It's a Family Affair

So we have moved into our new place in Virginia.  We love it but are swimming in boxes and disorganization.  It has been an adventure and I will share more about that in a post coming soon.  I wrote this one up a few weeks back and wanted to get it out before it becomes outdated.

Memorial Day weekend was a great one for our family.  Ed, the kids and I had been cooped up in our apartment for a few weeks too many and were looking forward to a family wedding reception for Zack and Lacey the latest newlyweds.  This reception was not the kind where you shine your shoes and buy a new dress.  We took our rain boots to play in the mud, life jackets for the paddle boats and wore our play clothes while celebrating our new bride and groom.

Now I have mentioned that my family’s roots are in the Appalachian Mountains; my mother’s family specifically grew up in Catlettsburg, KY.  You could say Catlettsburg is a suburb of Ashland, KY which is in Northeastern Kentucky where Ohio, Kentucky, and West Virginia meet but Ashland is only a town of 30,000 people so I am not sure that is suburb worthy size.  My mom is one of 5 girls in her family and her mother is one of seven(I hope I am counting right!). 

One particular Great Aunt has a fabulous farm complete with a covered gathering space(it is the former chicken coop), playground, and a pond.  You must realize that Aunt Peggy has sainthood status in my family; when my mother was in the ICU after I was born Aunt Peggy came and “rescued me” from my father’s care and kept me at her house until my mother had recuperated.  She also taught me to eat dill pickles at age 2….I still love dill pickles to this day.  We have always loved coming to her farm; and even when Ed and I were dating in college we would come and fish at the pond during the summers. 

It is really fun to come back here with our kids and see them enjoy this special place. 

We had a blast with all of our cousins; our family has been through its own “baby boom” in the past 4 years.  We have 8 children under the age of 4 between 3 families so it is fun to get them all together.  After the initial shyness all wears off they play together like they see each other daily instead of the 2-3 times a year it actually is.  Isn’t it funny how kids have no concept of time…I wish I were the same. 

Little man and C got the chance to try fishing for the first time; and G-Dad and Papa had the joy of helping “catch” the fish. 

My mom and her sisters are fabulous; they honestly have each been a role model for me each in her own special way.  They are hardworking, loving, intelligent, serving, creative, crazy and just plain fun to be with.  Let me just summarize it with if these 5 ladies put their mind to something you better watch out because it will get done.  They love nothing more than having a family event to plan; no event is complete without games for the kids and decorations.  The decorating gene has spread to some of us, my cousin Alee and her finance Davis pictured below designed this tractor ride décor for our bride and groom’s event.  Bride and groom pictured 2^nd below on their “tractor chariot”.

We had a blast and can’t wait for our next big family event where Caroline gets to debut as a flower girl in Alee’s wedding.

A Divergence through China

So today I am sitting here in the Roanoke Regional Airport: the bastion of on-time flights....and realized there are some fun details of life that occured between us saying yes to our adventure and actually arriving here in our moutain home.

One of those is a trip to China.  Now I have been to China before, twice actually, and Ed even got the chance to go with me the 2nd time.  This third trip was a different kind of adventure; we were visiting 2 factories a day on most days and the ones we weren't in a factory we were in a car or airplane going to the next factory. 

So I officially started my new job on Feb 14, a lovely valentines present, and 10 days later was flying to Shanghai.  Thanks to my wonderful parents Ed was not solo parenting for the duration of the trip. 

Now the beauty of flying that far is international business class;  for a mom like me having someone wait on you while you sit mostly still for 14-15 hours in Delta's updgraded jet didn't sound so bad.  This always sounds better in reality than it really is and it was.  About 8 hours into the flight when I had eaten and drank all I wanted, watched all the movies I wanted and even slept all my body wanted we still had 6 hours to go.  My co-worker had been kind enough to share an Ambien with me before we boarded so I decided to give that a shot but you are supposed to take these things when you have 8-10 hours to devote to sleep...oops!   The next thing I remember after that is the flight attendant waking me up to land and I had no clue I was even on an airplane.  I felt like a baby elephant as I followed my co-workers off the plane, through customs, into a hotel van and through Shanghai for the next hour.  Then of course at 3am local time I was awake with a day of 2 supplier visits ahead. 

