phoenix on July 15th and his start date was August 22nd, but luckily the relocation package with the promotion is incredible and made the quick move a little bit easier transition for us all.
We flew down to Phoenix from Calgary the first week of August to house hunt. I hoped to find a house ASAP so we could move into our new home when our stuff was ready to be delivered. This was also my first time visiting Phoenix, so I felt extremely overwhelmed trying to figure out what area we wanted to live in. We saw a few houses and ended up putting an offer in on two that ended up not working out. We were pretty discouraged because we knew this meant we'd likely have to tour homes virtually unless we wanted to wait until we were moved down to look in person together. I was ok with the virtual touring because I truly felt like we were on a deadline. Our temporary housing was available to us for two months but it was a two-bedroom condo and that was just not going to work long-term for our family—especially the dogs.
Our realtor was very accommodating and FaceTimed us as he walked through a couple more homes. We were looking at certain areas that would be a closer driving distance to James's work and my heart felt set on this specific neighborhood that is not only close to his work but also right next to the South Mountain Reserve. I can't help my heart pulling me toward mountains and hiking trails! I kept looking on Trulia and the MLS for houses within our budget, in this area and met our criteria. I finally found one. We toured it and I felt so good about it, even though we hadn't seen it in person. It had been on the market for a little while so we put in an offer and the seller accepted! We had to negotiate some things after the inspection but we came to an agreement and it felt SO GOOD knowing we were on our way to owning a home again!
Final trip to Kananaskis with all the kiddos
James flew down to start his new job in August while Mia and I stayed back and tried to get in as much visiting and adventuring as we could before James's return on the 30th and movers arriving to pack and take our stuff. Mia and I had play dates with our friends, had a mountain adventure day with our neighbors, and even had a girls' day out in Canmore to say goodbye to the Canadian Rockies. It was a very bittersweet time and we cherished every moment with the people and places we love.
On September 1st, Mia and I flew down to Phoenix. James's dad flew to Calgary so that they could drive the dogs down together. This was such a huge help because we knew a 3-day road trip with a 1-year-old would be less than thrilling. Mia and I picked up James's company car from the airport and headed to the condo. We spent the next couple of mornings checking out the pool, going to an indoor play place, and just relaxing in the air conditioning because it was just way too hot outside.
Once James arrived with the dogs, I was feeling a bit of relief because I had my partner back and I wasn't solo parenting anymore. We had also found out that our close date on the house was officially September 9th and our stuff would be arriving that day as well! It felt like things were aligning the way they were supposed to but we knew we had an interesting road ahead of us. We first needed to do a final walk-through of the house before closing. It would be the first time we saw the house in person so we were a bit nervous but so excited to finally see it! When we walked in, we just took it all in. It was a bit overwhelming to me because an empty house needs to be filled and with that comes a lot of work and organization. We also realized that the sellers took their fridge, washer, and dryer (we had no idea) so that was kind of a gut punch knowing we were going to have to drop money on appliances that we hadn't planned on doing. Everything else looked and felt like home. We were so excited to move in!!
That Friday at 8 am we headed to sign all the paperwork to close. Our delivery driver was going to meet us at the house at 10 am to start unloading but another unexpected piece of information came to light that we couldn't get into the house until the closing documents and loan money were all on record. We were told it would be by the end of that business day at the latest and that if we needed to, we could unload our stuff into the garage and the backyard. Not ideal. Luckily not 30 minutes after the movers started unloading our stuff, we got the green light to enter the house.
Pest control came out Saturday morning to spray the yard and house for bugs. As you may know, in Arizona, scorpions are a thing, and we live close to a mountain reserve so there's a higher chance we'd have them in our yard (don't ask how many James has found while he's out "hunting"). Therefore, we had pest control come out right away before we moved in so we felt a little peace of mind being here. They come out monthly to spray and we just have to make sure to keep the yard cleaned up and all holes in the house sealed.
It felt so great to be moved into our new house. We had our space, we had our pool, we had our yard, and life was good. We just needed some appliances, so we headed to Lowes to pick them out. We ordered them on a Sunday and they were supposed to be delivered that Tuesday so we were ok not being able to do laundry for a couple of days and had a mini fridge to hold us over. Long story short, our appliances didn't deliver until the following Sunday....don't worry, James gave them an earful and we were compensated for the miscommunication and inconvenience.
On top of the appliances issue, we had some plumbing work that needed to be done. When we did the inspection, we were told that the type of pipes in the home were prone to failure (apparently these pipes were commonly used in houses built in the 90s) and needed to be replaced. Some homeowners insurance won't cover homes with this piping. The seller agreed to pay for the plumbing, but we couldn't get the work done until after closing and would be responsible for getting the drywall fixed and painted. We knew it would be a pain but we loved the house so much that it was worth it. Luckily we still had access to the condo so we brought the dogs there while the plumbers did the work.
This whole process feels like a lifetime ago. Over the last two months, we've unpacked, organized, hung pictures, hiked, day tripped to Sedona, and even bought a camper!! We've taken our beloved Desert Nomad out camping just once so far but we've already got our next trip booked. If you haven't yet, head over to Instagram and follow @the.desert.nomad to see our camping adventures!
We've also already had visitors! Our friends Amy and Connor came down from Calgary with baby Ollie for a week. It was so fun to finally get a chance to play tourist and check out new places like the Desert Botanical Garden and get some mid-week hiking in with our crew.
James is feeling pretty settled into his new role and I'm on the hunt still for my next career move. We've found a daycare for Mia and are soaking in these beautiful fall-like days of November! I know I'll miss the snow come Christmas time, and we'll be headed north at some point to ski in Flagstaff but for now, we're just enjoying our new home and making the most of this time together.
xo, Stef
