House Hunting

It was sometime around September/October 2020 when Mark started talking to me seriously about wanting to buy a house. We'd had some short-lived discussions in early 2020, around the time we had to renew our apartment lease, but I wasn't really interested, and he let it go, and we stayed at Stadium View. But in October, I was more receptive, though it still took me longer to warm up to the idea. 

One thing that's held us back before is that we've never been sure how long we'd stay in BG. But at this point, several things started to add up and nudge us in the home-buying direction. For one, we'd been cooped up in our apartment for months, both mostly working from home. Despite the largest clean out and reorganization we'd done since moving to the SV apartment in 2012, it still felt a bit tight. Mark was especially low on space in his studio, and realizing again how restricted he felt about being able to actually practice and play there--too much concern about disrupting the neighbors. And the complex had been sold. Some changes from the new management were fine or even positive, but we'd also seen some things we didn't like--the worst of which was the layoffs of the two fantastic women who worked in the office. This took away some major incentives that had kept me from wanting to leave the apartment before. I was also getting ready to apply for a Faculty Improvement Leave, which, if granted, would allow me to work on a project during Spring 2022 instead of the usual teaching/service assignments. It comes with some strings attached, though, including a commitment to stay at BGSU for a full year after the leave. So between that, Mark's continuing job at BGSU with the drumline, and the worse-than-ever academic job market, it seemed safe to say that we'd be staying put in BG for at least a couple more years. With all of that in mind, Mark won me over--it was time to look into buying a house. 

Of course, I wanted to gather lots of info first: I really had no idea where to start, and I like to be well-informed about what I'm getting myself into! So I called some family and friends to talk about what their house hunting experiences had been like, Mark did a ton of research on the local housing market, I called the credit union about mortgages, and we lined up meetings with three realtors. After those meetings, it was pretty easy to choose our realtor, Donna Friesner with Danberry. And she was amazing at every step of the process! We also decided to work with a local mortgage broker, Michelle at Evans Home Loan, who was also great. We figured if we wanted to be moving out before our lease expired at the end of April, we'd need to start seriously house hunting by late December/early January. As the semester wrapped up, we were eager to get on with it! We scheduled showings for 4 houses that were on the market in mid-December so we could get a better handle on reality vs. the pics in the listings. Then we got our preapproval taken care of just before Christmas. From there, the search began in earnest. 

We knew that the market was intense, and we'd need to be prepared to see houses the first day they were active listings, and be ready to make a same-day offer on anything we were seriously interested in. Otherwise, we'd miss out. (Yep, throughout the whole search, houses were selling that quickly--and some even before they were officially on the market!). One of our main criteria was getting a better studio space for Mark, which could come in a variety of forms: a finished basement, a separate living/dining room, etc. Because there were so few listings available, we started looking at anything within 15 miles of BG. We both wanted to stay in BG if possible, but we were trying to be flexible and realistic. But even then, we knew moving out of town would mean getting a second car, which was a complication we weren't excited about.

We toured a few more houses between Christmas and New Year's. One of those was in Haskins, a very small town just about 10 minutes northwest of BG. It was a pretty good house, with a tri-level floorplan that would have been great for Mark's studio, at a reasonable price. But I had a really hard time with it. There were some cosmetic issues that I struggled to see past, but ultimately, it was the location. I just couldn't picture us moving to a smaller small town (Mark already thinks BG is too small), and I really didn't want the commute and second car. It turned out that this was the house that revealed I wasn't actually flexible on location, and I'd rather wait it out longer to find something in town. This wasn't an easy moment in the journey, but it was important! 

the Haskins house

After that, we stopped touring homes outside of BG. And it wasn't long till we came across the Madison house...it came on the market late in the afternoon on Monday, January 11, the first day of classes. Our realtor set up a showing for Tuesday afternoon. I had a very sleepless night between--I was a bit hyped-up after teaching my first remote Methods class on Monday night and also kept thinking about the house, which seemed like it had so much potential. So we saw it on Tuesday and went straight to the realtor's office after to write up our offer. She checked with the seller's agent and we knew they had other offers already, so we included an escalation clause to try to make ours competitive (that basically says our offer is X, but we're willing to beat any other offers by Y up to Z). No word on Wednesday, but we heard first thing that Thursday morning that the sellers accepted our offer! We were so excited--and overwhelmed! This was all happening fast, and during my first week of classes. But it was time to keep moving--scheduling the inspection, paying the earnest money, and getting the financing arranged (including the appraisal and locking in an interest rate). 

