Well, it’s been a roller coaster April. Eviction, offer, refused offer, new offer, accepted, and it continues with the financing now. Basically what happens is they are looking at 2 aspects, Matt and I and then the condo. Our numbers have been approved but we are still waiting on the condo association, who hasn’t been as supportive and receptive of our efforts. They don’t seem to understand the urgency of items in an effort to keep on our timeline with the closing date. Which has been a great big ball of fun. We hope to have more affirmative answers by Tuesday. Fingers continue to be crossed.
Weather continues to also be a roller coaster. Matt and I recovered from the snow storm. In fact after this week’s highs, it’s hard to believe that 16 inches was blocking out front door last week. Here’s hoping for the continued moderate temps and sunshine.
Packings been a real ball of fun lately too. Neither one of us want to do it but I know it needs to be done. And I’ve been collecting boxes like it’s my job. Matt actually made me turn down some boxes on Saturday, he informed me that the house is a disaster and it needs to be taken care of before I can get more. Matt hasn’t packed for 6 years, which means he hasn’t really purged for 6 years. Packing with him is like cleaning a 5 year old’s room with him. He hasn’t seen some of this stuff in years so as we go to pack it he has to look at it, open it up, play with it and fully enjoy it again. We’ve reviewed dental x-rays, college papers, job reviews, childhood toys, and so on. My packing has become a bit jaded because every time I’ve moved, I’ve purged and I’ll let you review my moving schedule.
5-2011: Move to Bismarck to my parents,
9-2011: Moved to 20th Street,
5-2012: Moved to my brand new condo,
10-2012: Moved back to Dickinson to live with Matt.
6-2013: TBD
Last weekend we had Brendan, Claudia, and Jackson for a visit. I do have to admit that I was proud of Matt. Claudia wanted to do a bit of shopping and Matt said he was willing to watch Jackson for a bit, while I took her out. This was a big step considering that Matt broke a sweat last time that he held Jackson. Later that week, we got another visit from part of our bridal party. Tiffany was here for family/work and spent a night at our house. Was so glad, after the roller coaster ride, it was so great to have someone else in my court and have a girls talk. The only thing that I would have changed is her staying longer. But I think she was missed at home, because as soon as she did, she found herself engaged. Her and I’s talks while she was here made me think it was coming and I found it shocking that my favorite Miss Independent is ready for the big steps and I’m happy for her, she’s deserves it.
Matt headed off to Kansas City for a conference today. It was supposed to be yesterday but Great Lakes operated in their typical manner, leaving us to drive to Bismarck so he could catch the Delta flight at 5 in the morning. He’ll be back on Wednesday.
Best Meal: since we found ourselves in Bismarck, we decided to try out JL Beers for supper, which opened up right after I moved to Dickinson again. We were extremely happy with the results great burger, great atmosphere, and the beers brought smiles to both our faces. I even had a Porter, big step for me. When it was all said and done it was one of the cheapest meals that we’ve had in a long time, which was a double bonus quality and cost! We recommend for sure!
MJR: Where are you?
ALM: I’m in here packing?
MJR: Honey, come here we’ll talk about plans.
ALM: You come in here, we already took a break from packing.
MJR: Honey!
ALM: I’m doing something.
MJR: HONEY! Come in here!
ALM(under her breath): I’m going to come in there and punch you.
MJR: Honey…..
ALM: GRRRR
MJR: I thought you were coming in here to punch me?
ALM: No, I’m not now!
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Weathering the Fun...
So the gathering begins. Pay stubs, w-2’s, closing statements, check copies and on and on. We are working towards the condo. We’ve ordered the inspection, we’ll order the appraisal, I’m on a daily call for both the realtor and our financer. The heat is on as we see the deadline approaching to our closing date/possible eviction. We have to start collecting boxes and to pack up belongings. I feel like I’ve done this before. Hmmm. The one thing that I forgot about moving that I hated was the cats playing in the moving boxes with the moving paper, ugh. Lola is llllllloving the new playground that I created for her. 