Day one(I promise not to go day by day so hang with me) was a road trip to the city of Suzhou which is about an hour and 1/2 car ride from Shanghai.  Now the thing about China is no one really drives themselves and no one really knows how to drive except the hired drivers, but that doesn't stop people from driving.  So there is little order to lane speeds, lane changes or merging on the highways.  To quote a co-worker's driver from a prior trip to India, "Maybe it is more relaxing if you don't watch".  That was the truth. 

Unfortunately before we even made it to our destination there was stopped traffic and I could tell the mood in the car changed.  I asked my local co-worker Murphy what was going on and he told me don't look, someone's dead.  It was true, there had been a moped accident at an highway offramp and there was a young lady not moving next to her moped with her face covered.  It was a sober start to the day.

On the ligher side of things the first non-hotel bathroom I went to had the luxury of a fuzzy toilet seat cover, pictured here for your enjoyment. Don't even begin to ask youself how often it was washed, we probably don't want to know.

And another new custom to me was the traditional picture with the customer, we did this at every factory we visited.

Another perk of the international trip is staying in 5 star hotels.  After spending all day smushed in a car, jam packed in traffic or an airplane it is needed to stay sane.

Our hotel in Shanghai was Le Royal Méridien Shanghai, I had a fabulous yet smoggy view of Peoples Square.

Now speaking of smog;  I took sunglasses on this trip and they were NEVER used despite a continual sunny forecast.  The smog honestly never cleared in Shanghai, after 4 days there we were desperate for blue sky.

 I was very lucky to be traveling with a really fun group of people and oddly enough a friend of mine from Virginia circa 2000-2005 was in Shanghai at the same time; funny though I didn't get a picture with him.

I've spent a lot of time in my career with men, it has been fun to have a few ladies to travel with the past few years.  On Saturday I got to enjoy some shopping and a pedicure Chinese style with a female co-worker(not pictured here). 

After 4 days in Shanghai we spent the next 4 going to a different city each day which meant a different hotel each night and packing, unpacking, and re-packing a very large suitcase each day. 

Next stop was Xiamen which is the coastal vacation capital of China; I got to wear my sunglasses here thanks to the ocean breeze; it blows the smog away(to the US West coast).  Lots of my local co-workers had honeymooned here.  It is right across the bay from Taiwan.  Hotel of the day was the Millenium Harborview(a little disappointing).

Next stop was ShenZhen which is further south from Xiamen and the first mainland city in China when crossing into the country from Hong Kong.  I learend from our Chinese hosts that the "local bargain shopping" is in Hong Kong because shopping in China for Louis Vitton bags had gotten too expensive.  The further south and the further coastal you get in China the more industrial things are.  That also means there is the need for more power...and more pollution thanks to the very abundant natural resource of coal in China.  I'll post more later about my thoughts on coal fired power plants....lets just say it isn't a favorable perception. 

Now this hotel was SWEEEET.  It is a Kempinski Hotel which apparently some people know about; I didn't but would love to go back to one.  They had some great blown glass artwork in the lobby and the rooms were very nicely appointed.  

Everywhere you go in China the skyline is filled with cranes; you actually get numb to it after a while.  Here is a view from the Kempinski at the "progress' in Shenzhen.

Each night we had the priveledge to eat at the best Chinese restaurants in whatever town we happened to be in.  Now I consider myself a pretty adventerous eater and this was fun for the first few dinners but Chinese food in China is not Chinese food in America.  However this restaurant had won the "Golden Cabbage" award.

Final stop was Guangzhou which was a car ride from Shenzhen.  It was a nice change to bypass the airport crowds and be driven to our final destination. Note the air quality...not improving.

So apparently I don't remember much about Guangzhou because I can't find many pictures.  I was really really ready to be home.  Here's a final group photo and some downtown Guangzhou scenery.



The world is small folks but China is not.  There are a ton of smart, hardworking people there.  If America wants to compete we need to stay unique and ahead. 

