FINALLY!! We are moving back to Louisiana! Slidell, to be exact...only 15 minutes away from my parents! I can't believe it's finally happening. However, it was certainly without complications...
Last week (Wednesday, I believe), we had a young couple to come by and view the house. The wife walked through and the husband hung out in the living room chatting with my husband, looking at things when his wife requested. She told me she loved the house and then said "We want it! How soon would it be ready to move in?" So we told her that we'd need to get in touch with the movers and let her know how soon they can come out to get our things and from there we could give her a move in date. I took some information from her and her husband and told her that we would be in touch with them once we had a firm date and then we would type up the lease and collect her deposit.
So Thursday morning, my husband called and left a message for the moving company and I did a quick little background search on the couple. I did find some info that wasn't shared with us by the couple, although it wasn't really anything I would consider incriminating. Just that they run a large dog breeding business and had a few complaints about selling sick dogs. I spoke to my husband about it and he said that as long as they kept the dog breeding business on their own property (they own land) then he was fine with it. But I wanted to talk to the couple to see if they had another source of income should the dog breeding fail. I gave her a call, and she seemed to be so understanding and willing to provide whatever recourse I needed, including bank statements, and even offered to pay two months in advance. I spoke to my parents and to my husband and we all decided it would be okay. Benefit of doubt. I sent her the lease Thursday night and told her to read over it and let me know if there were any questions. If not, then sign it and send it to us with the security deposit. They currently live 90 minutes away, so she called me and asked me if she could just deliver the signed lease and the deposit on Monday morning. I said ok. She sent two more emails asking about utility services and expressing her excitement to move in the house. We got the call from the movers that they could be at our house on Monday to pack up. So everything seemed to be working out, although we made that decision without having the security deposit in hand. Mistake #1.
Saturday, we drove to Slidell to bring our deep freezer and our dogs to spend the week with my parents. Then we went searching for rental properties for ourselves. We looked all afternoon Saturday and didn't find anything and decided that we'd just have to stay with my parents until we find something. I went back on craigslist Saturday night and came across the most beautiful house. It was 7:55pm, and normally I do not call anyone after 8pm, but something told me to call about it or it would be gone. I called the realtor and asked her if the home was still available. She said "Actually, someone will be turning in an application on it some time tomorrow, I believe." So I said "Would it be rude if we met you first thing in the morning and turned in an application if we like the house?" She told me she'd need to call her husband (they're partners). She called me back and said that they made no promises as of yet, on the lease, so if we could meet her in the morning we could view the home and turn in an application. So we met her at 10 am, walked in the house and fell in love!! My husband actually said, "Ask her if it'll go up for sale in the future." That's how much we love it. The neighborhood is PERFECT. Community pool, tennis court, and private playground. And a bike trail with NO HILLS! My poor knees can't do hills ;) It's just perfect. We went back to the office to fill out the application and next thing you know, we were giving our deposit and were being handed keys to the house! That's when I started feeling anxious. We just put a deposit on a house, but never got the security deposit on our own home. I brushed the feelings aside though, thinking I was just being paranoid.
Sunday, we get home and put things aside that we don't want on the moving truck. We got to bed after midnight and woke up at 6am to get ready for the movers. I picked up my phone and saw that I had an email from the lady who was supposed to be dropping off our security deposit and the lease...
"Hi, I want to let you know that we actually decided to move to Florida instead of Jackson. We originally wanted to move there but could not find a house that we wanted and one that we inquired about before has come available again. I apologize for wasting your time and we never had bad intentions but, we have found our dream home in Florida and we will be relocating there.
Thanks again!"
{insert jaw drop here} I looked at my husband and said "OH MY GOD!!! They are not moving in!!" He said, "WHAT??" I gave him a run down of the email and said this is awful b/c the movers are taking our stuff!! This is the worse case scenario! Then I said, "No. I'm not gonna freak out. The movers are on the way and we put a deposit on another place. There is no turning back. God wouldn't put us in this situation." I replied to the email...
"Wow. The movers are taking our stuff today and we put a deposit on a place. I guess we really shouldn't have made a move without your deposit but I didnt think you guys would back out on us."
It's true. It was our mistake. It was foolish of us to trust them. It was wrong of us to assume that everyone is honest and have good intentions. So, we put ourself in the situation, and we had to take action to get out of it. I put our ad back up on craiglist and immediately began getting phone calls. We had 3 showings on Monday. 5 on Tuesday. A family that viewed the house Monday night called back on Tuesday and came by to sign the lease and leave the deposit. AND as she was signing the lease, both she and my husband realized that they knew each other. She works for the Army recruiting office and had to have her fingerprints done at the MEPS where Mike worked. So like they say, everything will happen the way God intended it to happen, as long as you allow Him to work in your life. Truly a blessing! Wednesday, as I was dropping things off at the house in Slidell and purchasing paint, I got an email (and a phone call) from the lady who backed out on us. Mind you, I hadn't gotten a response or even an apology, since the email exchange on Monday morning...
"Hi Jenia, Have you rented your home yet? If not please let us know as we are still interested. We have decided Florida is not the right move for us right now... Maybe in a year but, it is not a good move for us now as we do want to sell our house eventually... Im sorry for putting you in that spot before but, we have been trying to work a few last minute details and were originally thinking of moving to Florida but, now have decided not so much. So, just let us know and we can be there tomorrow to finish up everything."
I told her that a lease was signed soon after they decided they didn't want the house. I just cannot believe that she would even consider calling me after what she ATTEMPTED to put us through. But you cannot knock down a family with faith, no matter how hard you try.
Today, Jayden and I are doing some last minute errands and will be meeting with our tenants this afternoon to drop off the keys. Then we will say GOODBYE JACKSON, MS!!!! And, as we look back at our week, we realize that it was not only a lesson learned, but it was also God moving in our lives. We planned to stay put in Jackson and not make a move until we had someone in the house, but there, in Slidell, sat the perfect house for us and had we not made that move when we did, we wouldn't have the house. God does work in mysterious ways :)
Anyone who knows Jayden, knows that he is not a fan of eating. But what most people don't know is just how afraid of food he really is. Sitting at a table with a plate of food in front of him is the worse form of punishment for Jayden. This fear comes from the constant stomach pains he had up until he was diagnosed with Celiac Disease at 2.5 yrs old. Can you imagine being in pain for that long? And everything you ate made it hurt worse? So his fear is definitely understandable. Everyday is a struggle to get Jayden to eat and there has NEVER been a day that he has eaten a full 3 meals. In fact, getting him to eat 2 meals in one day is rare. So when he does eat a meal, we are very thankful!
Eventually, he realizes that he needs to at least try the food in order to get down from his seat. Although he loves his gluten free bread, anything that he eats always begins with this same look of fear on his face, and it breaks my heart :(
These pictures were taken last week. Today wasn't a good day for eating. He refused breakfast (gagged on it even) although it was his favorite, suasage with maple syrup. He also refused lunch and he hardly ever eats dinner. And this happens very often. It's funny the things we take for granted in life. A mother never realizes just how important something as simple as eating is until your child downright refuses to eat.