the Madison house

We had the inspection on January 21, and that's where things started to go south. Our amazing inspector, Jordan with Erie Inspections, turned up a long list of issues. Some were minor, of course, but there were also a few big (potentially expensive) items: serious cracks in the garage floor, an issue with the fireplace, a leaky toilet (which turned out to have ruined the whole subfloor in the bathroom), and rotten trim/Masonite board on the exterior. This was all on top of the things we could easily tell needed work when we toured the house: a very outdated kitchen with old appliances, poorly installed trim/baseboards throughout, and some minor issues. So I was already getting overwhelmed (this is my adjective for the whole house hunting experience!) thinking about how these things could add up in time, energy, and money. But we wrote up an inspection addendum asking the sellers to repair some items before closing and pay some closing costs to help us address other items. We started getting quotes for those things to get a better idea of what we'd be getting into. The sellers took ages to get back to us--on the 27th. And their reply wasn't good: they only wanted to agree to about a quarter of what we asked for. Our realtor was kind of shocked by their response and suggested we try one more round of negotiating. So we did, but as we gathered more info about the costs for some of the needed repairs, we were really getting concerned. Meanwhile, the appraisal took place, and the house did appraise for our purchase price (which the sellers had been worried about, so we hoped that might lead to better negotiations). On February 2, the sellers asked to extend our negotiations again, for one more week. We agreed, but we were not feeling good about the whole thing at this point. The next day, we got the estimate back (finally!) for the work on the exterior, and it was much higher than we'd thought it would be. It was the last straw--we decided we wanted to find a way out of the deal. And the next morning, it came: a reply from the sellers about the inspection issues that was still far too little...so we could reject it and walk away. By that point, we were so disappointed, but also relived. We'd started to wonder if we were getting a money pit (our realtor even used that expression once toward the end of the process!). Unfortunately, this meant we were out the money for the inspection and appraisal, not to mention all the time, energy, and emotion we'd invested. But all of that paled in comparison to the risk of taking on a house that needed more work than we were up for (or could afford!). Still, we were pretty devastated that it hadn't worked out. And also very thankful for the effort and expertise of our realtor--she worked so hard for us and helped us so well along the way. 

That brought us to early February, and back to the drawing board. We kept a close eye on the listings, scheduled showings as soon as possible, and got an updated preapproval letter. We knew, again, we'd have to be ready to make an offer right away when we saw something that would work. And that's what we did...when we saw the Fort house on March 6. This one was a tri-level with the nicest kitchen of any we'd seen. We made our best offer, but didn't get it. We were pretty frustrated to find out later that the sale price was actually lower than our offer, but our realtor thinks it might have been cash (and people are also doing things like waiving inspections and appraisals, which we just weren't willing to do). For Mark, I think this will always be the house that got away! (And I liked it a lot, too!)

the Fort house

From there, the ups and downs continued. We'd go for a stretch without any listings to see, then we'd check things out that didn't work for us, then we'd wait some more. There were a few houses we really deliberated about, but we knew they weren't really what we were looking for. 

We nudged our budget up a bit and toured some homes that were more than we really wanted to spend, which added a few more options. We even made an offer on one of those, the Conneaut house on March 26. Since asking price was above what we'd been hoping to spend, that's all we offered--we knew it might not be super competitive if they had multiple offers (which they did). So we weren't surprised that we didn't get this one, but still disappointed.

the Conneaut house

And then, it was early April. We saw a couple more houses that didn't work for us. And all of a sudden, there were 4 houses of interest "coming soon," and we had showings lined up: one on Friday, April 9, and three on Saturday the 10th. We found out the Ontario house had 3 offers already, sight-unseen, but they were accepting others through Sunday afternoon. This worked out well for us so that we could see the others on Saturday then decide what to do. One of the Saturday houses was an easy no, but the other two, on Revere and Prospect, were appealing. So we decided to write three offers: on Ontario, Revere, and Prospect.