Well my 6:15 flight is about to arrive to board @ 8:41 pm.  Excited to head back to ATL and start packing up!!

God is in the Details; Part II The House Hunt

We were very unsure how the house selling in Atlanta would go....our list price was ~$10k below what we paid for the house in 2006 and our realtor and relo company said to sell it quick we needed to be another $20k below that.  In hindsight they were right.....IF we had listened at the time we may have saved ourselves another $20k but sometimes bad news takes a while to sink in and become real in your head.  For those out there who know you need to sell; listen to the experts from Day 1.  For those that don't need to sell, stay where you are ride out the storm.

Given we had some time to kill until the spring market heated up in Atlanta and we had found NOTHING in Roanoke that excited us that much we spent A LOT of time looking for homes.  Each weekend and some weeknights we were doing drive-bys and every other weekend we were with our realtor.  It actually became an obsession for us both and that was almost all we could think of outside of work and the kids.   We never have felt settled totally here yet.  Maybe it is because we are still missing 80% of our "stuff" or maybe it is because we know we aren't in our permanent home, whatever the reason we are glad it is almost over!




The Mill Mountain Star - symbol of the City of Roanoke 

Art Installation by Charlie Brouwer(Eds graduate advisor) of the same star built from community ladders.  Coincidentally he has done a similar installation in Atlanta called Rise Up Atlanta

 The real estate market in Roanoke is quite different than Atlanta.  This market is not overbuilt and there are not foreclosures & short sales driving the market down here.  In short....it is not a bargain.  We have struggled with consistency in our house hunt here.  Our sensible side has been pushing us to go to "the good school district" our desire for community kept pulling us back to established neighborhoods like we lived in 6 years ago.  Then to add to the confusion our desire to have privacy and space after living on a postage stamp in Atlanta with essentially zero yard drew us to 2-5 acre lots with mountain views.  Add those to our desire to have a nicely updated home, dedicated office, room for each kid to have a bedroom, guest quarters, and possibly a studio for Ed === not in our price range.  To quote the Bravo show "Selling New York"  we needed to either "Adjust our budget, or adjust our expectations".   The expectations had to go!

Thank goodness God has been in charge of this move because with the mess of requirements described above we would have never found a home.  Our poor realtor was clueless about what to really show us...and he really was not all that helpful; Ed did most of the work it seemed.  We were looking at ranches, colonials, farms, city neighborhoods, mountain side neighborhoods, new builds, and turn of the century homes.  We threw a few low ball offers out just to test the market on some properties really out of our range.  Needless to say those didn't go anywhere! 

We were very close to acquiring a home for about 1 month.  It was a great early 1900s home near our old street; it was spectacularly updated, had a fabulous yard, had all the space we needed and was at the top of our budget but just within it.  It even had a detached garage with complete in-law suite above; perfect for our frequently visiting(and very loved families).  We went to see it the 1st day it was on the market and we knew we loved it but we hadn't had an offer on our Atlanta house so weren't quite ready to make an offer so we slept on it.  Our realtor gave no advice about making an offer because he didn't get that the house was a "hot commodity".  The following day the home had an open house; we went back to try and determine if it really was "the one".  The place was CRAWLING with people and the agent hosting was totally overwhelmed.  We were listening to the chatter in the crowd and heard at least 2 families that were going to make an offer.  We were under pressure and didn't really like being in that situation.  We didn't really have any idea what would happen in Atlanta and didn't desire to be in a bidding war when we were so unsure of our financial situation. 



House #1

 We called our realtor and left a message advising of the situation then went to our COR group which is a Sunday night gathering of some church families with kids.  During our group we mentioned the house and it came out that it was actually owned by someone that went to our church who was relocating to California.  This gave us some hope that maybe we had some influence in the situation and this felt pretty good being new to town.  During the "chatter" at the open house we had heard some big talkers referring to "oh I know so and so from so and so organization I'll just give him a call", it was very demoralizing so this relationship made us feel like we maybe had some hope to compete for this place. 

