So, if you hadn't heard (but since you are reading this blog, you probably know us and probably have heard), but in case you didn't get all the details, here is the Reader's Digest version. :)
We are in Winnipeg. we've been here for 5 months now. Wow, almost half a year. Winnipeg is in the grip of winter, with no warmth on the horizon until the spring, just like God meant it.
We sold our house at the end of June for slightly less than we had hoped, and were packed and ready to go for August 1st. we had lots of help loading up the truck and everything went smoothly.
The drive was long and rather uneventful with the exception of the truck breaking down on my parents in Medicine Hat. we each drove a car, and my parents drove the moving truck. The problem was fixed and the rest of the trip went by without any problems.
we moved into a little 1 bedroom apartment on Pembina (south end of the city). Jo started work at Starbucks right across the street and began the Manitoba Chiropractor licensing process and I commenced looking for a job.
I got a job at Convergys, a huge call center, where I worked for a month doing technical support for Comcast business customers across the states. While working there I was offered a 4 month term job with Great West Life which I took with great enthusiasm, as call center work sucks and doesn't pay worth shit.
Thus began my 1 month stay at Great West Life. It was a great company to work for, but I was working in the IMAC (install, move, add, change) department, meaning I was pushing papers, and acting as a coordinator all day. All-in-all a great experience, but not quite what I was looking for. After about a month, I received a call from the St. James School District where I went for an interview and was offered a job doing computer/network support for the schools in the division, a division which our new house is in.
During my job hoping, Jo and I spent a large amount of time house shopping. We aren't renting people, and after tasting the greatness that is home-ownership we wanted to snag a place out here. Our realor, Don B., was absolutely amazing and really showed us what Winnipeg has to offer. After a few un-accepted offers we found an amazing little place and our offer was accepted. It's a cute, 1100 sq ft, 1 1/2 storey place in St. James, on the west end of Winnipeg. It has a HUGE yard, and an attached single car garage. The basement is fully finished, and it had been freshly painted througout. The lady we bought from kept the house immaculate and it is in amazing condition. Shortly after we moved in we ripped up most of the carpet on the main floor to expose beautiful hardwood underneath in really good condition.
We moved into our new place on Oct 1st with lots of help from my awesome relatives and friends.
Throughout this time Jo had been working on her licensing stuff and was also looking for a clinic to work in.
So that brings us to December. Time for Christmas and all that fun stuff. We decided not to do presents this year as we are trying to get things going with a practice for Jo. She has a lead on a practice for sale so we are just waiting for the seller to get all the info together.
At the beginning of December we had the Dueck (my mom's side) family get-together in Rosenfeld. 88 people showed up this year, and there was lots of good food. I think it has been about 15 years since I was last at one, so it was cool to be back and see all the people that couldn't make it to our wedding, as well as all of those that were able to make it.
We also took a drive out to Altona to see my grandparents old house. It was a nice trip down memory lane. :)
We didn't go home for Christmas this year, and had a wonderful Christmas dinner at my Aunt and Uncle's place. They even suprised us with a few presents which was fun.
So Christmas is over, New Year's eve is upon us and Jo is done at Starbucks at the end of the week. She is going to be doing some temp work doing mecial transcription while the chiro stuff comes together starting next week.
We hope that all is good in your lives, and this caught you up to date on the last few months. I know I missed tons, and maybe got something wrong in all of that, but Jo will be sure to let me know. :)
You can expect more frequent updates, and we wish you all the best in 2009.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Belated Merry Christmas
Belated Merry Christmas Everyone!
We've been delinquent in keeping this up-to-date for all of our family and friends, but that was possibly because I forgot the password. :)
But a new year is approaching, and there will be more posts. This blog is a nice way to keep you all in the loop of what is happening in our lives, so for those of you we don't get to talk to on a regular basis, or for those fun little things that come up, we'll post about them on here.
We've been delinquent in keeping this up-to-date for all of our family and friends, but that was possibly because I forgot the password. :)
But a new year is approaching, and there will be more posts. This blog is a nice way to keep you all in the loop of what is happening in our lives, so for those of you we don't get to talk to on a regular basis, or for those fun little things that come up, we'll post about them on here.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
price drop and subsequent offer
So we dropped the price of our house on Monday. We'd been on the market for 3 weeks with a decent amount of activity in terms of showings with 2 to 3 a week, but not a single offer. Now we understand the market in Calgary has slowed significantly, and this is just how things work. So we dropped it by 6 grand in hopes of enticing new buyers. Immediately after the drop we got 2 showings in 2 days, with an offer following the second showing.