We are still recovering from the snow. Matt went out at 4:30 on Sunday morning and didn’t come home until 6:00 on Monday night. He came home with a smile on his face and I was glad. However, he had an aroma and a big hole in his jeans that exposed his entire left of his behind. His hair was curled from his hat and he was hungry. And I (and Nike) was happy to see him. We finished the shoveling that we needed to to get his car in. I had tried to keep up and keep things clear as best as possible and I felt it in my shoulders. I did try to keep myself busy while I was shut in, cooped up, and trapped. I made a few dinners and froze them, I made homemade poptarts, homemade pretzels, and chili. I was proud of the pretzels but I find them a little addictive, so I won’t make them too often. This coming weekend we’ve got a full plate as we’re working on some condo things, getting plans set and all. We are working on moving and Matt has dive training. Here’s hoping for more melting to happen and no more snow to come down.
Best Meal: Matt had a craving for gyros that I benefitted from. It was great even with the tomatoes lacking. But I think it was great to eat a meal with him, only one this week that that happened.
ALM: TonyDanza, I’m bored.
TD:
ALM: TonyDanza, open your eyes, do something
TD:
ALM: Hey (poke) Hey (poke) Hey (poke)
TD:
Sunday, April 14, 2013
Digging Ourselves Out
There’s that saying about when one door of opportunity closes, a window opens. That’s where we were at. Literally. This morning, I went to open the door and I couldn’t. I could barely budge it an inch. The snow that blasted Dickinson, which predicted we’d get 12 inches and was also predicting 16 for the farm, had dumped onto the front door and blew down all the stairs barricading the door. So instead of going out a window, I went out the back door, stumbled up the stairs, high kneed through the snow all the way to the front. I fully believed we had the 12 inches as I was having winter 2008 flashbacks. This is awfully like Matt’s and I’s situation. We have a Plan B or maybe it’s C…lost track through all the favors and phone calls asking.
When Matt and I started looking for houses, we had a few ground rules. No condos, no twin homes, we’d like a garage, a master suite, an open kitchen, and a sliding glass door in a quiet neighborhood (the last two are for Nike). Well then the shoe dropped and we found out we were being evicted. We went with the house we had been stalking for a bit, it didn’t work. I cried. We started making phone calls, looking for other rental opportunities, started checking outside of the area options, revisited the available housing list, talked with our parents, and started calling in favors. The hardest part was the cat issue, nobody wants to take pets on. I did find 1 place, rent would be approximately $2000 and they were asking for a year’s lease. Great. That leaves you feeling mad and a bit taken advantage of because of the community/situation. Then I asked Matt the changer question, could we look at townhouses and condos? We started viewing them online and we took a look at one. I liked it upon walking in. Nice foyer, den, rec room in the basement, master suite with walk-in closet, 3 bedrooms, private deck with sliding door, quiet neighborhood, tall ceilings, central air, peek through kitchen, and double garage. The only thing lacking was the space to place the camper and a yard for Matt to mow. We have some cosmetic work to do as we go, but I think we can take it on, together.
We put in an offer, had a counter, and we accepted. And I breathed. Now we have some work to do, get an inspection done, get financing approved, and start packing. So in a sense, we had a couple doors shut and we changed our attack strategy, we went out the back door.
Best Meal: To celebrate our 2 year, we had lobster ravioli that Michele had picked up for us at Sam’s, a baked brie, and asparagus and we started to hope and plan.
ALM: You know you really live in Dickinson when you’ve been mentally preparing to live in a camper.
When Matt and I started looking for houses, we had a few ground rules. No condos, no twin homes, we’d like a garage, a master suite, an open kitchen, and a sliding glass door in a quiet neighborhood (the last two are for Nike). Well then the shoe dropped and we found out we were being evicted. We went with the house we had been stalking for a bit, it didn’t work. I cried. We started making phone calls, looking for other rental opportunities, started checking outside of the area options, revisited the available housing list, talked with our parents, and started calling in favors. The hardest part was the cat issue, nobody wants to take pets on. I did find 1 place, rent would be approximately $2000 and they were asking for a year’s lease. Great. That leaves you feeling mad and a bit taken advantage of because of the community/situation. Then I asked Matt the changer question, could we look at townhouses and condos? We started viewing them online and we took a look at one. I liked it upon walking in. Nice foyer, den, rec room in the basement, master suite with walk-in closet, 3 bedrooms, private deck with sliding door, quiet neighborhood, tall ceilings, central air, peek through kitchen, and double garage. The only thing lacking was the space to place the camper and a yard for Matt to mow. We have some cosmetic work to do as we go, but I think we can take it on, together.
We put in an offer, had a counter, and we accepted. And I breathed. Now we have some work to do, get an inspection done, get financing approved, and start packing. So in a sense, we had a couple doors shut and we changed our attack strategy, we went out the back door.
