Last post before we move

Wow...I can't believe I am writing this! It's finally happening...after months of struggling with this and that, we have come down to today...MOVING DAY! Nineteen years...oh, where has the time gone? I remember tony and I planning our wedding while looking for houses (since we both stilled lived with our parents). We were going down a list of addresses that we got from a realtor (back in 1995, the Internet was barely up and running so it was all done manually).  We drove by a cute little White House on a main road. Pulled into the drive and couldn't believe our eyes...it was perfect! Well...not really...but to us, we saw beyond the green matted down carpet that was worn out, the flying saucer light fixture that the dining room had...it looked like someone was about to get interrogated with a blinding light on an old metal bowl. The kitchen had yellow walls, 70's style linoleum with a stove and refrigerator from the 50's. The house had a distinct smell...a smell I won't ever forget. Not a bad smell...just a unique one....a mixture of old and vacant I guess. I remember walking through the swampy, wooded backyard at just seemed to go on and on. there, we were met by the neighbor. He introduced himself as Jerry and told us all about the house and the "good people" that lived here before. From that moment on, we were sold. The house, the neighbor...it was perfect! In the time we purchased the house to when we finally moved in (yes, it was after we got married), we cleaned, painted and cut a million trees down.

I remember laying in bed at night thinking to myself, "I wonder how long it will take me to realize that this is our house...when will I feel comfortable and relaxed...when will it feel ours." To answer that question, it took about a year. We quickly made friends with all the neighbors around us, had cookouts and cut out the dining room window and put in a slider to a huge deck that our dads helped build. We made it ours...It was finally home! 

This house has every memory from our married life. It's so weird to think that we are starting new. All our kids took their first steps on these floors. We spent sleepless nights caring for kids for the last 16 years here.

First birthdays, communions, and many many sleepovers. We made it a point to take first day of school pictures since Tony started kindergarten and also our annual Christmas picture. 

We made it us. Every nook and cranny of this house is familiar to me. The spring bulbs I planted in the fall are just now breaking through the soil...it's kinda sad that I personally won't be able to enjoy the hard work and love I put into our home. 

We spent all afternoon yesterday packing moving vans and fighting with the bank. Long story short...the buyer of our house is moving in today at 6:00pm. So we had/have to pack up EVERYTHING. Which wouldn't be bad except our bank that is giving us the mortgage loan for the abandoned, stripped foreclosure that we are in contract with, is giving us a hard time on the closing. The closing was supposed to happen yesterday. It didn't happen. From what the bank is saying, it won't happen until Thursday or Friday...and if you do the math, it doesn't work! So...we are literally packing up moving vans and parking them in parking lots. We are literally homeless for a couple of days...that is, only if PNC bank allows for an extension since the purchase agreement states the 18th as the closing date. 7 kids, 2 cats, a frog and 4-5 moving trucks packed...not to mention my husbands sign business in which he is losing money every day the shop is packed up and no work is being done.  I've cried many tears of fear and frustration because of The bank and what they're doing to us. I can honestly say thank God for family! My twin has been working diligently on getting things handles through a real estate professionals side (basically all the fighting and communication with everyone) and my sister, niece and mother and father in law for helping us "look" (aka scrub down) at the new house because of Kenny's lungs. And finally my sis and Bart her fiancé for helping us pack and move...yes, yesterday I was basically in a state of shock and extremely overwhelmed with everything. They took over and we got most of it done by midnight last night!!! 

So as I sign off until we move into the new house, I want to thank 5010 Snow Road for all the great (and also not so great) memories that you've given us these last 19 years. I have grown from a 25 year old girl to a 44 yr. old woman while under your roof. I've experienced all aspects of life from my first pregnancy to my last. You have protected our family and kept us safe through the worst of times...and for that, I am so grateful that we have a million memories that you've helped us create. You will always be part of our family. Thank you.