Friday, January 9, 2009

New Twist

We are now in the "paperwork" process of selling our house, so more waiting time. We had a full-price offer within a few days of listing on craigslist, so that was exciting! We had picked out the house with a barn that we really liked, and after looking at other houses to make comparisons and be sure it was the right one.... we changed our minds a bit. None of the other houses compared at all, but after considering all sides for a while we decided even though this is a great house in a great area with a great price; we would be strapped to the payments for the next 30 years, and that doesn't sound fun! It's no wonder our country is in the real estate trouble it is, the bank gladly approved us for the house even though it would have been very tough to make ends meet after paying for property taxes and insurance on top of payments every month! So while that house had everything we thought we wanted, we've decided that we can wait a few years to be in the "never moving again" mode. =) It is very important to all of us that I stay home with the kids instead of going to work, so this is worth it.

We actually made an offer today on a house that has 3 bedrooms and 2 baths, a large living/dining room area, and also a large family room. It's a split-level and very well laid out. You come in on the main floor (living room/dining/kitchen) and then go down a few steps to the family room and bedroom and bath; or up a few stairs to the other bedrooms and bath. We actually had a house very similar in Aloha while I was growing up, and Dad & Mom said it worked well. I didn't like the idea of a split-level where you go up stairs to get into the house, then come in on a landing, but this layout seems quite nice. It's an incredible deal simply because as we call it, it's a "smoke house". =) For quite a few years it has been smoked in, and also has the original 25-year old avocado green carpet, etc. Since the layout is so nice and it is so reasonable, we talked to our friend Zane who works for a home-restoration company about what it would take to make it nice. Sounds like it would require scrubbing down EVERYTHING with a strong citrus cleaner, painting walls/ceiling/floor with Kilz paint, replacing all outlets/fixtures/switches, and of course ripping out & replacing the flooring. If they accept our offer and all goes well, we should be able to move in with a "brand-new inside" in less than a months time!

The only down-side to this house that we couldn't move right into, is that we'll have to move twice. Tyler's sister, Clover, is going to come help me pack and move everything around closing time, so that will be greatly appreciated! In the end we'll have the same payments we have now, but with a very nice place that's more useful and bigger! Tyler hopes to add on a garage and possibly another bedroom in the next couple of years, but in the meantime we can just relax and enjoy our family..... and actually have some money to take trips to visit family and such! I'm am so much more comfortable with this situation, and we may just decide this is the place that will work for us too, at a much lower price! And if we decide to move again, we should have a tremendous amount of equity. Their asking price is $70,000 less than the other house!

Levi has taken to singing now, and it leaves us all in stitches! He often says "tell me tory..... Jesus" over and over, and he can almost sing the whole alphabet. It's hilarious to listen to him practicing while he's playing with blocks or cars, he's very serious about the whole thing. Once he gets to "W" he often repeats it over and over "dub-you" and can't remember what's next, so just keeps repeating W. Breanna can sing the old-testament books of the bible, and it's quite fun to watch her sing them on the phone to Grandma Maryn as she taps her toes to the rhythm. Such fun little bugs, I can't imagine not spending this time with them growing up! Clover had a hilarious blog posting recently, as to how her mornings go and why she doesn't go to work. I laughed the whole time while reading it, even though I only have 2 so far- it was all so familiar!! Check it out at: http://www.evanandclover.blogspot.com/ A couple of days ago when I was trying to get all the paperwork copied and scanned and emailed and figured out, Levi was climbing all over everything (and pulling things down), and suddenly the computer shut off because Breanna had crawled under the table and bumped the surge-protector. I just about exploded, and then thought "what was I thinking, and what am I going to do with another one?!?!?!?!"

This will be all for now, the kids are being way too quiet so I must go and inspect.... that is a dangerous sound! =)

Saturday, January 3, 2009

Lots of "New" Happenings


Along with the new year, we are seeming to have quite a few "new" things come up in our lives lately! Most exciting, of course, is the looking forward to a new family member in August, although with morning sickness that lasts all day I'm not so sure this won't be the last new member! When mentioning the idea of twins (many have joked about that since it tends to sometimes mean multiples), I have gotten many "oh my, that would be a lot of work!" responces. While I'm sure this is true, I have always thought it would be fun to be a twin (although, luckily for you all there is only one of me! =} ) and it would be fun to have twins and get my four-kids done with in 3 pregnancies! Mom is adopted and so we don't know much family history, but there really is little chance of twins, however one can only hope! When we first told Breanna, she decided right away she didn't want a boy or a girl, but both! While I'm not expecting to see two little people on the ultrasound in a few months, one can surely hope? =) If nothing else it makes the morning sickness not seem so bad.

And with that being the most exciting new thing, the rest that is going on may seem overwhelming to go along at the same time; at least to me it does! Just 3 days before I found out, I ordered a long-arm quilting machine to start a small at-home business. For those of you who aren't familiar with them, they are sewing machines (with a large table/stand) for the purpose of "sandwiching" all the layers of a quilt together and sewing them together with fancy stitching. This is something I really enjoy, but the machine cost more than most of the vehicles I have purchased in my lifetime (for those of you who only know Tyler & his geo metros, I do tend to spend more than him on cars =}), so probably would have been better to wait had I known we were expecting a baby!

So with 2 new "babies" at our place, we decided "our place" was definately getting too small. (When completely set up, the quilting stand is over 12feet long by about 3 feet wide!) We've been looking for land & houses for quite a while, and happened to stumble upon a house that is looking promising! It's on just under an acre, with 4bed, 3bath, 2car garage, and a barn that has 2 horse stalls and a heated woodworking shop! There are wonderful mountain views, and it's in a great neighborhood that is close to Tyler's work, but best of all it's affordable. Actually a great deal from what we've seen, so after looking at it with the realtor- Tyler put a "for sale" add on craigslist for our place. The next morning we had an email from someone interested, and now there are 2 people coming to look at it tomorrow!
We are quite excited if it all works out so quickly, although I must say I wouldn't normally choose to move in this kind of weather! It's been just above and below -20 quite a bit lately, but the prospect of an attached garage and so much space is worth it! When we listed the house we were more hopeful than really thinking anything would happen so soon, so we have spent the last 2 days finishing things up and cleaning. I must say it's hard to clean when I have two little "uncleaners" working with me all day! =) I am just so excited at the thought of a finished house (yay!!!) way before the baby is born.... hmmmm..... not sure I'll know what to do with myself!

This had better be all for now, hope this finds you all doing well!