Tuesday, January 1, 2019

Reflecting back on 2018

Other than 2010, I think this year has brought the most change I've ever had in my life. I essentially have a whole new life with the change of job, change of location and as a result a whole new set of friends! I love that no matter where we go we can immediately find a wonderful new set of friends. I didn't know it at the time but the change started in January when it was laid on my heart by my Father that I'd be moving. Having no thought of putting the house up for sale I didn't think a whole lot about it. After all it could have meant 5 years down the road! But 2 weeks later I got a text from Christina and she'd been talking with the wife of the CFO of the farm where I now work. They'd been talking and it came up that the farm was looking for either an experienced bookkeeper or a CPA. They weren't sure which, but they'd like to fill that position in the next year. It just felt like I should follow-up so I sent a barrage of questions to Christina. Poor girl! :) She responded and basically said Hold on! I wasn't expecting you to actually respond like this! It just felt right though. She passed on to the CFO that I was interested and he left a job description on the table the next morning that she texted me. I was told Saturday and on Monday we had an hour and a half long interview, then another on Wednesday and another on Friday. That was the first full week of February. The next Wednesday he told me the job was mine if I wanted it but to come out and take a look at things before officially committing to the job. I knew I would take it because my Father was saying GO!. So started letting some clients know that change was coming and coming quick! Over the next 2 weeks I did a lot of looking online for houses, keeping in mind Wednesday night meeting, and also worked on wrapping up of 2017 books for clients. Only 2 houses fit my criteria. Flat entrance for meeting, enough room in the living room for meeting and enough property for a garden as well as flower gardens. When I came out, one was sale pending so that left just one available. The one I'm in today. I made an offer on it contingent on the sale of my house in Gresham. They accepted it but it stayed on the market and said they'd give me 72 hours to match another offer if it came, another offer was never an issue. I'm sure they thought I was crazy since I hadn't even gotten a realtor for my own home!! Needless to say, I accepted the job offer. I went home and started the process and I've got to say I'm not sure I'll ever experience things falling into place like this did! First week home I got a realtor thanks to an awesome referral, next week I rented a storage unit and started packing up the house for pictures to be taken for the listing the following week and also started looking for bookkeepers to take my clients books over. The following week pictures were taken on Monday, listed on Tuesday with the following Tuesday being the day offers would be looked at. There were a lot of people through the house that week! In the end there were 4 viable offers, one of which was a cash offer! We took the cash offer and closed early the following week (4th week after accepting the job offer). He wanted me out by the 13th of April but Erika and her boyfriend weren't available to help me until the 20th of April. Luckily he was okay with that! I needed that time to finish packing up, finish clients books and clean the house. The week I put my house on the market was the week I activated the buying of the house here. The signing on this house was April 19th! I moved in April 20th. Whew, I really felt I was just along for the ride! I was so thankful for my employee, Amanda, that stuck around until the end of March. She was a huge help in getting things done while I was packing!! And Gary and Drew helping outside, and the Brenda's helping inside, and the guys fixing what needed fixed for the inspection. My friends were amazing and I couldn't have done it without them!! Each week was a different step in the process. It took 7 weeks from the acceptance of the job offer to stepping into my new home, and new life.

The job has been perfect, the house has been awesome (with a few fixes here and there) and the yard is coming along (a whole half acre). This last year has been spent just getting settled. ALL boxes have been gone through now and this last few weeks the car has even been in the garage! And I'm apparently going to continue my bookkeeping business but on a MUCH smaller scale. Made the decision the end of November to take on a few clients and it looks like I'll most likely have 4 prior clients plus my cousins 2 businesses. As I said in my last post though, I need to be very careful how much I take on!! I'm AM going to have a life here! :)

The sunrises and sunsets are AMAZING!!  See below.  As I sit here this morning it's 8 degrees fahrenheit and little tiny flakes are drifting down onto a snow covered yard. It's beautiful! I know without a doubt that this is where my Father wanted me. Looking back I feel like life has been leading me here for many years. I'm sure there will changes ahead that I'm not aware of now. Oh to be willing for whatever that may be! To help whoever needs help, to be there for whoever just simply needs someone to talk to. Happy New Year everyone!!! 💗


Sunrise this morning (2*F when it was taken)


Sunset last night at the farm


Sunset last night at the farm

2 comments:

  1. Actually, I would say your 'move' started about two years ago when you began to fix problem areas of your house, one by one! Am so glad it all worked out! And that you are happy.

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  2. I hadn't thought of that. That's a good point!

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