As many of you know I was a little MIA last week! In addition to wearing the hat of a working mommy and oilfield wife (OFW), I was also a Power Of Attorney last week for my oilfield man (OFM). The time restraints and unknown schedule of this lifestyle always makes any big life events interesting in my experience, and buying a new home fits right in that wheel house. Last week my OFM and I purchased a new home, and by we I mean me running like a crazy woman for weeks, all brought to closure by doing the closing on our new home by myself as his POA and signing what felt like a million documents for not just me, but him too!
Self sufficient is one term that comes to mind when I think of any OFW. If your OFM is not home to do something, we find a way to get it done. If our OFM is not home to fix or repair something, we use You Tube, Pinterest DIY guides, or teenage cashiers at the hardware store to get a crash course on whatever task is at hand. Being an OFW is almost like a crash course life, once a day, everyday, but I would not change it for anything in the world! Purchasing a new home, renting our current home, working with contractors and fetching more paperwork than a forest of trees could produce has absolutely brought my self sufficiency to the surface!
My husband and I have lived in our home for about 4 years. After having our daughter we both needed and wanted more space. The idea of upgrading to a bigger home has really been a work in progress for the last few years. Three weeks ago, when my husband was last home we found a home we liked and everything hit fast forward almost instantly. We got pre-qualified on his last day off, we looked at the new house the day before he left to go back for his hitch and we made an offer while he was on the road back to the rig. We received a counter almost instantly and after a few side conversations interrupted by safety guys, the driller, and company man, we finally came to an agreement and went under contract with the contractor. Then the work began.
My husband was working his regular two week hitch while I completed my first task, getting our current home rented. I made the listing, developed a rental contract, did our showings and ironed out all the details and got the home rented. Our new renters, who I absolutely adore by the way, did not even meet Rob until he was passing through town from the rig in Colorado to some classes in Utah. He was in town long enough for a home made meal, a nights rest, and to meet the family that would soon be calling our current home their new home.
While Robert was in town meeting our new renters he also had to go by the title company and sign over a Power Of Attorney to me. After reviewing our contract deadlines with our realtor, to no surprise our closing date fell on dates while he was on his hitch, so in order to keep the ball rolling I would be closing on the new house by myself. A lot of documents needed “wet signatures” which myself, the lender, or realtor would email Rob at the rig, he would sign, and fax back and this was pretty much a daily occurrence for two weeks. Can I just say “electronic signatures” are amazing too! So besides the actual closing documents, my lunch hours and any spare moment between working, being a mommy, and packing were spent retrieving any needed paperwork in order to close!
The home we bought was new construction so it was up to me to do walk through with the project manager and our realtor. I was constantly calling Robert about what he wanted, or filling him in on HOA requirements and other tasks, it was fun, and I would be lying if I said a few of those phone calls in the evenings were not done without a glass of wine. Did I mention I continued to wear all my other hats through all these processes and meetings. In addition to approving the inside of the new house I had the chore of getting bids, meeting contractors, and for the love of God figuring out how to pay for all the outside work. I have to admit, I did not know what I was entirely getting myself into with new construction, you need landscaping and blinds and gutters and well always something! I never thought I’d say I’m tired of spending money, but I’m tired of spending money.
So I did it! I continued to be a wife, a worker, a mother, and I closed on our new home. I also got all our contractors lined up for the jobs outside of the house! Just when I thought the fun was over it was just getting started! Because I have so much energy and extra time on my hands, I thought to myself “Hell I’ve already packed up this house, I may as well recruit people and get all the moving done to surprise my OFM when he gets home!” I’ve had bad ideas in the past but this really was not my brightest moment ya’ll!
Again I did it! With the help of friends, co-workers, family, and two hung over hired college students we are totally moved and in our new home! Now, I said we are moved, but I did not say it was and still is chaos. All the blinds I ordered are an inch to wide, for the entire house! My dryer, oh gosh, my dryer plug in was not compatible with the outlet in the new house nor was the tubing for the vent, so what other choice did I have than to get my butt to Home Depot and learn to do it myself. Next headache on the list, the refrigerator, what a mess! So My daughter and I lived out of a cooler in our new home for the first few days because I had to have a professional appliance company move the refrigerator. Once the beastly appliance finally got in the house, it was brought to my attention I needed a water line from the refrigerator to the wall, remember what I was saying about DIY crash courses, here is another example.
Here I am writing to you all, after almost a whole week in our new home and I am finally feeling a little less stresses. We are unpacked and the boxes are gone, the back patio is done, the privacy fence is up, the sprinkler system and curbing will be done tomorrow and I have all working appliances, life is good. Being an OFW means where there is a will there is a way. My OFM will be home tomorrow and what a huge surprise he is coming home to and well I guess on the flip side he will know to never screw with me or I will just up and move out all on my own. Cheers to our new home and the beginning of a new chapter in my oilfield life as an oilfield wife!
To see how I am decorating inside and out at our new home, follow me on Pinterest and check out my board “New Home” http://www.pinterest.com/beckyarnld/. Also feel free to tag me or share with me any great ideas you’ve seen or have completed in your own homes!