In all the land...

Yesterday was the best day in all the land. That is because yesterday we FINALLY turned in our purchase contract to the IHC hospital in Provo to sell our first home. 

When we both graduated from college, we assumed we'd be moving to 1) Mexico 2) Texas or 3) California. Luis applied to myriad jobs in all of those locations and nothing panned out. Then he started toying around with the idea of starting his own company here in Utah (probably a car dealership), then he started playing a lot of X-Box to get through the tough times...

6 months later we (I) decided that it might be a good idea for him to apply to some jobs around here... You know. Just in case. He interviewed with Enterprise Rent-A-Car and got called back to 2 interviews before they decided to take the position "in another direction." He applied at Univision's local syndicate (or was it TeleAzteca or TeleMundo?). He has experience in TV and even had his own local talk show on TeleMundo for about 4 months when he was in college before the discussion panel disbanded due to internal conflicts. It was called "Contigo en Mente." Denied.

Out of desperation he decided it would be okay to consider a "temporary" bank teller position at Wells Fargo's BYU branch, just so he could get some experience in business. We got online and started the application process. I noticed there was a Personal Banker position that paid nearly double open in Orem. I asked him if I should send in an application for that position too. He told me "No." I did anyway.

He didn't get the teller position but after 3 interviews he got the Banker Position. The rest is history.

2 months later on our 2nd anniversary he bought me a sweet little WWII era bungalow in the heart of the student housing zone around BYU. It was lovely at first, and we were only paying $200 more a month than we would have on rent. I was in heaven. My life plans were FINALLY working out! I was going to get pregnant, have my baby, and raise it on a street with century-old oak trees and flower gardens, just blocks away from parks, schools, and restaurants. I would be the banker's wife with the cute house by Pioneer Park. Divine! I spent the first 6 months remodeling EVERYTHING.

The I was diagnosed with PCOS, and that news was followed shortly by the news that IHC wanted to raze our neighborhood to put up a parking garage.
My bubble burst.
Things rapidly began spiraling downward as our various neighbors scrambled to deal with it. Half of them vacated like rats out of a sinking ship. The other half of us agreed to band together and try to fight it- or at least hold out for a decent price. We signed a 2 year contract with a realtor who promised he'd get us a great price if we went in as a group. 1 year into the contract, they offered us $115K over our purchase price. This was at the peak of the housing boom. We wanted to take it. The neighbors didn't.

We moved out. 

It's been 2 years since then of constant haggling, internal fighting, stress, worry, renters, renovations, and deal-making. 

Yesterday we turned in the contract. They will be paying us $90K over our purchase price. Could we have held out for more? Probably. Did they pay us more than anyone else to date? Yes. Am I glad that this whole stinky deal is over and done with? ABSOLUTELY. 

So many dreams crushed under the wagon wheels of industry. I'm just hoping that something good will spring up in their place now that the wagon train has moved on.