Sterling and I were both planning (guessing) when and where the military would move us. In the summer or more likely the fall this year. And, crossing our fingers, to Utah or sending Ster on a one year remote tour which would result in the kids and I moving into a small apartment in Utah near family.
My personal wishes were 1) to move to Utah
2) to have a playground outside our house (like in an apartment)
3) to live somewhere warmer than here (having four seasons in a year)
We learned that we would be moving to Yokota Japan (on the outskirts of Tokyo) and we would only have two months to plan/prep and move!
Typically we would have 5 or 6 months to do all of this. But not this time.
Someone who was planned to go to Yokota in April ended up not able to go, for some reason. So, the military had to replace him. And they chose us.
Our family is always up for adventure. We love change and we are flexible and easy going. So, we are a good choice for this situation. But, it does come with stress and urgency.
Sterling had to immediately start scheduling appointments, doing paperwork and getting things cleared for our move. Before we can out process and move away from here we had to have medical and dental clearance for all of us. We have to have passports. We have to sell our house. To have to get movers scheduled to take our stuff in time. Even then, it takes 3 months to move a household shipment overseas. So, we will be in Japan without our belongings for a while.
I sorted through our belongings. We took many trips to the thrift store to donate. We took a few trips to the dump. I had to downsize our holiday collection, which was very difficult! I tried to shrink it down but it was still too large. I tried again...still too large. And a third time. Ster thinks it's still too large but I can't possibly part with more than I already have. haha
We had to decide which items were going to come to Japan and which ones we wanted to keep but could live without for four years. We will be in Japan for four years with the option of extending our stay to another four years if we like.
We started hearing how great it is in Japan, by those who have lived there. How courteous and kind the Japanese people are. How nice the weather is. How awesome it is to live there. We are excited about finding places to hike, visiting old cultural temples and monuments and enjoying the four seasons.
We plan to live on the military base. That way I will feel safe letting all of my children go outside to play on the playground without me...even if they have to walk a street or more away from our apartment. We are excited to have flat streets/sidewalks on base so the kids can ride bikes and roller blade/skate near our home. I plan on getting Ty roller blades (me too) and Athena some roller skates. And Luke...we'll see what he wants. Probably roller skates.
In December the kids were asking if we could move to a new house and a new life. I pulled them back to reality by pointing out that they would miss all of their friends and have to start at a new school where they no nobody. They decided they are happy here. Then we found out we are moving. They were then reluctant about it. But they are strong and will love the changes. Ty and Athena will make new friends fast. And I have hope that there will be a friend there just waiting to bond with Luke...since we have not found that yet in his life. I am hopeful that as he gets older he will bond with other kids over video games , if nothing else.
We hired Amber Hoffman to be our realtor. She use to be in our ward but now lives in the nicest part of Rapid City.
This is the worst time to try and sell a house in Rapid City. February is the coldest time of the whole year! We have snow piled high! And the high for each day is in the teens if we are lucky. The wind has been -15 and similar to that. Too dangerous to be outside. We are stuck indoors and it's no fun to go anywhere. This means not too many people are currently moving or searching for a home to move to. People don't want to go house hunting right now.
Despite how awesome our home is...we do not have a garage. If we were selling our house in the summer we would have more chance of selling a house without a garage. But currently the lack of a garage is a deal breaker.
We have had the house on the market since the last week of January. We have had many walk throughs! A surprising amount! Our house looks great online! However, every person who has come to see the house ends up saying "There's no garage, we don't want this one." I don't understand why so many people would come look at the house, knowing there is no garage, if it is a deal breaker! It is frustrating because we live in this house but have it perfectly cleaned and show ready every time someone comes to see the house. We vacate for an hour so they can come see it and say "no, not for us." Why ?!
We paid $150, 000 for the house. We first listed it at $179,000. We are currently listed at $169,000. We get a lot of positive feedback (aside from lack of garage). But no buyers!
We had one open house where two families checked out the house. No takers though.
We trudge on...
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