We made a late night offer contingent on GE buying our house in Atlanta and thus closing at the end of July.  We offered above the asking price by about $5k and went to sleep knowing the chances of us winning were slim but we had least played a card.  That next day crept by.  I don't know about you but when I am waiting on important news I am constantly checking all my input sources: work email, personal email, voicemail, etc every 5 minutes or so....impossible to get anything else done.  Totally obsessive I know. So after 24 hours we learned we had lost it for an ALL CASH(who has this kind of cash in a recession?) offer that was $1k lower than us but the biggest difference was a closing date of end of June vs end of July.  We felt very defeated and felt our agent should have counseled us differently.  Again in hindsight it was better that someone else was in control; we just couldn't see that something better was out there for us.

So we kept searching for another month, 2 Saturdays worth of 6-8 times in and out of a car with 2 small children, 1 realtor and a lot of rain while trying to convince ourselves to like something that we really honestly didn't like.  We even considered some pretty major reno projects but given the pull back on lending the cash needed to do major renovation was going to be hard to come by. In the mean time our loft, while nice, was getting a little weary on the weekends with the improving weather.  During nap time we were trapped and our kids are big weekend nappers averaging 2-3 hours.  There just wasn't really anywhere else to go to have a special project, purpose or personal space even.  Our hopes were fading; I began adjusting expectations...dramatically.

So one evening we were doing a drive by in an established turn of the century neighborhood, Raleigh Court for those that know, looking at a home that was very charming but way too small for our family and the extra storage and workshop space we needed.  But as I said we were adjusting expectations.  As we were driving around a neighbor was outside playing with her grandkids and she happened to be someone we knew from  COR.  Jenny owns a really unique consignment store in Grandin Village called  New To Me.  Now in full disclosure I haven't been there yet but can't wait to check it out....remember we spent every extra minute looking at houses = no time to shop. Anyway back to the story.

We rolled down the windows and were chatting with her about looking at a home on the street over.  She agreed with us that the price on that particular home was high for what you were getting.  What she DID ask us is "Have you seen the FSBO(for sale by owner) home on the corner of Greenwood and Shirley Ave?"  We had not because it was not on MLS and we knew every single stinking house for sell in the Roanoke Valley that was on MLS, nothing that was FSBO.  Frankly my impression of FSBO homes at this point was people that really didn't need to sell and were testing the market with overpriced homes so I was not hopeful that this would be worth the drive-by but we did it.

Now Ed and I were in seperate cars for various reasons but we drove by, turned around and drove by again.  My thought was oh my gosh, this is potentially better than house #1, in a better section of town it must be either very expensive or too good to be true. I had no one to confer with at the moment other than C and Little Man who were getting very grumpy and ready for bed, so I had no idea what Ed was thinking. We jotted down the phone number and rushed home to get the kids in bed. 

Dancing at the Down by the River Festival

The owners called us back that night and gave us the details about that house; the specs on the home were unbelievable; on paper it was exactly what we were looking for and within our price range(not at the top!) We booked a showing for the very next evening because we were NOT going to lose another house!!  Now that night was tense.  We wanted to get excited but were afraid to because of the previous scenario.  We wanted to fall in love but weren't willing to take the risk...ever felt like that?  I think everyone has at some point in time.

Now back in Atlanta:  Earlier the same week we had gotten an offer....the first and it was very very bad.  It was a good $25k less than our much adjusted list price.  We had almost NOT countered it was so defeating.  But something made us do it; partially it was our GREAT realtor in Atlanta; Crystal Sloan.  If anyone can sell a house in a down-market it is Crystal.  She has worked so hard for us.  So over the course of the week the potential price of the buyers was coming up but we still didn't think it would get to a point where we would have a deal. 

Back in Roanoke we visited the Greenwood home on Friday night and it was great.  Now it isn't as spectacular on the inside as House #1 but it has the fundamentals upgraded and has so much potential. It is really a better location from a re-sell and neighborhood perspective.  We made an offer that night (without our realtor)....our experience had led us to know a good deal when we saw it now!

Saturday passed; the offer in Atlanta wasn't looking much better and we hadn't heard from the Greenwood house.  We actually told Crystal we were done with the Atlanta offer no more counters.  The pressure was getting to all of us so we took a family night out at a local music festival to try and forget real estate and pretend we lived here so matter what our address. 

