our move to Heber

This story begins six years ago when we bought our first house.  Justin had been working in Orem for a year and a half...we had rented a basement apartment in Lindon for the first year, then moved in with Justin's parents for five months while we saved money and shopped for a house in Utah County.  We didn't have a huge budget and eventually settled on a new townhouse in Spanish Fork.  We felt good about the decision and were so happy and excited to have something of our own.  We closed in May 2009, took a couple of weeks to paint, and moved in Memorial Day weekend that year.  Molly was two and I was expecting Stockton about a month later.  Justin was assistant manager for AFCU at the Orem branch.

Justin was serious about furthering his career with AFCU and had applied for a few manager positions...that fall he filled in for a manager who went on maternity leave for three months at the Provo Macey's branch.  He did so well at that and in December was offered the manager position at the branch in Heber.  We decided to take it...it was a commute, but it was also the next step in the career path.  They offered him a higher salary to compensate for gas...we hadn't even been in our home for a year, plus housing prices in Heber were quite a bit more than southern Utah County so we weren't ready to relocate.  Justin started driving Provo Canyon everyday and gave them a two-year commitment (there had been a lot of manager turnover at the branch and they didn't want him leaving in another six months).  I don't think at that point we saw it as being permanent...just another step in climbing up the career ladder.

Justin really fell in love with Heber...the small town, the people, the valley.  His two years came and went and he was still commuting and really enjoying his job and the interaction with the people.  We had a couple of chances to take a branch up in the Ogden area but always ended up sticking with the Heber branch, for many different reasons, and we always felt that was where he needed to be and felt at peace with our decision.  We also continued to love Spanish Fork and our house and felt good about staying there.

Well, after five years of commuting and one promotion (from manager to market manager which puts him managing the Heber branch but also in charge of the Park City branch) he was ready to call it quits with the commute.  He was in the car for an hour and a half each day and with his responsibilities at home (Young Men's, HOA committee, and helping the missionaries with discussions each week), he wasn't home very much.  He had a chat with his VP...I won't go into detail but it finally felt like it was the right time to move up to Heber.  This was in January.  So we got a realtor and Justin started looking for houses, but it wasn't too intently.  We kind of felt that when it was supposed to happen, it would.  Plus I had my hands full with three kids and a brand new baby.  

Here's where it all started to fall into place.  A friend Justin had made from working in Heber went into the branch and told Justin that his neighbor's house was for sale and that it might be worth checking out.  This was the end of February.  Justin looked up the listing online and got really excited about it.  He went and looked at it and liked it even more.  It had a lot of the features that we had always dreamed about...mostly a big yard (the house is on 1.69 acres of land).  He talked with the realtor and we decided to put an offer on it.  I still hadn't actually been to see it, but I wasn't concerned...it was a short sale so even if our offer was accepted, we could back out of it at anytime.  We needed to get our offer in quick, though, because it was a short sale and they look at offers in the order they come in.  We were the second to offer.  It took a couple of weeks, but the first offer was not accepted and ours was.  We had it in writing on March 10th.  That is when I knew I better take the kids and go check out this house that we were planning on living in for a good, long time, if not forever.  I took the kids out of school on Wednesday morning, March 11th, and we drove up to check it out.  I trusted Justin all along...he was so enthusiastic about it and it was contagious.  Of course we loved it just as much as he did.

Because it was a short sale, the bank wanted it off their books by the end of the quarter, which happened to be March 31st.  Our first priority was to get our house up for sale.  We had so much help doing this.  We rented a storage unit and on Saturday, March 14th (Justin's birthday) we started cleaning up our house.  We took every piece of furniture that wasn't necessary and most of the decorations off the walls and hauled them to the storage unit.  We had Justin's parents, Brett, and my parent's help all that day.  I had the carpets cleaned on March 16th, the realtor came to take pictures on March 19th, and it was listed early Friday morning, March 20th.  I won't show all pictures from the listing, but here are a few.

The outside-we were on the end (right side)

We were hoping for a quick sale, mostly because we were closing on the Heber house March 31st and would start having a mortgage there on May 1st.  We knew we couldn't do two mortgages for very long.  We also wanted a quick sale because I was pretty stressed about keeping the house spic-and-span for showings with the kids and my schedule.  We were excited when the realtor texted to set up two showings for that very first day, Friday night, March 20th.  On Saturday morning, we got an offer.  We counter-offered a few hours later and they accepted our counter a few hours after that.  That was it...it sold in a day!  (We actually received a second offer as well, later Saturday night).  We were so relieved, and so grateful.  We were also certain that this was the right move for our family and happening at the right time.

