Sorry about the problem with comments

For those of you who have attempted to make comments, but have not been able to, and thought that I was just trying to protect myself from your wrath, I apologize. I had a setting in Blogger that restricted anybody but authors from making comments. Sorry.

Unloading the Truck OR How I Learned To Love the Movers

Yesterday was the big day. The movers showed up in Marbleton at about 10:30 AM and had everything unloaded from the truck at about 1:00 PM. There’s a reason that these people get paid to do what they do. They do it quickly, efficiently, and without complaint. It is so much better than having an Elders’ Quorum try and move everything in and out of your home without doing significant damage to your former home, current home, and any and all of your furniture. Trust me. I’ve been in enough EQPs to know the kind of hassle that they are. Julie and I decided that we would never move again without a relocation package.

The rest of the afternoon was filled with oohs and aahs akin to those heard at fireworks displays as we rediscovered our treasures, silverware, dishwashing soap, clothing, home electronics, children, and other goodies hidden in packing boxes. It’s hard to believe how much stuff we've accumulated over the course of our marriage. It’s also a wonder that we were able to keep so much of that stuff in our tiny condo.

So, after an entire afternoon and most of the evening of unpacking and putting things away, our living room is still strewn with boxes of things that are still searching for their niche. We hope to be prepared for all the persons who will be visiting us this summer. If not, well, there’s always the ever popular Marbleton Inn. It reminds me a lot of the Marriott^®, except that it smells like smoke, and the beds aren’t as comfortable, and there’s no pool or complimentary cookies at check-in. But other than that, it’s great.

Still no photos. I keep forgetting that I have a camera on my cell phone.

How to sign away 30 years of future cash flows in an hour

We are at the end of our troubles. Which end remains to be seen. We closed on our home this afternoon in Pinedale. Since signing documents for a house closing is more boring than watching the Utah State <fill in team of choice> play <fill in sport of choice> (I bet I get some nasty comments for that one, to which I say, “Bring it on, sheepherders.”) (That’s an inside joke, by the way.), I'll give you the condensed version here. The dialogue went something like this:

Title Company Lady: Sign here, here, here, here, and here. And here. OK. Now sign here, here, here and here. And here, and here. Don't worry about all that legalese. It’s just to protect the interest of the lenders and ensure that you get screwed if anything ever happens to you.

Aaron: (Upon looking at the 30 year amortization schedule) Ahh... the magic of compound interest. I just made some bank a bunch of money.

Our Realtor^®: It just makes you want to throw up.

Aaron: Here's the confirmation number for the wire transfer. My down payment on this house is more than half of the total purchase price of my last home.

Our Realtor^®: Yep. It just makes you want to throw up.

Title Company Lady: Mr. and Mrs. Clark, welcome to Sublette County, Wyoming. We hope you enjoy yourselves.

Aaron: I’ll try to avoid throwing up. <Grin>

And with a few strokes of our quills and a ring to the credit union for a wire transer, we are the happy and (very) satisfied owners of a home in picturesque Marbleton, Wyoming. For those wishing to visit, the address is:

715 East Third Street
Marbleton, Wyoming 83113

For those wishing to send information by post, the address is:

General Delivery
Marbleton, Wyoming 83113

Photos of the place to come forth once I remember that I have a camera on my cell phone. Duh.

It's really happening

I just got off the phone with Julie, and she's on the road, with Marbleton in her sights. She said that the movers were at the house (Hooray for movers!), and that her dad was supervising everything (Hooray for David!), and that everything should be rip-rarin' to go. I must admit that I'm both nervous and excited about this move. I still haven't seen the inside of the house, except in pictures. I trust Julie completely, though, so I know that things will work out well.

Thanks again to everyone who has been so helpful and kind during this transition of life. The persons who have made this possible are too numerable to mention, and I'm sure I would forget someone. Thanks, everybody.

Hello all

Well tonight is the last night in West Valley, Christine is helping me clean and Mom has made us all dinner. Thank you to everyone for all your help, it has made all the difference in all the world!

Welcome to our new life in Wyoming

The New EnerCrest Building: a work in progress

Tomorrow begins our first real day of our adventure. We're moving from our home metropolis of Salt Lake City, Utah (Population: 1,000,000 plus) to the tiny town of Marbleton, Wyoming (Population: 700, plus or minus). The movers will pack things up in the morning, we'll close on the new house in the afternoon, and we'll take delivery of our stuff on Wednesday. We're thrilled to have this opportunity.

Julie, James, Anna, and I are all very excited about the changes this will mean in our lives. We're looking forward to a slower pace of life, to a chance to work for a young and exciting and dynamic company, and to be closer to the outdoors that we've loved for so many years. We'll finally be able to buy a home with a yard

There are a few downsides to small town life. Some we're aware of (We'll be about 30 minutes from a regular grocery store, although most of the locals have told me that they go to Green River [about 100 miles away] once a month to take care of their major shopping.), and I'm certain that there will be plenty of things to surprise us.

As part of our move, we're creating this blog to share the things that happen in our life. As long as we have electricity and internet service, we'll try and keep things updated.

That's it for tonight. We'll let you know how things go with the close and the move.