We ignored our phones and email for a few hours and just had fun together; we got home late and there was a voice mail waiting on our home phone.  It was the Greenwood owners; they were countering our offer but it was an acceptable amount and we felt we would have a deal!!! 

Recall the saying "Joy comes in the morning" well maybe it was clarity comes in the morning.  I woke up at 6am and it was just as clear as day to me that we needed to get our buyer back for the Atlanta house and be done with all this stress.  I texted our agent at 6:15 AM on a Sunday morning informing her of the same; she had the buyers back and a closing date by the end of the day.  Did I mention that she is awesome?? 

So I am sitting here 95% certain this will be our new home on June 23rd and we couldn't be happier about it. It is a Federal Colonial built in 1914.

Now I do realize how blessed we are to have financial support for this transition.  Without our relocation benefits we would NOT be buying another home.  The losses on the Atlanta home would have killed us without GE support.  I am grateful and somewhat contractually obligated to GE for the next 5 years in return for that support....oh well there is a silver lining to every cloud. 

So here ends the story for today...it is a home that has shown us Gods Grace for us and how it will sustain us if we can only trust that.  

God is in the Details: Part I

Sitting at nearly the end of this move with 20/20 hindsight it is amazing to look back on the transitions we have come through in the past 6 months and to see how every decision was divinely guided and controlled.  We took a step of faith by saying yes and our needs have been provided....every single one.

After saying yes it came time to have some tough conversations and make some decisions.



Ed was stuck at home during the January 2011 ice storm in Atlanta for 4 days solo with C & Little Man while I was stuck in Schenectady, NY doing job interviews.

 One of our first decisions was regarding Ed's job....should he resign and start a new job yet again, expand his freelance work to nearly full time, be a full time stay at home Dad or propose a remote work arrangement with his current employer.  It is rare for in a in-house designer to work remote HOWEVER my husband is awesome at the different jobs he has held over the course of our marriage; every employer he has left has been very sad to see him go and he is very valued for his creative mind, experience, attention to detail and patience for last minute changes. We thought there would be a chance he could work remote but were not sure this "favor" would be accepted.   Ed convinced his co-workers first before approaching management about the arrangement and we were elated to hear his CEO supported the arrangement because they love Ed.  Doesn't everyone???

After our snow storm adventure it became clear that me traveling back and forth between Atlanta and Virgina until our house in Atlanta sold and we found the right home in VA wasn't a great solution for our family.  It put too much burden on Ed, the kids, and our marriage.  We took one house hunting trip to Roanoke and were pretty disappointed with the selection.  The prices were high, the homes not updated, and the "good school district" homes lacked the character and neighborly feel we so enjoyed in Atlanta.  Despite the disappointment we enjoyed our weekend away and got to stay at one of my favorite hotels: Hotel Roanoke.  It is a charming Doubletree Property that is an updated classic and the nicest hotel in town, don't you just love those mountains in the background?

Thus the hunt began for temporary housing.....

We had 2 options for a short term lease:

1) live in a college-esque apartment (dark, dingy, old appliances, old fixtures, cheap carpet)

    2) live in a furnished college-esque apartment for triple the money with dingy rented furniture. 

We created option 3 and stepped out in faith that God would provide.  We signed a 9 month lease for the only apartment that met our expectations and sent our sweet Abbie dog to Camp Kentucky with G-dad. 

After having spent 2 months of cleaning out, upgrading, de-cluttering our Atlanta home to be on the extremely tough Atlanta real estate market a 2 bedroom loft sounded like heaven.  We did a partial move into The Cotton Mill in middle March. 

Our loft is unconventional for Roanoke. Downtown living is a recent trend/fad here much like in the rest of the US.  The smaller population here doesn't drive much demand much in the way of upscale apartment living in renovated factory buildings.  Many people feel the downtown area is unsafe(we disagree) however it is not an ideal location for a family of 4.  Luckily the walls here are very well insulated and we haven't had any complaints from neighbors about the 2 crying, jumping, and screaming monkeys that live in our unit. 