Best Meal: To celebrate our 2 year, we had lobster ravioli that Michele had picked up for us at Sam’s, a baked brie, and asparagus and we started to hope and plan.
ALM: You know you really live in Dickinson when you’ve been mentally preparing to live in a camper.
Friday, April 12, 2013
Plan ??
Well, with great tears and some sobbing, we’ve now entered into finding Plan B, where Matt told me that we’ll have to get creative and it probably involves splitting my entire family up.
I’d like to get on record that I’m not happy with this boom and the “benefits” that it brings. So glad we are sitting in a state surplus, where we can put aside money ($400,000 to be exact) to defend their constipated view on women’s lack of rights but I’m sitting here trying to figure who I can live with for a week or two at a time until we can get something situated. I’m mad. Plain and simple. This “madness” goes from hurt, frustrated, scared, irritated, disappointed, devastated, to more angry. I know it will work out and I know we have people thinking about us and I love our network for that. I just don’t feel that I have to work 2 jobs to live in a 2 bedroom apartment so I can keep my cats just so I can make our $2000 rent check each month. I don’t feel that I have to give the cats up. I don’t feel that I also have to settle for a crappy house for a ridiculous price just so I can continue to live and put money in it because it wasn’t well taken care of before I bought it. I know it’s going to continue to get real as we get further into the month and reality begins to stare at our face.
By the way, wedding stuff has flown out the window for right now. If people haven’t got their hotel rooms, just please for the grace of my sanity, just get them.
MJR: We’ll never be homeless, we have the camper.
I’d like to get on record that I’m not happy with this boom and the “benefits” that it brings. So glad we are sitting in a state surplus, where we can put aside money ($400,000 to be exact) to defend their constipated view on women’s lack of rights but I’m sitting here trying to figure who I can live with for a week or two at a time until we can get something situated. I’m mad. Plain and simple. This “madness” goes from hurt, frustrated, scared, irritated, disappointed, devastated, to more angry. I know it will work out and I know we have people thinking about us and I love our network for that. I just don’t feel that I have to work 2 jobs to live in a 2 bedroom apartment so I can keep my cats just so I can make our $2000 rent check each month. I don’t feel that I have to give the cats up. I don’t feel that I also have to settle for a crappy house for a ridiculous price just so I can continue to live and put money in it because it wasn’t well taken care of before I bought it. I know it’s going to continue to get real as we get further into the month and reality begins to stare at our face.
By the way, wedding stuff has flown out the window for right now. If people haven’t got their hotel rooms, just please for the grace of my sanity, just get them.
MJR: We’ll never be homeless, we have the camper.
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Amp up the Moving Plan.
Funny how you expect days like the wedding or your first day of school or the first day of a new job to impact your life and speaking in dramatic terms, "change your life." You never figure a random Wednesday will be that day. However when Matt called me and said, do you have time to talk, never a good sign.
That’s when he told me that our situation with finding a house better get on steroids as our landlord was giving us the option to either buy the house or we are getting kicked out. And Matt’s thinking that we need to have all of our stuff out by the end of May. Great. I was pumped about the upstairs, shithead, neighbors leaving but we weren’t ready to make the leap financially or emotionally into a house yet committing to a community. And then let’s add the limited market and the expensive apartments and see how that makes for a bucket of fun. So even if we do get an apartment, we probably won’t be able to keep the cats with us as many apartments aren’t too excited about 1 cat, let alone 3.
So we devised a plan. After looking at 2 townhouses for a final hope, we decided would put an offer on the house that we like that’s on the south side. That brings our showings count up to 38. Our offer count up to 2. And our summary of feelings into desperate. Here’s the catches we are facing. The house is on a ½ lot, which means if it’s destroyed (fire/earthquake/tornado) it can’t be rebuilt unless there is a variance from the city that states it can be rebuilt with any damage. If the city doesn’t grant this, we can’t gain insurance or financing. So along with our feelings of desperation, we put in a list of contingencies to ensure that we don’t lose the earnest money that we put down, including the variance. So our plan involved placing an offer on the house and hoping that it sticks. That’s plan A.
Plan B looks a bit more ugly and involves splitting us all up including Matt, the cats, and me. This option I don’t want to consider right now and am hoping that plan A is doable. In plain terms, Plan B makes me cry.
