We're Here!

We are in Missouri!

Emmett and I and the boys drove down, leaving the girls with Mom and Meagan for two weeks. They've been doing really well. We've video called them a couple times, and Jubilee especially gets a real kick out of seeing us all. Saying goodbye at the end of the call is hard for her, though. But only a couple more days, and we'll be hitting the road again! Back to Utah, to return the truck and trailer, and spend a week at my mom's before getting on the road one last time, in our own happy little van, with the girls and all.

It's been odd not having them around, but I'm definitely grateful for the chance to get a few things done without their needing my attention.

Chase and Pixie are acclimating happily. They love the huge house with zillions of places to hide and snuggle. I've just started letting them outside, and they're pretty excited about that, too. I'm not sure if we'll need to enlist a neighbor to check on them this next week while we're in Utah, or if Emmett will just need to fly home early anyway to focus on work... we'll see.

Aahhhh!

The offer is accepted, the closing date is approaching. Emmett and I are spinning every spare brain cell imagining and considering the order and method of executing various updates, how much to spend versus pay off mortgage with out of the equity from this house...

This is the Place

On a plane again! Went to see the Princeton house. Definitely needs some serious work, but it is so gorgeous, and I think I love it. We even got the chance to speak in person with the owner and seller of the house. His grandparents and parents lived in that house, as well as himself and his first wife, and he has alot of love for the place. I told him how beautiful I think it is, and the plans we we're already imagining to repair and restore the old charm of the place. I hope I made a good and convincing impression. We're putting in an offer. 

On a Jet Plane

Tonight I'm on an airplane headed off to Kansas City, MO, to meet up with our realtor Michelle Anaya and take a look at that Princeton house. I sure do hope it lives up to our expectations, and the seller agrees to our offer, and we both come away happy with the deal.

On the one hand it feels a little extreme hopping on a plane and flying halfway across the country just to visit one house (though who knows, maybe we'll squeeze in another one or two...); but on the other hand it also seems extreme to buy an entire house over the internet, even with a good realtor who's willing to do video call walk-throughs for us and otherwise take good care of us. So, whatever. A little crazy either way, and this way is more exciting. 😉

Fenwick is jealous that he doesn't get to go on the plane, but I reassured him that he will no doubt have many opportunities to go on plane rides once we're living out there, because we are not going to want to make a 3-day road trip every time we come back to visit Grandparents!

I have taken several pictures out the window that I hope make up some of the difference for them for now. 🙂

"Make Haste"

 "Make Haste"

I just popped open the Gospel Living app, and one of the featured scriptures was the story of Passover, and how they were told to eat standing up and not use leavening, to symbolize their willingness to act immediately and without hesitation to follow God's instructions, and be ready to leave Egypt in the morning. 

I was specifically thinking about and hoping for some kind of hint about where in Missouri to focus our house search. I didn't get anything about that, but I did get... Make Haste. So, we'll keep pushing to get this move accomplished as fast as possible. 🤷‍♀️

House Search

The first house we put an offer on was in Lexington, MO. We just found out today that it didn't go through. So now I'm browsing the real estate listings again, and pondering a large house in Princeton, right at the top of the state, close to the border with Iowa. There are several things I like about that house.

One is the size. It would be as large as my parents' house, if not larger. 4 bedrooms currently completed, with room for more in the attic or basement. Emmett's office might be really nice in the attic...

Another is that, being up north, the summers would be more mild than further south. Somewhat? I don't know by how much.

My browsing on Facebook has shown are only a handful of groups or pages focused on that area, but what there is gives the impression of an active community that's looking to grow.

They look like they have great internet, based on an internet company office being there, and participating in local facebook groups. They look like a company interested in investing in their community.

It's a small town, which I hope would be lots of fun. But it's also the county seat, so the county library is right there in town. Their facebook page also looks pretty active, they have community activities and story times, etc.

Someone on FB mentioned those small towns being really welcoming of newcomers. Several people have said that of Missouri, overall.

