Well for those of you who have not given up on the Kolzow blog, thank you for checking in! I am haunted by the Traverse City Weekend post because every time I look at it I’m reminded of how long it’s been since my last update. I assure you though, it’s all with good reason. The Kolzow clan has had quite a year and something had to give, unfortunately it was the blog.
I could write a book on what’s been happening in our lives over the past year, but I’ll spare you the pain of reading through a novel and give you a synopsis of our happenings in a much more digestible format. (I said it was digestible, not necessarily short :)
Kitchen remodel – It was the second summer our house was up for sale so we decided to do a renovation. We knocked out a row of cupboards, put in new floor, new trim, repainted and all the other mess that comes with home projects.
Renee’s new job – September 1 I took a new role at work, Public Relations Manager. It was a big step up for me, now leading a team, taking on a new role and learning all new functions. Add on the new job jitters and all the house business and the photography business I have on the side, it has been quite a challenge, but a great move for me in my career. I had a couple business trips to our office out in LA. It is so cool seeing the mountains and the Pacific ocean, but I missed Andy and Cami way too much both times I went.
Halloween…house still for sale, but a pick-up in showings and swamped with photo bookings…yay! Andy also started his coaching season, so he went through some pretty long days by the time school, practice and grading/lesson planning was over.
October 9, our 5th Anniversary – we went out to Sonoma Valley for our friends’ wedding on October 10th, so we were able to celebrate 5 years together in wine country!
SOLD! Just before thanksgiving a buyer found our house. A young family from Chicago came in, made an offer and wanted to move in within a month…What did that mean for us? We had to pack up and move before Christmas, and oh yeah, find a place to live.
Move on out – There was no way we were going to find a new house in a month, so Andy and I searched for apartments and we ended up picking the same place we lived when we first got married. It was familiar, in a great location and we got a pretty good deal on a short-term lease. We packed up all our stuff and moved on out…half our stuff in storage, half our stuff in the apartment. It’s amazing how much stuff you accumulate over just a few years! Our Christmas tree sure didn’t look as nice as it did in our house, but we felt blessed to now be in a position to search for our long-term home.
Christmas, New Year and January 30 - Happy birthday Andy!
The search was on – After the holidays were over, our search for a new house began. Open house after open house and obsessing over realtor.com for the newest house for sale, we toyed with the idea of building. Cami did so great through our whole moving and house search process. She was the light and laugh we needed at the end of our day.
February – Well, I don’t remember the exact day, but I do remember it was really cold and it was about 4 in the morning. I was LATE, and I was up early thinking about it, so I took a test. OH MY GOODNESS! I woke Andy up and shoved the stick in his face. He was half asleep still trying to figure out what I was showing him and what time it was. When it clicked, he just said “What???” It was surreal. Once we both fully woke up, our reaction was much more joyous. We couldn’t have been happier for baby #2
Spring house hunt – As the snow began to melt away, the search for a house became more and more intense. We wanted to be out of that apartment sooner rather than later. But with the market being the way it has been, there just wasn’t a lot out there. We weren’t finding anything that fit what we want. We tossed around the idea of building so we could get in the location we wanted and get the features we were looking for – although that would mean more time in the apartment. We scheduled a meeting with a builder to explore some options in a neighborhood we liked. We were going to meet with the builder on a Wednesday. The week prior…it was a Thursday night, Andy called me to the computer to look at a new listing (this wasn’t too out of the ordinary at this point). I was blown away by this one and super excited. We called our realtor that night and scheduled a showing for the next day. As soon as we walked in – we both knew this was our house. We made an offer late in the evening Friday and they accepted our house on that Saturday. The house was not even a mile from the neighborhood we were interested in building in. It was the perfect location and it had everything we wanted and more. The blessings continue! Cami at the new homestead...
Moving into our new house! Yay! Thanks to all our friends and family who helped us out – we couldn’t have done it without you.
March – a trip to Cali for work, and a week of missing my little girl and best friend!
May 14 – Camryn turns 3! We got to celebrate in our new home. She has been so much fun. Her little personality is just shining and she makes us laugh all the time. She’s very outgoing and caring. She loves to dance and sing on our new fireplace and she loves her big girl bed too. She seems to be really looking forward to being a big sister! She still loves her dolls and is very nurturing which makes me think that she’s going to be a great little helper when the new baby comes.
June 3 – my birthday!
July – Ultrasound…is it a boy or a girl? We went in to find out and all we know is that our baby is either a stinker or really shy because it wouldn’t show us. I have been going crazy not knowing…how do you plan??? Green and yellow just don’t cut it for me. Ugh.
August – Andy gets a new gig! Just a couple weeks before school, Andy got a new position as the Assistant Principal of the East Kentwood Freshman Campus. He absolutely loved teaching and coaching, so it made it hard to let go, but he knew he’d miss out on the opportunity if he didn’t apply. It was the only principal position he applied for since he got his Administration degree because it was one he was genuinely interested in. And he got it. Congratulations honey!
My accomplishment in August? I won our golf league. First women to win the championship, first pregnant woman at that! I beat the whole team straight up with a 42…my best round ever! I guess no beer for a whole season of golf can pay off!
September – School begins, pictures, dance and much more fun to come.
Ok, now that I'm up to speed I can post some of the recent stuff we've been up to.
Stay tuned for MORE CURRENT updates….