The buyer's Realtor, Lynn, presented the offer around 9pm on Wednesday evening. The price they offered was acceptable, but they had a special clause saying that their house had to sell in order for this contract to go through. And that they had until July 15th to sell. They were also only offering a $2000 deposit, which is low compared to the usual $5000. So we counter-offered accepting the price and asking them to drop the clause that they needed to sell their house, and to raise the deposit to $5000. Then we sat around waiting for a reply. And waited. And waited. Eventually we find out that the other Realtor has just left. So our realtor calls her to see what's going on, and Lynn gets in a big huff about how they would never consent to that change in the contract, and was all insulted that we would even suggest such a thing. I'm not sure why she took the insult so personally, as it's just a business deal but... The fact that she just left without giving us a response to our counter-offer annoyed me, as that's really quite rude.
But such is the way of business, so we continue to wait.
The buyer's Realtor, Lynn, presented the offer around 9pm on Wednesday evening. The price they offered was acceptable, but they had a special clause saying that their house had to sell in order for this contract to go through. And that they had until July 15th to sell. They were also only offering a $2000 deposit, which is low compared to the usual $5000. So we counter-offered accepting the price and asking them to drop the clause that they needed to sell their house, and to raise the deposit to $5000. Then we sat around waiting for a reply. And waited. And waited. Eventually we find out that the other Realtor has just left. So our realtor calls her to see what's going on, and Lynn gets in a big huff about how they would never consent to that change in the contract, and was all insulted that we would even suggest such a thing. I'm not sure why she took the insult so personally, as it's just a business deal but... The fact that she just left without giving us a response to our counter-offer annoyed me, as that's really quite rude.
But such is the way of business, so we continue to wait.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
House is Listed!
So our house listed on Monday and showed up on MLS earlier this week.
Here's a link.
Here's a link.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
It begins...
Who: Jo and Chris
What: Moving!
When: July 1st(ish)
Where: Calgary, AB to Winnipeg, MB
Why: To shed the shackles of financial oppression, and live happier lives where we get to spend more time together and not work multiple jobs. To allow Chris to go back to school and go on to live his dream of being a shepherd of the people, and for Jo to further explore her dreams of being a rock star, writing, and helping people cope with the subluxations of life.
How: A moving truck, some elbow grease, the help and unconditional love and support of family and friends.
Parents and friends have been told. Notice has been given at work. Realtor has been called. Decluttering and staging of the house has began, and we're hoping for a quick sale. Listing at $349,900, and Patricia (the realtor) says it is in the quick-moving section of the real-estate market. Looking at other houses in the similar price range, they seem to be on the market from 17-60ish days. She figures if we don't get an offer in the first 3 weeks, we'll knock it down 5 grand and see how that goes. I'm confident in her abilities as a realtor as she is freakin amazing, so I'm not too worried.
I'm working on lining up contacts for jobs out there, but for the next 2 weeks most things will take a backseat to getting our house ready. We'll be listing it on April 20th, so we have until then to get everything ready. This means moving furniture, hanging pictures, packing excess, decluttering everywhere, minor painting, cleaning up the yard, minor repairs, etc... This house has to look golden. I hate the stress of selling so the sooner we can get it done with the better.
We brought in some of my brothers furniture to brighten the place up a bit, and we need to paint on of the walls in our living room. It used to have these ugly-ass shelves that were crooked, so we took them down when moving in, but they left lots of holes in the walls. We just have to repair them, paint the wall, and we'll be all good. Well, for that wall anyway. It is a lot of work, but we are up for the challenge and it'll turn out great.
-Chris
What: Moving!
When: July 1st(ish)
Where: Calgary, AB to Winnipeg, MB
Why: To shed the shackles of financial oppression, and live happier lives where we get to spend more time together and not work multiple jobs. To allow Chris to go back to school and go on to live his dream of being a shepherd of the people, and for Jo to further explore her dreams of being a rock star, writing, and helping people cope with the subluxations of life.
How: A moving truck, some elbow grease, the help and unconditional love and support of family and friends.
Parents and friends have been told. Notice has been given at work. Realtor has been called. Decluttering and staging of the house has began, and we're hoping for a quick sale. Listing at $349,900, and Patricia (the realtor) says it is in the quick-moving section of the real-estate market. Looking at other houses in the similar price range, they seem to be on the market from 17-60ish days. She figures if we don't get an offer in the first 3 weeks, we'll knock it down 5 grand and see how that goes. I'm confident in her abilities as a realtor as she is freakin amazing, so I'm not too worried.
I'm working on lining up contacts for jobs out there, but for the next 2 weeks most things will take a backseat to getting our house ready. We'll be listing it on April 20th, so we have until then to get everything ready. This means moving furniture, hanging pictures, packing excess, decluttering everywhere, minor painting, cleaning up the yard, minor repairs, etc... This house has to look golden. I hate the stress of selling so the sooner we can get it done with the better.
We brought in some of my brothers furniture to brighten the place up a bit, and we need to paint on of the walls in our living room. It used to have these ugly-ass shelves that were crooked, so we took them down when moving in, but they left lots of holes in the walls. We just have to repair them, paint the wall, and we'll be all good. Well, for that wall anyway. It is a lot of work, but we are up for the challenge and it'll turn out great.
-Chris
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