It's only 30min from the nearest hospital, Walmart, or LDS chapel. (30min from a chapel will certainly be a change, but I think I'm game for it!) 😉

The Lord's Timing

In April of 2019, during General Conference, I was given the prompting to browse the real estate websites for houses. According to my plans for our financial situation, we were still a year or more away from being ready to buy. But I felt the prompting settle in my heart and take hold of my mind, and I began browsing. two months later we had bought the Ogden Van Buren house and were moving in. As a result, we owned our own home and were settled into it just before Covid-19 shut down the world. And just on the front edge of what has become a historic inflationary spike, especially in the real estate market. In October of 2021, we were similarly prepared to prudently and patiently wait to upgrade our minivan until after several other financial goals had been met. However, due to one fluke evening, the van ended up being left running all night long, and by the time we realized it, the damage had been done. A head gasket was blown, and the price breakdown came down in favor of letting the car go and getting a new one. And that very hour, I found the exact make, model, and year I had been planning on getting, and for much cheaper than I had seen for that car generally. In fact, it was exactly within our budget, give or take $50. Like, the seller even reduced the price for us by $250, just to be nice, and then that turned out to be approximately what I needed to get it registered and get new plates. God was in every detail. As a result, we once again just beat the upward spike, this time in the new and used car markets. Now (March of 2022), as real estate prices in Utah are just starting to slow down in their climb, and some people predict rising interest rates will slow and eventually stabilize the market, we have been told through the Spirit to go house hunting again... this time in Missouri! And in the process, we hope to be able to become completely debt free! I have so many other examples, large and small, related and separate, of God's hand in the timing and finances and other details of our lives. And I am so infinitely grateful for His detailed and unpredictable influence. Yet another stone in the foundation of my testimony of God, his Son, and their loving plan for each of us. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Confirmation

We went to the temple today. First time in way too long, but we finally got there. We went in part to counsel with the Lord about our decision to move to Missouri. Emmett experienced a strong confirmation not only that this is right, but also that his desire to "be free, and have a land that is ours" is a good and Godly desire.

Moving to Missouri!

So we're considering moving to Missouri. The biggest reason to go, I think, is to get out of debt very quickly. There might be some reason why we should go to Missouri, specifically, like, along the lines of helping to build the literal New Jerusalem... Or maybe that's not the deciding factor. Maybe we can be just as helpful building Zion right where we are. Certainly people are being encouraged to stay where they are and keep strengthening the stakes of Zion... even in California, which I find mildly surprising. Though I guess all of California is not SF or LA. In any case.

In any case, I felt the Spirit whisper to me that I should, in fact, seriously consider moving to Missouri. One thing I keep thinking is that just being debt free would change so much about how we can approach "building Zion," especially when it comes to helping others.

If we stay where we are, we will take at least 5 years to get fully out of debt, mortgage and all. If we move, we could potentially be out of all debt immediately, or within 6 months or so. This would allow us to focus alot less on just saving our money, and a lot more on using it to serve others. of course, we would still be very careful and intentional with our budget, but the freedom to follow wilder ideas and give more "outrageously," as Dave Ramsey puts it, would be pretty exciting. And the chance for Emmett to feel less burdened by the need to provide for us in a constant state of anxiety and feeling behind the eight ball would be really nice.

Having the land to really have a go at homesteading would be nice, too. Being in one of those small towns might, indeed, give us the push we need to eat better, grow our own food, and excercise more. I would pray fervently that we could move close to at least a family or two who could become very close friends for all of us. I pray for wisdom to know whether to buy something finished and simple, or something that needs work and improvement.

Depending on where and what we buy, we might be able to "flip" the house if we want or need to, and sell higher than we buy if we rehab something... Though it's also possible we could "overbuild the neighborhood" if we focus on renovations in a town where property values will just never be that high, due to being so remote. On the other hand, "never" is along time, and we can be fairly confident that eventually people will begin flowing toward Missouri, whether or not "all" the Saints will be called to go there. And whether or not we "get our money out," it would be nice to be a part of beautifying an area that might be struggling.

The biggest (perhaps the only) reason to stay where we are is having so much family so nearby. Which is a pretty big reason. A heretofore almost insurmountable reason. Cutting short our plans for and in this house is also a minor thought... but it doesn't really hold me back.

If we were to do this, these would be some of my and Emmett's primary concerns and goals:

• buy low enough to get out of debt immediately, or within a year at most.
• be move-in ready, perhaps with some remodel potential, provided we can take it slow.
• have fast, reliable internet.
• be within 30 minutes of Church.
• be within one hour of a decent-sized town.
• within one hour of a hospital.
• have a good office space.
• have a guest room (would be nice).
• live near other families with children.
• be reasonably near other homeschooling families.
• be reasonably near (within 2 hours?) cool stuff like museums and zoos and whatever. (Kansas City or St. Louis)

I wonder if small town MO would have public schools that feel more conservative and classic?