Week 121: Moving, Week 2
Plans don’t always go according to plan…
Each Sunday, my wife and I cook and eat a meal together — intentionally. Every Friday, I’ll be sharing our experience here in this space. I want to see the growth that will come in our marriage because of this. I hope you enjoy our story. You can find last week’s post here.
In last week’s post, we began the process of moving into our house. At that time, we still had about a week and half before we had to be out of our apartment. Our things weren’t completely packed at the apartment and the floors weren’t quite done at the house, but we thought there was time.
But time has a funny way of running out on you, doesn’t it?
I never realized how many tasks are involved in moving into your first house. Moving into our apartment was a lot, but before that I had only ever moved into my dorms in college. I’ve always lived within about a 15-mile radius from where I grew up.
We had to box all our stuff up at the apartment. Then there was cleaning to do. At the house, we had already torn up the carpet. So we needed new flooring. But we also needed to paint the entire house. And then there’d be the actual moving. And unpacking.
It all seems pretty daunting.
At least it looks that way standing at the bottom looking up at the totality of the tasks ahead. Thankfully, we have family and friends who gladly chipped in.
A New Coat
The first task at the house was painting. I despise painting. But this time I didn’t mind it. Why? My father, father-in-law, and brother-in-law all came over on a Saturday to help. David Charles and I finished the priming that morning, and by the time Dale and Matt arrived we were ready to paint.
We had so much fun going through each room working together. There’s something about putting in a little sweat equity to your home. It feels good. You feel invested, even though my wallet had me well-aware already that I was invested in this house. But now it felt like it was really mine. More than that, it felt like it was a shared place with my family. Sarah was actually away this weekend at one of her best friend’s bridal shower. I was sending her pictures throughout the day of the transformation.
It’s amazing what a new coat of paint will do. At first when Sarah showed me the colors she had chosen, I wasn’t too sure. But when they were actually there in the room, it made the entire place feel fresher and cleaner. My wife is a genius, folks.
Between the Hours of 1–4
The other big piece of the puzzle was the flooring. Due to our tight timeframe, we went with a company who could do next day installation. The plan was to get carpet installed on Friday and our bathroom tile done on Wednesday.
But then there were changes that had to be made with the carpet order. And they “accidentally” cancelled the bathroom tile installation. This was all after the salesman gave us incorrect information upfront about the price and type of flooring that could be installed on our current subfloor.
It was a mess, y’all.
But messes are sometimes helpful. At least, for me, situations like this help me realize that I’m not in control no matter how much I’d like to be. You can get upset, or you can move ahead. I’d like to say I always make the right choice, but this was one time when I instead chose anger and frustration. Thankfully I ended up realizing the futility of that. My wife is so good in pointing me in the right direction when I get off course. I sincerely hope you have people like that in your life.
New Beginnings
That Sunday came. Sarah was gone, so we wouldn’t be sharing our usual meal together. Instead, my Dad and I finished up some of the painting and then we got Chicago Dogs from Portillo’s. Sorry Portillo’s, but I prefer the Chicago Dogs my wife makes.
We may not have cooked together, but that night I did get to share the new paint job with Sarah when she got home. The smile on her face warmed my heart. It was the culmination to a beautiful weekend. We had gotten so much done. Yes, there had been delays and there was much work left to be done. But that night I was sitting next to my wife in our new house that was beginning to feel like home.
Moving, Week 3 would come when it did. Right now I just wanting to cherish the moment with my beautiful wife.
I think that’s pretty good. :)