the Ontario house

the Revere house

the Prospect house

Between our schedule and our realtor's, it took us till about 8pm to get the Revere and Prospect offers submitted (Mark was running two virtual drumline clinics from home, so he had a lot on his plate this day!). We planned to submit the Ontario one on Sunday, since we knew they were taking offers all weekend. But we heard back from the seller on Prospect almost right away--he accepted with only one minor change, so we accepted, too--and found ourselves under contract again! We were both stunned, actually--that the offer was accepted so quickly, and essentially at asking price with no multiple offer escalations (we were the first, and he didn't wait around for others). Of the houses we'd seen that weekend, this one was also my top choice (though possibly not Mark's--they were all so different!).

Over the next few days, we got the inspection scheduled and the financing rolling. We had our same fantastic inspector (with the repeat customer discount!) and were delighted that this inspection report was much better! There's always a few things, but nothing to scare us off this time. We negotiated a few small items with the seller but decided to work through most of it on our own (again--nothing major, so that was all fine). The appraisal also got scheduled in record time, and our lender asked if we were interested in closing early! We had been aiming for mid-May, but once we got the final loan approval, we were able to schedule closing for April 30.

Meanwhile, all of this was happening during the last weeks of the semester, so it was a pretty intense stretch. And since the house was move-in ready, we wanted to keep things going quickly. We booked our U-Haul for May 6, the day after grades were due, and gave notice at our apartment that we'd be out a week later, on the 13th. It was a lot to juggle, but we were also thrilled that we'd be able to move so quickly, and it was worth working hard to make it happen!

I was a bit anxious all the way up to closing, but sure enough, after an hour or so of signing paperwork, the house was ours on April 30. And now we've been here for a month already! We've got a ways to go, but we are more and more settled each day. And so, so thankful to have found a house and actually purchased it after our roller coaster house hunt (just over 20 showings all together!). We really appreciate the great people we worked with along the way and all the encouragement from friends and family. And we're both thrilled that we're not house hunting any more!

Note: all photos in this post downloaded from the listings on realtor.com

Spring Semester 2021

I think this is the longest gap I've ever had between blog posts...for anyone still checking/reading, thanks, and I appreciate you and your patience! The whole calendar year so far has been a blur, but I'll try to get caught up on the major things from the last few months! 

Work

Our semester started early this spring, on January 11, because BGSU cancelled the winter session (which we'd only had for two years, but that was long enough to make it feel light a really tight turn around between semesters!). The week before was full with placement testing and class prep. 

I taught 3 classes: TESOL Methods (remote synchronous, and the first time cross-listed for undergrads and grad students) plus 2 sections of WRIT 1120, a research writing class which I'd only taught once before, about 6 years ago, before a significant curriculum update. These WRIT 1120 sections were online asynchronous, so that meant a lot of planning ahead to be sure the students had what they needed to keep making progress on the work. TESOL Methods is one of my absolute favorite classes to teach, and I tried some new things this year to adjust for the delivery mode that actually worked out pretty well. And the students, as always, were fantastic. I enjoyed the 1120 class as well, though there were times when the grading certainly got overwhelming. I started the semester with the idea that it would be version 1.0 of the class--knowing I just wouldn't have time to do everything I would have liked, and that was wise, because I definitely didn't! But we still met the learning objectives and had a fairly good experience together. The thing I like most about that class is that everything is centered on a big research project/paper, and since I allow the students to choose their own topics (with some guidelines and requirements to follow), there's always a lot of variety. And I learn a lot from them about things that I might never have looked into otherwise! Again, the students did a great job--I was pleasantly surprised by how well they hung in there with me (I'd heard about lots of attrition in the fully online sections, even pre-COVID, so I was very pleased to only have two students in each section drop). Hopefully I can build on what I did this time through to make a new-and-improved version of the class next time I teach it. 

Monday night teaching setup at the kitchen table 

In addition to the teaching, I had 10 hours a week for my T/ESOL program director job (just enough time to do the most important tasks and keep up with email...barely...and no time to spare for anything else!). Plus two committees--one working on a major policy update for the English Department (we came so close, but next year's group will have to pick it up again to get it finalized). 