Matt has had a week from hell. Between normal bulked up meetings, he had 8 inches of snow dump on the airport, he’s short staffed and he’s been pulling night and morning shifts. Two days in a room he didn’t get home until after 10. Makes our 2 year dating anniversary a bit tough, but I understand that it’s not because he didn’t want to be with me. So add all this to the housing issue and it makes me want to run away with him and never come back.
Best Meal: our first meal we ate together this week was on Wednesday night, we made pizza with a starter crust while we talked over our living arrangements.
MJR: well we did it, we put an offer in.
ALM: Yeah.
MJR: This is either going to solve our problems and work or be a complete chaotic mess.
MJR looks at ALM, ALM looks back.
(Laughing ensues)
That’s when he told me that our situation with finding a house better get on steroids as our landlord was giving us the option to either buy the house or we are getting kicked out. And Matt’s thinking that we need to have all of our stuff out by the end of May. Great. I was pumped about the upstairs, shithead, neighbors leaving but we weren’t ready to make the leap financially or emotionally into a house yet committing to a community. And then let’s add the limited market and the expensive apartments and see how that makes for a bucket of fun. So even if we do get an apartment, we probably won’t be able to keep the cats with us as many apartments aren’t too excited about 1 cat, let alone 3.
So we devised a plan. After looking at 2 townhouses for a final hope, we decided would put an offer on the house that we like that’s on the south side. That brings our showings count up to 38. Our offer count up to 2. And our summary of feelings into desperate. Here’s the catches we are facing. The house is on a ½ lot, which means if it’s destroyed (fire/earthquake/tornado) it can’t be rebuilt unless there is a variance from the city that states it can be rebuilt with any damage. If the city doesn’t grant this, we can’t gain insurance or financing. So along with our feelings of desperation, we put in a list of contingencies to ensure that we don’t lose the earnest money that we put down, including the variance. So our plan involved placing an offer on the house and hoping that it sticks. That’s plan A.
Plan B looks a bit more ugly and involves splitting us all up including Matt, the cats, and me. This option I don’t want to consider right now and am hoping that plan A is doable. In plain terms, Plan B makes me cry.
Matt has had a week from hell. Between normal bulked up meetings, he had 8 inches of snow dump on the airport, he’s short staffed and he’s been pulling night and morning shifts. Two days in a room he didn’t get home until after 10. Makes our 2 year dating anniversary a bit tough, but I understand that it’s not because he didn’t want to be with me. So add all this to the housing issue and it makes me want to run away with him and never come back.
Best Meal: our first meal we ate together this week was on Wednesday night, we made pizza with a starter crust while we talked over our living arrangements.
MJR: well we did it, we put an offer in.
ALM: Yeah.
MJR: This is either going to solve our problems and work or be a complete chaotic mess.
MJR looks at ALM, ALM looks back.
(Laughing ensues)
Monday, April 8, 2013
UPs & DOWNs with some Outs n'Abouts
This week was a roller coaster.
The week started off great with having friends over for supper. Burke and MyKelle, his new wife, were in town from Denver on a quick visit and we treated them to steak and vegetables at our house. We hadn’t met MyKelle but it was great to see Burke with her and happy. They appear to be a great fit and it’s easy to see why they got to know each other and get along so well. Burke will be performing out ceremony so it was good to hash a few details out about the wedding as well. The night ended a bit too quick for my liking.
Tuesday was the day we looked at house #26, which we really liked. There are things about this house that made us hesitant but the layout, the features, and the view kept sucking us back in and it seemed like it fit so much of the criteria we were looking for. The main sticking point we discovered as the week progressed was the additional land that was adjacent to the house that we had assumed was included is not, which means that the land is built on a half lot. Which means usable yard is small, we can’t add onto the house, and the biggest issue, if there is a natural disaster such as a fire or a tornado, which brings the house down, we can’t rebuild. We are currently working to get info from the city and the zoning and we are glad our realtor is working her tail off to get this straightened out. We have our fingers crossed but our hopes aren’t high anymore.
Friday ended with Alaina’s 21st birthday. I know she’s been impatiently waiting for the day to arrive. We started the night with dinner and drinks at Paradiso, gotta love their seafood burrito. Alaina opened a few presents and had a few banana flavored drinks. We kept the theme as Matt and I wanted to introduce her to martini’s and she had a monkey tail at Peacock, which is still Matt’s and I’s favorite standby in Bismarck. We ended the night at the Lonesome Dove, they had a full house, Alaina even got to get some dancing in. Was good to see her Robert together and enjoying her day.