Here is a timeline of our whirlwind month:

March 31st: close on the Heber house

April 17: Justin, Brett, my dad, and Jeff work on the Heber house-tearing out old carpet and getting ready to paint.  The old carpet was old, dirty, and turquoise green.  We got rid of all of it.  My mom was there just cleaning.

April 18: Justin, Brett, Gene, Eric, and my dad work on painting.  The whole house needed repainted...ceilings and all.  The kids and I drove up and me, my mom, and April clean, clean, clean.

April 20-21: Justin and my dad continue painting.  They wanted to get everything done while the carpet was out so they didn't have to worry about the paint on the new carpet.

April 22-23: new carpet installed.

April 24: close on the SF house.  Say good-bye to school teachers and so many friends!

April 25: some more good-byes, one last look at our home for the past six years, and off we go to Heber!

 Every other day: packing, packing, and more packing!

Here are a few pictures.  We've been here nearly a month but there is still a lot of unpacking to do and I've decorated nothing.  I will update as more things get done.

The green-blue carpet.  Yes, it was carpeted halfway up the wall on the staircase.  We did not re-carpet the wall and are planning on doing some wainscoting.

  This is the main living area.  Eventually we will take town the wood paneling and update the fireplace.

Today.  I kind of cut off the windows, but they go all the way to the top of the vaulted ceiling, letting in lots of light.  I still need to decorate the mantle.  We will also paint the closet and bedroom doors white (you can barely see one on the right...they are all pine colored).  Some organizing needs to be done by the computer desk, which is back in the corner behind the lazy-boy.

 

The view from the living room into the dining area of the kitchen.  Can you see how badly the walls needed a fresh coat of paint?

 

The kitchen has lots of windows and is so bright and cheery, we wanted a paint color that would keep it that way so we went with a light blue for an accent wall and bright white for the rest.  I still need to put some decorations on the wall and curtains on these windows.  We will eventually replace the dining table but we were able to expand this one with an extra leaf and we love actually have a dining area.

 

The kitchen and dining area has more square footage than the whole downstairs of the townhouse.  Lots of cupboard space plus the laundry room (just off the kitchen) has a whole wall lined with floor to ceiling pantry shelves.

 

 We need bar stools in this room and debating about what to do on the windows above the sink and the oven (blinds or no blinds, valances).  I will also decorate above the cupboards, the open shelf about the microwave, and the cupboard with the glass doors on them.

 View from the kitchen/dining area into the family room.

 

 More decorating to be done (on the piano, bookcase, and in that cubby you can see on the right hand side of the picture).  Straight ahead are the stairs going up to the loft and master bedroom/bathroom.  That's where the wall was carpeted and needs to be wainscoted.  But we love, love, love the carpet and couldn't be happier.  It is a big improvement on what was there before. 

 The big wall in the family room also needed painted.  Gene on top of the scaffolding getting it started.

 

 Look-there is a picture hanging on this wall!  Still don't know if I should try to do something above the window...it is a huge wall.  Also, the end tables need some lamps and some decor.  (The end tables are old hand-me-downs from my parents that will eventually be replaced.)  We will also re-do the windowsill and baseboards on this well...from pine to just white.

In addition to what I've pictured here, there is an unfinished basement with two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a small storage room.  On the main level there are two bedrooms and a bathroom and upstairs there is a loft and the master bedroom and bathroom.  Outside is the garage (two car), a shed, a dog run, a fire pit, and a small barn in addition to the yard and pasture.  All of that will be for another day.

There were a lot of nails left in the floor (and up the wall) from the old carpet.  Here is Molly with the pliers pulling some out.

 My dad painting the ceiling in the master bedroom. 

 

My mom and Brynn cleaning blinds.

 

Eric painting the ceiling.  April, Justin, and my dad are taping.  Gene supervising.

  

  The only way to get this couch up to the loft was up and over the railing.  April, Justin, and Bryce hefting it up to Eric.

 

Eric and my dad giving it the final push over.  We will also need to replace the ceiling, eventually.

 

Eric climbed up the ladder to clean our ceiling fan.  It was nasty.

 

It takes 5 guys to move a piano!

Roger Phillips, Mike Hickman, my dad, Lance Howard, and Justin

One last look at our home for the past six years.  Such a good, happy place for us.  We brought three babies home to this house, celebrated lots of birthdays and countless milestones.  We made so many lifetime friends and are so grateful for the time we had there and all the wonderful memories made.  We will definitely miss good old Spanish Fork!

 

We are loving our home in Heber.  It seems like there are a lot of improvements to be made but they are more cosmetic than anything and they will get done over time.  We are excited to really make it our own.  We love its uniqueness and location and really feel so fortunate and blessed that everything has worked out for us to be here.  We can't wait to see what's ahead of us and are excited to make lots of good memories in this house!