I should probably share the story of how we got a house in Olive Branch, MS. The real estate market there was insanely hot when we decided to move there. There were no apartments available in the area (waitlists were usually 2-6 months), rental houses were scarce, and homes for sale were gone within the first 1-2 days (usually with 15-20 offers on each one.) Needless to say, we were a bit worried about finding housing. Neither of us wanted to get stuck living in a hotel for months. David put a bid in on one house and it was easily beat out by bids going up to $15K over the asking price. We looked at many homes, but weren't having much luck. Then we looked at the one on Pigeon Roost Park Circle. It was nasty. The whole house was grimy and filthy, with stained carpet, dirty walls, and grease buildup on the stove. It was bad enough that David was tempted to walk right back out. But, knowing that cleaning is one of my talents, and seeing the potential, we put in an offer that included $5K over appraisal (up to a certain amount), and we got the house. Crazy to pay that much for a house in that condition, but desperate times call for desperate measures. When David did the final walk-through with our realtor, it was even filthier looking without the furnishings, and our realtor seriously thought we were going to back out of the deal! We don't scare that easily.
It took 2 solid weeks of cleaning (including scrubbing every inch of baseboards) to get rid of the grime. We got the grungy old carpet removed and new carpet installed, and then found a painter to paint the interior. We also found that they had never replaced the furnace air filters (for 4 years!!), done regular maintenance, or even trimmed the trees in the backyard. I spent a lot of time getting that house in shape, but once it was, it was really nice. And once the house was livable and we were over COVID, I was able to explore and enjoy the area.
It's hard to believe we only spent about 6 months there.
I have so many wonderful memories in such a short amount of time.
This is W.C. Johnson Park in Collierville, TN (not too far from where we lived.)
It had a beautiful boardwalk trail through the woods, swamp, and out to a creek.
This is Wall Doxey State Park in Holly Springs, MS.
It definitely had the look of a southern swamp in parts.
This is where the land drops off into the Mississippi Delta.
Pretty cool that you can see the delineation so clearly.
Did you know that Olive Branch, Mississippi is home to the nation's largest bonsai nursery?!
We were able to leisurely wander through their multiple greenhouses and see an incredible variety of bonsai, many of which were way out of my budget.
A famous landmark in Memphis is the Bass Pro Shops Pyramid. It actually has a hotel inside too.
Arlo is such a happy boy!
I kept putting off hanging our pictures on the wall. First it was waiting for the house to be painted, then David and I got sick with COVID, then I just couldn't figure out how I wanted things placed on the walls. I think my hesitation was part premonition, because we weren't going to stay long enough to enjoy having our stuff on the walls. Not having anything on the walls made it easier to pack and prep the house for sale.
For awhile this mirror was just sitting on the floor in our bedroom, waiting to be hung.
Alley and Arlo thought that was a great place for it!
A visit to the Memphis Zoo was a must while Aimee and the grandkids were with us!
We were also lucky to have a drive-through Safari Park only 40 minutes away!
I was actually surprised at how quickly I acclimated to the Memphis area.(Anyone who knows me knows how unusual that is.) It felt comfortable. Our ward was amazing- the members were welcoming, and it was so spiritual. I always loved attending and listening to all of the incredible insights and spiritual experiences that were shared. Everyone I met was really nice, and the food scene was the best of any area I've lived since California! Sadly, David had an almost polar opposite experience. The other employees at his job made it clear that they didn't want a "Yankee" working with them, and made him feel very unwelcome. He dealt with it for months, but when a new regional manager was hired and joined in with the locals in badmouthing him, he was ready to leave. Then he got a large project that was requiring him to put in 14-18 hour days, 7 days a week, for 3 weeks straight. This happened to fall right when Aimee came to visit, so he didn't get to spend any real time with them. His new boss wouldn't allow him to take any time off, even though he wasn't necessary to the job itself after the first week and a half. There was no appreciation for the sacrifices he made or for his years of experience, knowledge, and ability. David was absolutely miserable.
Fast forward to Thanksgiving week. We weren't able to be with family, but Stephanie drove down (again!) to spend part of the week with us. David had gotten a call out of the blue from a former employer, wanting him to be the manager of their Cincinnati office. He was in negotiations with them the week before Thanksgiving, and he called me to let me know that he accepted their offer. I was so happy that I started crying, and poor Stephanie thought there was something seriously wrong. She was almost as happy as I was when she heard the news. David called Aimee and asked her what she wanted for Christmas and her reply was that she wanted us to move back to Ohio. He said, "Merry Christmas!" and told her the good news.
When David gave notice, that's when his new boss decided to try being nice to him and telling him how much they needed him. (He never did say he wanted him, though.) The higher level manager (the one who hired him, and was really nice) tried everything to get David to stay, including offering a $15,000 pay raise. Unfortunately, money really can't buy happiness, and can't make up for such ill treatment, so David put in his last two weeks and we started prepping to move back to Ohio.
Since we knew our time in the Memphis area would be short, we packed in as much touristy stuff as possible Thanksgiving week. We went to Graceland, the Civil Rights Museum, the Pink Palace Museum, the Memphis Fire Museum, Slave Haven Underground Railroad Museum, and the Christmas light displays at Southaven and Shelby Farms Parks.
I think our favorite stop was the Civil Rights Museum.
It was informative, touching, and really opened our eyes to some of the struggles
that we didn't fully comprehend before.
It's kind of funny that we went to Graceland, because neither of us are Elvis fans.
But we both love history and cool places, so we couldn't pass up the chance to see it
while we were there. It was interesting to learn about Elvis' history and to see his home.
The Memphis Fire Museum was not one we'd put at the top of our list, but it had an animated, talking horse head that explained part of the history, and that was cool. :)
I miss being only 45 minutes away from a temple!! I was able to attend the Memphis Temple twice, which was such a blessing (especially with everything being shut down so long for COVID.) The Memphis Temple is really beautiful inside.
I have always loved Christmas lights, and going to drive-through displays is one of my favorite holiday activities. Because we were packing up to move, showing our house for sale, and wouldn't be home for Christmas, we had no holiday decorations. It looked like the Grinch lived there. To make up for that, we went to the Southaven Park and Shelby Farms Park light displays. I highly recommend both!
Stephanie and I went to the Pink Palace Museum. It was built by the founder of the Piggly Wiggly grocery stores. Pretty cool!
I drove up to Ohio and stayed overnight with David at his hotel, then we both drove out to spend a few days with Aimee, Alex, and the grandbabies. That was a wonderful respite for me, to be able to just relax and enjoy time with family. I had come down with what was thought to be an infected tooth right before heading back to Ohio, so I really needed the rest.
After the holidays, we drove back to the hotel, met Stephanie the next morning, and headed down to load up another Uhaul and move back "home." We were very grateful to have gotten a moving stipend so we were able to pay movers to load up the truck for us. We hit the road once it was loaded, and made it into Miamisburg around 10pm. More movers were able to unload the truck into a storage unit, and our cats and I moved into the hotel with David, where we would stay for weeks while we waited to close on our new home.
New Year's Eve I was sick again, this time with an infected salivary gland. So there was no celebration of the new year for us. Just antibiotics, early to bed, and the hope that we would continue to enjoy many blessings and adventures in 2022.
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