Saturday started out in the herd. It’s been a miserable year this year for calving, a year that makes me wonder how Mom and Dad continue to sustain and do it. Because of the wild temps, the wet, the overeating, the big calves, the c-sections, the late nights and early mornings, I think both parents could use a 3 day nap with some peace of mind. As we started working through the calves, Mom came upon a bull calve that had died over the night and had started to stiffen and bloat. We hauled him down to the calving barn, with his momma, and Matt, being the amazing man that he is took on the task of skinning him so we could try to get the bottle calf that we had on the momma that had just lost her calf. What a terrible job, one that I don’t think I could do without full-out losing it and he handled it in stride with some basic direction from Dad while the rest of us were out sorting bulls off to be delivered. At the last notification, the cow and calf are starting to take each other and the best that could happen in the situation is, and that’s what counts. I’m hoping that temperatures will level out giving a break for the situation. Matt did get to see Dad use his dart gun, which he thought was awesome.
We also did some running around town including Sam’s Club, Target and the mall, Petsmart, and we even attempted to get some tux’s looked at. We didn’t make the tux shops in time. But we did get some great stuff at Sam’s that we were pretty excited about including some smoked salmon, bagels, tomatos, coffee syrup, French bread pizza and chimichangas for Matt, and it was sample day!! That meant for a great breakfast on Sunday morning…mmmmmmm. Petsmart was also a great trip as we had wanted to get a resized harness for Lola so she could go for walks with Matt. After reviewing the cat harnesses, Matt determined that we needed to go look at small dog.
MJR: Okay, what color speaks to you? I’m thinking blue.
ALM: There are so many in the dog aisle. Wow.
MJR: Yes I know.
ALM (shopping): hmmm, I just don’t know what to pick, Lola is not a flowers and pink rhinestone kinda cat. THIS IS IT!!! (holding lavender skull and crossbones with violet purple background) AND LOOK, it’s like it’s fate, it’s in the Lola Collection!!!!
Sunday started out great. We woke up, I enjoyed my latte, Matt made lox and bagels with capers, we read the Sunday paper, I took Lola for a walk with her new harness, which I think she looked pretty fantastic in. We then sat down to vac-seal all the jerky that we had made from the week before. Seemed so quiet and nice, and that’s when I saw it, Lola on the wrong side of the window!!! She had escaped. I went out and grabbed her and when I brought her in I started searching for TonyDanza. He had also escaped, which was the first time he really had been outside. He was nowhere to be found! Matt started walking the blocking and checking the roads while I kept close to the house. I will admit; I feel like I lost my mind. The tears didn’t come the first 20 minutes, but they did after that. I sat at the house searching for him just glad that I put my phone number on his collar. That’s when I heard it, a little tinkle of a bell, and when I saw that it wasn’t Lola. I walked into the yard to see his little tubby body and when I yelled at him, he came running, I don’t know who was more scared – him or me!
From there after I had an emotional recovery, Matt and I decided to do the open house thing. Bringing our house showings up to 36, we viewed 10 houses, many of which were above our price range in the $300,000. But what blew our mind, aside from the asking price was that these houses weren’t even finished with basements, the yards aren’t finished, and the specials are out of control. Who can buy these and AFFORD them? We didn’t see anything that we loved, just things that we could work with. Here’s hoping something comes through that’s great and brilliant.
Housecount: 36
Weeks looking: starting our 5th
Summary of feelings: dissatisfied
Best meal: Sunday breakfast was the best with the salmon and cream cheese bagels. Reminded me of our trip to California.
DMM(MOM): Lean in.
ALM: what?
DMM: Lean in, you are a drag.
ALM: WHAT?!!!
(riding the fourwheeler)
The week started off great with having friends over for supper. Burke and MyKelle, his new wife, were in town from Denver on a quick visit and we treated them to steak and vegetables at our house. We hadn’t met MyKelle but it was great to see Burke with her and happy. They appear to be a great fit and it’s easy to see why they got to know each other and get along so well. Burke will be performing out ceremony so it was good to hash a few details out about the wedding as well. The night ended a bit too quick for my liking.
Tuesday was the day we looked at house #26, which we really liked. There are things about this house that made us hesitant but the layout, the features, and the view kept sucking us back in and it seemed like it fit so much of the criteria we were looking for. The main sticking point we discovered as the week progressed was the additional land that was adjacent to the house that we had assumed was included is not, which means that the land is built on a half lot. Which means usable yard is small, we can’t add onto the house, and the biggest issue, if there is a natural disaster such as a fire or a tornado, which brings the house down, we can’t rebuild. We are currently working to get info from the city and the zoning and we are glad our realtor is working her tail off to get this straightened out. We have our fingers crossed but our hopes aren’t high anymore.
