Slight delay

K: Our closing has been delayed a week. Our new closing date will be October 3rd.

Our realtor said it's not any sort of issue with the buyer trying to back out and we shouldn't worry. The issue is that the lender wants proof from the appraiser about the value (or lack thereof) of living next to a cemetary. I guess with Halloween coming up, and all the ghouls and goblins coming out to play, they need to minimize their risk.

I guess St. Joseph got tired of standing on his head...

... Because we SOLD OUR HOUSE!




Last Sunday we got a call about an offer on our house, we met with our agent and counter-offered. And Labor Day we found our our counter-0ffer was accepted! BOOYA!

Cross your fingers that the inspections and appraisal go well. Our closing date is set for September 25th. :-)

(It's actually a very bittersweet feeling, because while I'm happy that we won't have a mortgage while we're overseas, I'm going to really miss this cute little house where we created many of our first memories as a Mr. and Mrs. And, as my fabulous sister-in-law pointed out, this development makes it seem so much more official that we're actually leaving...)

Cross your fingers!

K: Our house is officially up for sale online! It won't be ready to show until next Monday, thanks to some scratch marks Riley left on our window seat and window sill. But we're making progress.

You can check out the official listings here or here.

Cross your fingers it sells fast! (My mom says she buried a St. Joseph's statue by our house - the patron saint of selling houses. She read somewhere that if you bury him on his head, the house'll sell faster since he doesn't like being on his head. She cracks me up...)

Would you rather...

K: This morning it occurred to me that in order to fund our dream of living in Korea, we'd probably have to sell our house. There's just no way we'd be able to pay rent in Korea as well as our mortgage and all those utility bills back home. There's always the option of renting, but that can be just so messy. Plus, there's a little thing called money that the collateral we've built up on our house could help us out with.

To be honest, I've been waffling back and forth. One minute I am gung-ho on selling our house, quitting our jobs, and just GOING. And then the next minute I'm thinking about stability, money, putting off starting a family, and (this is silly, but I'll admit it) leaving Riley and wanting to throw the whole idea out.

So I've come up with two scenarios and major pros and cons of both. Readers... what which would you choose and why?

Scenario A: We plan a two week to month-long visit to Korea. We keep our respective jobs and just take "leaves of absences." We learn just enough Korean to get by while we're there.

• Pros: Stability. We keep our house. We'd only have to find someone to watch Riley for a month. We could move ahead with any family and/or higher education plans. We wouldn't have to work while we're in Korea, so we'd have quite a bit of time to do all the sightseeing and spend time with my family.
• Cons: Not truly immersed in the culture. Finding an apartment/hotel to stay in that whole time could be expensive. Dependent on whether or not our jobs would allow us to take a leave of absence. There's a possibility of having a short period with no paycheck.

Scenario B: We stick with the original plan and move to Korea for a year. We sell our house. We find someone who's willing to 'adopt' Riley for a year. We start some intensive Korean language classes. We both quit our jobs and make plans to teach English abroad. When we return to the US we can start/continue the job and home searches.

• Pros: A year we'd never forget, living in a foreign country for a year would be unbelievable. An opportunity to really get to know my birth family. Probably get to see more of Asia, rather than trying to cram it in. International work experience to add to the resume.
• Cons: Money. Not knowing if everything will work out when we return to the States. Postponing our "everyday" lives by a year or longer, depending how long it takes us to get back on our feet after returning (that means children, higher education, career advancement). One of us could have difficulty finding a job. If we are totally broke, we might have to live with parents until we can save up for a new home/apartment (yikes!).

So readers, please weigh in. What would you pick? Why? Or are you like me and just plain... confused...