House hunting...again, by Jodi

Last night just before we went to bed, our realtor friend texted Kevin and told him that the house he’d secured for us in Villareal had fallen through. The landlord’s partner had removed

t night just before we went to bed, our realtor friend texted Kevin and told him that the house he’d secured for us in Villareal had fallen through. The landlord’s partner had removed all the furniture for our house from their warehouse and so they could no longer furnish the house. So, we went to bed not having any clue how things were going to pan out and realizing that our vacation rental is up in 2 days and we’ve got to keep forking out another $150 a night to stay here any longer. I woke up totally stressed out because I’d started getting excited about the school options in the area and getting the kids some bikes to ride on the street in front of our house since that’s a huge rarity here to have a private paved road in front of your house. If the road is paved, it’s a major road, which doesn’t by any means hamper the locals from riding their bikes on the edge of it. But my kids definitely aren’t riding bikes out there.

So, Kevin started getting in contact with the people he’d just barely told that we’d found a house and started setting up appointments to come see their homes. But the options were bleak. There’s one house in Flamingo with 2 bedrooms for $800 that was available until January and then another 2 bedroom house that we’d have to move to for $1000 a month after that. Then there was a huge home down in Maribella for $1200 a month, but when we talked to Jose, he told us the roads there are really bad and it’s really far from church. And because it was so big our A/C bill would be astronomical.

So, we went with Jose to the mechanic to pick up our car from the guy who fixed our A/C. Total cost: $20. Then he took us to another mechanic he knew who fixed the engine temperature gauge. Total cost: $16. Then we went to check out cargo racks for the roof so we can fit our boogie boards and other big stuff that we’re getting as soon as we have a house. The cargo racks were kind of pricey, so we passed on that. So, Jose had us drive by a couple of other places in Villareal that he thought we might like. The first one was full, but the second one had one apartment available that the manager said we could come see the next day.

We got home and Troy called super excited and was like, “Did you find a house yet, because we found the perfect house?” Staci had called earlier in the day to make sure we knew about the ward talent show. Kevin told her we probably wouldn’t make it because the house we’d found had fallen through and we had to go house hunting again today. Plus, we had to drive an hour to the mechanic to pick up the car we’d just bought that needed tons of repairs. So, we were feeling a bit discouraged. Rod called back about 5 minutes after Kevin hung up with Staci to see how we were doing and make sure we knew we could call them if we needed anything. I guess they talked to Troy and Daphne who met up with some friends in the area and remembered that these friends were heading to the US for the holidays and were thinking of subletting their house. They asked them about it and the people said they had a family that wanted it, but ended up passing on them because they only wanted “positive energy in their house and this family had too much negative energy.” So, Troy immediately told them about us and got us in contact with them. I talked to the husband this afternoon and he said we could have it while they’re gone. They leave next Wednesday and are gone through January 3^rd. And, their rent is only $650 a month! I couldn’t believe it. They’re a block away from Blanchards, which also means we get to stay in Flamingo right by the beach. They’ve got 3 bedrooms and a private pool. And their rent is lower than any place we’ve seen that wasn’t a complete hole. Troy actually said that this house was the one Daphne really wanted, but he vetoed it because he wanted something bigger. 

I was joking with Autumn at dinner because just that morning, she and I had been getting ready in the bathroom and I was doing her hair and complaining how Heavenly Father isn’t blessing me as fast as I want Him to. Ha ha. It’s sad how easily I get discouraged if one thing goes wrong.

Anyhow, so I won’t believe it until we’re moved in. But given that it’s an American family we’re dealing with and I can’t foresee any reason they’d change their mind unless we emit negative energy while we’re checking out the house tomorrow J, I’m hoping things work out. Plus, they’ve already got the internet up and running for Kevin. So, he can just set up his office and get going right away.  Keeping our fingers crossed!

Here are some pics from dinner tonight. We were so busy running around all day with mechanics and looking for houses that we ate crackers and cookies in the car for lunch. By dinner time, Autumn was starving to death. We found this cool soda on the beach near our house. So, instead of a playland, the kids got to play on the beach while we waited for our food, which is why Autumn was the only one around to take pictures with us. I got pictures of the other kids playing, but they took too long to upload.

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