I continued to work from home all semester, which certainly has pros and cons. I think my ideal work week in the future will be a mix--3-4 days on campus and 1-2 days at home. I've had that sort of schedule before, and I think it's the best of both worlds. (Actually, I should be able to do just that in the fall...if there aren't major schedule changes). 

Also, the TESOL International Convention was held virtually in late March, and I was able to attend with funds from the English Department. I gave a small pre-recorded presentation about basic accessibility features in MS Word (plus a live Q&A with other presenters from the same segment of the program). I tried to attend as many live sessions as I could during the actual dates, but we have access to the site till mid June to view recorded sessions (so far...I've only gone back to one, but I hope to catch at least a few more!). I also coordinated a time for to chat with my ESOL colleagues that week--like we might have done in person if we'd gone to an actual event. It wasn't quite the same, but it was nice to see them outside of regular work meetings!

screenshot of the TESOL President's Keynote

screenshot taken with BGSU colleagues

Finals were the last week of April, so my grades were posted on May 3. Since then, I've had some meetings and admin work, and that'll continue a bit through the summer. I'm transitioning out of the program director role, so my top priorities right now are providing good support for the incoming director and finishing the planning for fall placement testing (which the new director and I will oversee together). I also need to get back to campus one of these days to move out of the program director office so she can move in! I think I've done a respectable job as program director, but I am definitely ready to step away for a bit. Our intention is to have a rotation, so it'll be my turn again in a few years, but it's clear to me that I need a break. And the colleague who is stepping in will do a great job, so I just hope to be as supportive of her as possible in the meantime! 

House Hunting

We decided in the fall that we wanted to buy a house, so that took a lot of our time and energy throughout the winter and spring. It's an extreme seller's market right now, with very limited inventory, but we worked with a great realtor and all of our efforts eventually paid off! We closed on our house on April 30 and moved in shortly after that. I'll write up a couple other posts for anyone who is interested in more details...stay tuned!

Miscellaneous 

Between work and the house hunt, it didn't feel like I had a lot of time or energy for much else. But continued facilitating our every-other-week virtual Common Meal group, so I stayed in touch with those folks pretty well. We're off for the summer, but I'm very hopeful that we'll resume in-person potluck dinners in August--it'll be great to share meals again. 

Another highlight of the spring was getting our COVID vaccines! Mark ended up getting his along with other public school employees (through his work at Delta high school)--first dose in February, second in March. I'd heard from some local acquaintances about the wait list at Rite-Aid pharmacy, which had no eligibility restrictions, and was just used if there were any unclaimed doses at the end of the day. Sure enough, I got a call late afternoon in mid-March and was able to get my 1st dose! I was so overwhelmed by gratitude and excitement that I cried in the car on the way home. :-) As it turns out, eligibility in OH opened up very quickly after that, so most of my friends were getting vaccinated at the big clinics on campus and elsewhere right around the same time. This worked out great, because so many people I know were fully vaccinated right around the end of the semester, and we've all been starting to get together in person again--it's wonderful! Truly, every friend or family member who has gotten the vaccine has been a celebration for me. And though it's been a bit confusing and challenging to figure out how to re-enter the world post-vaccination, I'm just so thrilled to have had access to this powerful tool and see the whole situation in the US really improving. (FWIW, if you have COVID-related questions, Dear Pandemic has become one of my favorite resources--I really appreciate how they give a "just the facts" short answer, an extended explanation, and links to sources on everything they share). 

But for the most part, we were staying pretty close to home this spring, so no big outings to report. Instead, I passed time reading, watching TV/movies, and listening to podcasts. Some favorites: Modern Love, Brooklyn 99, Parks & Rec, Poldark, House Hunters, Fixer Upper, Home Town, This is Us (tv shows); Just Mercy, This Beautiful Fantastic (movies); Runaway Midwife, the Girl Who Wrote in Silk, My Calamity Jane, Friday Night Knitting Club series, Days of Distraction, Out of Sorts: Making Peace with an Evolving Faith (books); and Twenty Thousand Hertz, Next Right Thing, Pantsuit Politics, Curious Cases (podcasts). 

