A Tale of Two Cities

I really learned to appreciate Matt and how hard he tries to find the ideal home for our family when it's time to relocate.  He is usually in a new area for a month or two before we are able to follow him.  The nature of his job has him out and about and within weeks he usually knows an area better then people who have lived there their whole lives.  As he's driving and working he is able to get a feel for an area and then the search begins.

We always like to check out the church, learn what we can about the schools and see what a community has to offer.  I remember when I went to Pittsburgh to house hunt with Matt.  He had researched the area and narrowed the search considerably.  We looked at several homes and ended our day with the home that Matt felt the best about.  In the end it is where we ended up.  The home wasn't even listed as a rental, but Matt was in the right place at the right time and what a blessing living in that home was.  We have so many wonderful memories of our time in that home.

As we prepared to move again, we wanted to be open to where Heavenly Father would have us be.  Matt found two towns that were in two different states, two different wards, in two different stakes, and in the end our two favorite homes.  Each town had an appeal and reasons that made it a desirable place for us to settle in.

Chambersburg, Pennsylvania

Chambersburg would put Matt within minutes of his project.  The ward had a good size YW group with 12 active YW. Life would be a bit simpler than our life in Canonsburg where we could be in downtown Pittsburgh in thirty minutes or less.  The schools were ok.  Lots of dairy farms in the area.  Gets a bit smelly at times, but we liked the rural feel.  We would be moments from church.

We met with two realtors in Chambersburg.  The first showed us a few homes, but according to him the one Matt was most interested in was no longer available.  Matt had found the home by following the spirit and riding through different areas.  There was a small sign in the yard and when Matt gave the number a call he was told that the sign should have been removed.  The owner needed to sell by August and wouldn't even consider a pet.

The second realtor we met with showed us a really neat home in the historical district.  It had lots of wood and built in bookcases, a unique floor plan and we really liked it, but it was location put us in a different ward than we wanted to be in. Matt explained why we were interested in being within certain boundaries and asked if he knew of anything that was available.  Matt tried to explain the location of the home the other realtor said was no longer available. Sam didn't seem to be familiar with it, but he did have a home that he would be showing later that day, but was fairly certain Volvo would be leasing it for one of their employees. Since we were already out and about he decided to show it to us.  As we got closer to the neighborhood Matt got excited, this is the neighborhood Matt had liked.  Perhaps there was something else available there.  We couldn't believe it when we pulled up to the same home Matt had called the other realtor about.

I loved it the minute I walked in.  It was warm and open.  There was plenty of room for family to visit.  It had a fenced in back yard for Lucy.  We were reminded that it was probably not available, but that we should know for sure by the next day.  We were also concerned because we were previously told about the need for the home to be sold by August and that the owners wouldn't allow pets. I wished we would have never seen it.  Nothing else we had seen came close to this home.  It was painful.


Hagerstown, Maryland

Hagerstown had amazing schools, 25 active YW in their ward (the ward we were moving from had five), we would be just 75 miles from both Washington, DC and Baltimore, Maryland.  The history and culture were extensive.  We were blessed to have a Realtor who was a member of the church show us the area.  Not only was he a member of the church, but he was the president of the area historical society.  After the four hours we spent with him I was in love with Hagerstown. It would put us about a half an hour from Matt's project. 

We started the day with the list of homes Matt had whittled it down to.  As we visited with Roger we added a home that Matt had had on his list, but it was a bit above our price range so he had taken it off. Roger thought it was worth taking a look at and left it for last.  What an amazing home.  We affectionately called it Dover (since it was on Dover Street) and it went to the top of our list of possibilities.  Until Dover nothing compared with the home we had seen in Chambersburg the evening before.

The home on Dover was a duplex, but not your ordinary duplex.  The kitchen was a professional grade kitchen with more cabinets and storage than even the Duggars would need.  Each room had special lighting, Hannah would have a jacuzzi tub in her bathroom, the house was wired with a Bose sound system, the master bedroom had a hallway of built in closets, shelves and drawers.  There was a loft office area where we would all have room to work in our own areas.  The basement was finished with an exercise area and built in workbench.  The amenities just went on and on.  There was a large patio, but very little yard.

I felt like the home was amazing, but I didn't know if it was "us."  Roger did a great job of selling the idea of it being fun for awhile, knowing that we'd probably never have a chance to live in a place like Dover again.

While at Dover we found out that the home we liked so much in Chambersburg was available and that the owners would accept pets with a pet deposit.  They realized that with the economy as it is, they would probably do better if they leased it for awhile and tried to sell in a few years.

That night we visited the youth group in Hagerstown and were very impressed by both the youth and the leadership.

Now we had two homes we really liked and two towns to choose between.  We were evenly split and both had a long list of pros and very few cons.  After a lot of discussion and prayer we decided to go for Dover in Hagerstown.  We were approved on Friday and Matt decided on Saturday that we should go ahead and move the next week.  Matt would get the lease on Monday do what he needed to do, overnight it to me and then by Wednesday we should be able to load our first truck and Matt could begin moving in on Thursday.

We didn't hear anything on Monday and when Matt contacted them things were a bit weird and we were a bit concerned.  On Tuesday we found out that after being on the market for several years  without a serious offer, they finally had an interested buyer and decided not to lease but were going to try to sell.

Now we had people coming to help load a truck and we didn't even know where we would unload it at.  We knew that the home in Chambersburg was being shown to others and as much as I loved it I couldn't believe it would still be available.  Matt made the call, fortunately it was available and we were able to get things turned around and Matt began moving in on Thursday and on Saturday we all joined him.

Welcome home Prine Family, welcome home.