Friday ended with Alaina’s 21st birthday. I know she’s been impatiently waiting for the day to arrive. We started the night with dinner and drinks at Paradiso, gotta love their seafood burrito. Alaina opened a few presents and had a few banana flavored drinks. We kept the theme as Matt and I wanted to introduce her to martini’s and she had a monkey tail at Peacock, which is still Matt’s and I’s favorite standby in Bismarck. We ended the night at the Lonesome Dove, they had a full house, Alaina even got to get some dancing in. Was good to see her Robert together and enjoying her day. Saturday started out in the herd. It’s been a miserable year this year for calving, a year that makes me wonder how Mom and Dad continue to sustain and do it. Because of the wild temps, the wet, the overeating, the big calves, the c-sections, the late nights and early mornings, I think both parents could use a 3 day nap with some peace of mind. As we started working through the calves, Mom came upon a bull calve that had died over the night and had started to stiffen and bloat. We hauled him down to the calving barn, with his momma, and Matt, being the amazing man that he is took on the task of skinning him so we could try to get the bottle calf that we had on the momma that had just lost her calf. What a terrible job, one that I don’t think I could do without full-out losing it and he handled it in stride with some basic direction from Dad while the rest of us were out sorting bulls off to be delivered. At the last notification, the cow and calf are starting to take each other and the best that could happen in the situation is, and that’s what counts. I’m hoping that temperatures will level out giving a break for the situation. Matt did get to see Dad use his dart gun, which he thought was awesome.
We also did some running around town including Sam’s Club, Target and the mall, Petsmart, and we even attempted to get some tux’s looked at. We didn’t make the tux shops in time. But we did get some great stuff at Sam’s that we were pretty excited about including some smoked salmon, bagels, tomatos, coffee syrup, French bread pizza and chimichangas for Matt, and it was sample day!! That meant for a great breakfast on Sunday morning…mmmmmmm. Petsmart was also a great trip as we had wanted to get a resized harness for Lola so she could go for walks with Matt. After reviewing the cat harnesses, Matt determined that we needed to go look at small dog.
MJR: Okay, what color speaks to you? I’m thinking blue.
ALM: There are so many in the dog aisle. Wow.
MJR: Yes I know.
ALM (shopping): hmmm, I just don’t know what to pick, Lola is not a flowers and pink rhinestone kinda cat. THIS IS IT!!! (holding lavender skull and crossbones with violet purple background) AND LOOK, it’s like it’s fate, it’s in the Lola Collection!!!!
Sunday started out great. We woke up, I enjoyed my latte, Matt made lox and bagels with capers, we read the Sunday paper, I took Lola for a walk with her new harness, which I think she looked pretty fantastic in. We then sat down to vac-seal all the jerky that we had made from the week before. Seemed so quiet and nice, and that’s when I saw it, Lola on the wrong side of the window!!! She had escaped. I went out and grabbed her and when I brought her in I started searching for TonyDanza. He had also escaped, which was the first time he really had been outside. He was nowhere to be found! Matt started walking the blocking and checking the roads while I kept close to the house. I will admit; I feel like I lost my mind. The tears didn’t come the first 20 minutes, but they did after that. I sat at the house searching for him just glad that I put my phone number on his collar. That’s when I heard it, a little tinkle of a bell, and when I saw that it wasn’t Lola. I walked into the yard to see his little tubby body and when I yelled at him, he came running, I don’t know who was more scared – him or me!
From there after I had an emotional recovery, Matt and I decided to do the open house thing. Bringing our house showings up to 36, we viewed 10 houses, many of which were above our price range in the $300,000. But what blew our mind, aside from the asking price was that these houses weren’t even finished with basements, the yards aren’t finished, and the specials are out of control. Who can buy these and AFFORD them? We didn’t see anything that we loved, just things that we could work with. Here’s hoping something comes through that’s great and brilliant.
Housecount: 36
Weeks looking: starting our 5th
Summary of feelings: dissatisfied
Best meal: Sunday breakfast was the best with the salmon and cream cheese bagels. Reminded me of our trip to California.
DMM(MOM): Lean in.