I also loved participating in the Mock Caldecott group hosted by one of the BGSU librarians (I think this was my second year). We were virtual this year, but it worked out great. We even had a guest author/illustrator join us for one of the meetings! And although my favorite book, We Are Water Protectors, didn't end up being the BGSU group's pic, it was the actual award winner! 

screenshot with our guest author/illustrator

We also took lots of walks--outdoors all year round! We continued to enjoy the joke of the day from one of our neighbors (though now that we've moved, we don't walk by there anymore!). By late spring, one of my friends who lives in SV had a new goldendoodle puppy, so we had a great time running into them on walks, too. (Puppies are great when you don't have to live with them!). 

Joke of the Day

some flowering trees--a beautiful sign of spring!

Despite everything I've said here, this semester was also a struggle for me--I've heard it described by others as languishing or hibernating...I've felt both of those things. I was also exhausted, overwhelmed, and emotional a lot of the time. I felt lonely, anxious, unmotivated, and discouraged at various points. Looking back at all the highlights I've compiled above, I'm thinking that sounds like a pretty good life! But the truth is, the last year plus has also been really hard. And it's important, I think, to recognize that complexity--there were wonderful things and terribly difficulty things. Sometimes I responded to what was going on with grace, hope, and optimism. Sometimes I cried, spoke too quickly in anger or frustration, or just plain shut down for a bit. Given all the time spent at home, Mark saw all of the worst of it, and I continue to appreciate his unconditional love and support--I'm so blessed to be his wife. I don't mean to end on a low note here, it just seemed dishonest to paint a rosy picture when the reality was much more complicated. At this moment, though, I am so glad to have finished the semester, gotten fully vaccinated, and actually bought a house! I'm looking forward to spending a summer enjoying things that haven't been available to me for months--starting with lots of reconnecting in-person with friends and family. Even so, I've had some difficulty figuring out how to re-enter the world. But I'm taking it step-by-step. And I feel cautiously hopeful, so much more so than a year ago at this time--that's something to celebrate! 

Well, if you've made it this far, thanks for jumping back in with me. More to come soon!

Christmas: Pandemic Edition

We had a quiet Christmas at home in BG this year--our first here and just the two of us. Like many others, we made the difficult decision to follow the guidance from public health officials, avoid travel, and spend time in person with only our own household. It was sad to miss out on the usual gatherings--it would have been a Missouri year--but we at least had clarity about our choice, and we tried to think of little ways to make the week festive and joyful all the same. 

I already posted about our Christmas decorations, which have continued to bring bright holiday cheer to the apartment. We also drove around a couple of nights to look at lights around town. The best display, by far, and as always, is the one at the Deck-Hanneman Funeral Home (I know...it's a bit weird, but all the locals drive through because they do such a beautiful job! Here's a short video they posted a couple of years ago, so you can get the idea--better than my rushed nighttime phone pics!).  

funeral home entrance with Christmas lights

During the week of Christmas, Mark was able to play some video games online with Damon and Zach, and we had lots of video calls: on Christmas Eve with my Grandma; Katie, Nick, and Kaden; and Mark's family (we joined in to sing 12 Days of Christmas, read the Christmas story, and open gifts from siblings). On Christmas Day we connected with my parents and grandparents and again a couple of days later with them plus Julie, Ben, and Daniel. Somewhere in there, Julie and I also had a nice long call with Daniel napping in the background (then crying, nursing, and napping again!). I enjoyed catching up with Heidi by phone just today, and we also got a variety of Christmas cards and letters from family and friends. Plus an engagement announcement from our oldest nephew Zach! (Pretty amazing to end this year with two newborn nephews plus one who is newly engaged!). 

my view during the Christmas Eve call with
Mark's family (using his office computer)

a closer look at the screen--here we see
Hannah, Mom, & Dad

Dad sent this pic showing us on video in
their living room with Heidi and Zach

We also continued our usual tradition of watching Christmas movies in December. I think this is the full list: Charlie Brown Christmas, Elf, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Home Alone, It's a Wonderful Life, Meet Me In Saint Louis, Miracle on 34th Street, Muppet Christmas Carol, Noelle, Polar Express, The Santa Clause (1&2), and White Christmas. I think Miracle on 34th Street is my favorite (and we didn't care for Meet Me In Saint Louis). 