We have loved our time here; the unit is beautiful and it has allowed us to walk downtown, ride to the greenway, and be 10 minutes from work and the kids' school.  The original wood beams are exposed and the original wood floors have been restored....they are even rolling in places.  The developer spared no cost restoring this place, he actually was developing this building as condos and at the last minute changed to rental units due to the economic conditions when the project was completed.  The most important part of us living here is the church home we found literally outside the door of our building.



Our Dining Nook



Ed's Office...our hallway!



On our downtown walks I had noticed a sign outside The Jefferson Center (a performing arts center) for a church; I mentally filed it away because we were trying to like a church in the same "family" as the one we were missing so badly in Atlanta, but it was just not to be. So one Sunday we walked across the street and found our new church home.  We knew right away it was the place for us: COR. 

Stay tuned...we are moving into a home and there is more to that story too.

 

In the beginning....or at least the re-beginning

So I have been a reader of blogs for some time now; and I have learned a lot from what others have said, experiences they have shared and I have sought other like minded bloggers.  I never thought I had anything interesting enough to share about myself but something about our move back to Virginia has inspired me to share my story, our life and our adventures as we return to our roots in Appalachia.  So this is the beginning of a chronicle of the journey back to our roots.  I hope you enjoy and are intrigued by the story; we have been truly in awe of what God has done in our lives in the past 6-9 months and are very excited to see what the future holds.

On Christmas 2010 we were here: 

happily entrenched in Atlanta, GA. Life was fabulous: a great home and neighborhood, wonderful friends, great careers, good childcare, great restaurants, shopping, cultural activities and finally a church we felt comfortable with Atlanta Westside

Why change any of that?  Here the story begins...hang with me this is a little long.

Between Christmas and New Years I was at the office(what better time to work then when no one is actually working right?) and I got a phone call at 7:45AM.  Now I typically don't answer the office phone at that hour because if I am in that early there is a reason and it is not to answer the phone; but I picked it up. A company executive I have deep respect for and had some past interaction with was on the line.  He was offering me a job in Salem, VA.  The job was to lead the team I had been a part of prior to moving to Atlanta 6 years prior.  My initial response was thanks but no thanks.  To understand that answer maybe these two pictures will help put it in perspective.

10th floor office in Atlanta with skyline views:

Plant in Salem, VA, my office has nitrogen tank views.... I am giving away the punchline but you had probably figured that out by now... we said yes.



Why Yes? Well, we had lived in Virginia before for 5 years. Actually Ed and myself both went to school in Virginia.  I did my BSME at Virginia Tech and Ed received his Master of Fine Arts from Radford University.  We started our married lives, careers, and purchased our first home in Roanoke, VA.  We had a fabulous time there and fell in love with the mountains and small yet eclectic city. During our time in Atlanta we frequently pined for the mountains and simplicity of life back in Virginia but never dreamed we would return.  Boy were we wrong.... On another note in Atlanta I had experienced the best leaders of my career and the worst; when this offer was made to me it had become clear that my "worst" manager was not going anywhere so I was being offered  "an out".

I can bore you with details but saying yes was an incredible leap of faith.  So many logical people would have said no to this.  Let me share with you the cons list:  Atlanta real estate market(down 30% vs 2008 high, we bought in 2006), Ed stopping and re-starting his career, limited long term career growth for me, leaving the fabulous church plant mentioned above, less shopping choices, less dining choices, going back to a factory enviornment vs headquarter lifestyle and networking, the chaos of moving with a 3 1/2 year old and a 1 1/2 year old, miniature airport making travel more expensive and more difficult.  I could go on but you get the point.

However the pros were very strong: a great business leadership role for me in a very intriguing growing market, albeit plagued by starts and stops due to tax incentives.

A chance to return to a simpler life: no traffic, a yard for the kids, beautiful panoramic views, outdoor recreation at your doorstep, 4 hours vs 8 from my family, affordable Montessori education for our children, and a chance to re-embrace a place we had treasured in our lives.

We said yes and the adventure began.

Stay tuned; the story only gets better from here....