ALM: what?
DMM: Lean in, you are a drag.
ALM: WHAT?!!!
(riding the fourwheeler)
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Home is where...you keep your junk.
House Count: 26
#23: We liked the set up, it’s a new construction home that was completely finished and the bonus was that there weren’t any specials on it because they neighborhood was already established. Centralized locations, 4 bedrooms, 3 bath, open floorplan and 2 family areas. The only problem with this house was the yard, or lack thereof. Because of the location of the house, there is a large retaining wall that takes up a majority of the yard and creates a natural divide. There is a swell created for the water/drainage but we wouldn’t really have a great yard to garden, play in, or take care of.
#24: This house we called the jade house, it’s even new construction than the one before, the guys were still working on it in terms of texture just went up on the walls. The basement won’t be finished, but there are three bed, 2 bath with open floor plan, three stall garage, and a place for the camper. Matt’s not wild about the location and there’s a bunch of specials on it right now, and I’m thinking the neighborhood is a bit crowded. We’d also be responsible for our own landscaping, which is scary for a girl that once told a realtor, the smaller the yard, the better.
#25: 1970’s home that had been taken care of and was surprisingly big. It didn’t have central air, yard wasn’t completely fenced, and the street is what was a turnoff, it’s on a busy street in a neighborhood where there is a lot of renters and twin homes.
#26: I didn’t know what to expect with this house as it didn’t have any pictures online. It’s on the south side, it has three bedrooms, three baths, an open floor plan, 2 stall garage, and a huge yard with a peaceful view. There are some condo’s around us, but for the most part the neighborhood is quiet. The house looks at the river from afar and there isn’t a basement. I thought this was great because Basements collect water and junk and being so close to the river, we know we’d collect water. But then after Matt and I both admitted that we liked this house with a walkin closet, a master bath, a place for the camper, where do we put our junk? We’ve been collecting for some time now together and as much as I try when I move, I still have a few piles of it. Matt did present a plan that would work for us, but it still makes me wonder. We love the house and the location, just need one more storage room for junk.
And to think….the last house had too many closets. Price range is still an issue as we are getting a bit higher than we'd like but are just lacking options in the community. But our overall outlook is more calculating.
MJR: If we got this one, I could have a DRIVING RANGE!!!
ALM: That is not a reason to like or buy a house.
#23: We liked the set up, it’s a new construction home that was completely finished and the bonus was that there weren’t any specials on it because they neighborhood was already established. Centralized locations, 4 bedrooms, 3 bath, open floorplan and 2 family areas. The only problem with this house was the yard, or lack thereof. Because of the location of the house, there is a large retaining wall that takes up a majority of the yard and creates a natural divide. There is a swell created for the water/drainage but we wouldn’t really have a great yard to garden, play in, or take care of.
#24: This house we called the jade house, it’s even new construction than the one before, the guys were still working on it in terms of texture just went up on the walls. The basement won’t be finished, but there are three bed, 2 bath with open floor plan, three stall garage, and a place for the camper. Matt’s not wild about the location and there’s a bunch of specials on it right now, and I’m thinking the neighborhood is a bit crowded. We’d also be responsible for our own landscaping, which is scary for a girl that once told a realtor, the smaller the yard, the better.
#25: 1970’s home that had been taken care of and was surprisingly big. It didn’t have central air, yard wasn’t completely fenced, and the street is what was a turnoff, it’s on a busy street in a neighborhood where there is a lot of renters and twin homes.
#26: I didn’t know what to expect with this house as it didn’t have any pictures online. It’s on the south side, it has three bedrooms, three baths, an open floor plan, 2 stall garage, and a huge yard with a peaceful view. There are some condo’s around us, but for the most part the neighborhood is quiet. The house looks at the river from afar and there isn’t a basement. I thought this was great because Basements collect water and junk and being so close to the river, we know we’d collect water. But then after Matt and I both admitted that we liked this house with a walkin closet, a master bath, a place for the camper, where do we put our junk? We’ve been collecting for some time now together and as much as I try when I move, I still have a few piles of it. Matt did present a plan that would work for us, but it still makes me wonder. We love the house and the location, just need one more storage room for junk.
And to think….the last house had too many closets. Price range is still an issue as we are getting a bit higher than we'd like but are just lacking options in the community. But our overall outlook is more calculating.
MJR: If we got this one, I could have a DRIVING RANGE!!!
ALM: That is not a reason to like or buy a house.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)