And, of course, we made some delicious food, including a variety of Christmas cookies. A couple of friends also dropped by with surprise cookie deliveries, which was super delightful! 

my favorite frosted sugar cookies

Mark making M&M cookies

special K cookies

two-tone brownies (plus tea)
enjoyed while playing Sequence

cookies from the Jordans

journal, pickled peppers, and
cookies from Chad & Paul

our totally not-photogenic but delicious
Christmas Eve dinner: ham roll-ups

Swedish pancakes on
Christmas morning

a simple Christmas lunch
(for me...I don't remember
what Mark ate!)

Christmas dinner--rack of lamb,
mashed sweet potatoes, and salad

We were also spoiled by both families (and each other!) with lovely gifts--including some cash we've set aside toward house hunting expenses--and a variety of things from our wish lists plus several surprises. We filled stockings for each other for the first time, which I really enjoyed, and we also got a package this week with some stocking stuffers Mark's Mom sent. 

so many presents under our tree!

our stockings

the goodies from our stockings :-)

All that to say, despite not travelling this year, we did have a Merry Christmas. And I almost forgot--it was a white Christmas, too! We woke up to this lovely dusting, plus some light snow on and off for most of the day. Most of all, I've been so thankful for all the creative and alternative ways we've been able to connect with family and friends. 

snow on Christmas morning!
(the view from our bedroom window)

me and Mark on Christmas

wearing new Christmas socks from my Grandma!

As I write this on New Year's Eve, I'm amazed that it's finally and already the last day of 2020. What a year...I'm not sure if I'll follow this up with a year in review post or not, but we'll see. Meanwhile, if you're reading this, I'm thankful for you, and I hope you're finding joy and hope along with whatever else is on your mind as we turn over to the next calendar year. ❤

Thanksgiving Weekend

This Thanksgiving weekend was different for us, like just about everyone else this year, as we adjusted our plans due to the pandemic. We decided to stay home on our own, but we were so glad to video chat with my parents and Mark's parents and siblings (also our new nephew's first appearance on Zoom!). We sure missed being with Aunt Debbe Jo and Uncle Mike and the rest of the crew in Michigan, but we also exchanged some texts and pics with them. I heard from lots of friends, too, so we felt loved from a distance. 

We had a low-key day at home: a bit of the Macy's parade and the national dog show, reading, and hanging out between the video calls. 

Here's what we ate, served family style from the kitchen counter, eaten on the crystal dishes from Mark's mom.

cranberry sauce, roasted chicken, brussels sprouts w/bacon,
mac & cheese, and layered potato casserole

a closer look at the sprouts, mac, and potatoes,
plus homemade pan gravy on the back burner

up close on the cranberry sauce and chicken

my very full plate...so delicious!

pumpkin pie! 
(served w/whipped cream)

Mark said it was his favorite Thanksgiving dinner ever (since everything on the menu was something he wanted...except the cranberry sauce, which was just for me). This compliment made me very happy. ❤

We kept our tradition of decorating for Christmas on the day after Thanksgiving, putting a few things in different places this year. We also got some really cute outdoor lights--but we decided to order a second strand so we can wrap them around the banister more. We also have some cute knit stockings on the way. No homemade evergreen wreath on the door this year, but hoping for next year!

Christmas tree w/lights at night

mini-tree with lights and other decorations

close up of the mini-tree

big tree--daytime view

a couple things in Mark's office

the outdoor lights

more outdoor lights...just not quite long enough!

stained glass
(made by Grandpa Mike)

Meanwhile, it's been really awesome to have a long weekend off, totally disconnected from teaching/work (which has been hard this fall...). Next week is our last week of classes (I'm meeting with my students for individual conferences), then we have finals week, and we're done! 

Despite all of this year's challenges, we have so much to be thankful for...and if you're reading this, you are on my gratitude list, too! Take care and stay healthy. 

PS: Christmas Decoration Update

Since posting, the second strand of outdoor lights came in, and Mark did a great job rearranging them on our banister:

outdoor lights at dusk

the rest of the lights at dusk

a blurry picture of the tree and the lights outside

the lights after dark

the rest of the lights after dark

We also ordered a pair of Christmas stockings, which look great hanging on the shelf with the nativity:

stockings hanging on the shelf

Mark's green stocking

my red stocking