As of today, we are going to be homeowners again! Everything on our loan is fully approved and we are right on target for a closing date of August 5th, which cannot come fast enough. Our inspection went well with the sellers agreeing to fix a few minor items and the appraisal went through without any issues. It is a great feeling. With all the problems we had on our home sell, we were not letting ourselves be overly excited until we had the final word. And, the word is in....in two and a half weeks we will be moving furniture in our extreme heat out of our storage unit and into our new home and I am VERY EXCITED about it!
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Sunday, July 10, 2011
"The One"
Over the last month, we have looked at 25 plus houses met with disappointment. At one point, we considered new construction, but finding a builder who offers an oversized lot without a premium charge and what we wanted at our price point was difficult. Around the end of June, we started to get a little nervous about finding the "right" house.
A few weeks ago when the kids and I were visiting G-ma and Grandpa Jerry in New Mexico
About two hours after me and the kids arrived home from New Mexico
The problem now was...Which house? One was close to our old neighborhood, which would keep us really close to our friends, Danny's family and our church. Everything familiar. The other is 15 minutes away in another zip code. I was torn. Danny was not. He knew immediately which house he wanted and it was the one 15 minutes away. I guess I never really thought we would leave Leander.
We decided to sleep on it and then went out of town for a family reunion for five days. The break could not have come at a better time. While we were away, we got the chance to go over all the pros and cons of both houses and eliminated the one in Leander. When we returned home went to look at "the one" again. We threw a few others in that came on the market while we were in Missouri
After a full day of looking, we came back to "the one". I was puzzled over this because the entire time we have been looking we have gravitated towards homes with new modern "open floor plans", the have-to-have game room and move-in readiness. This house is the complete opposite. It needs major updating, every room in the house needs to be painted, including the doors and trim (they are grey), it has hideous wall-paper, bathrooms that need to be gutted, the is no game room and the outside paint is a color we wouldn't choose in a million years.
Nevertheless, it has character, a gorgeous backyard and HUGE trees. It is a place I can actually see our family for years to come. The schools are excellent and yes, it will take some getting used to, but how many times have I had to do that? Plenty. In addition, the updates are actually something I am looking forward to.
With that said, we made an offer on it last Thursday and as of yesterday, we have an agreement and a signed contract by all parties. We are excited. Now we wait for the inspection, appraisal and our final loan approval.
Please pray there are no kinks in the process and everything goes smoothly. I'll keep you posted, I promise.
P.S. Sorry for the cliffhanger on the last post, but as you can tell we finally closed on our old house. Things got crazy around here with vacations and life!
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
House Update
Today we are no closer to closing a deal on our house and it is looking more and more as if we may be moving back in. The previous buyer presented us with a letter of commitment over the weekend asking us to extend their contract with a closing date of June 6th.
Our realtor advised us not to sign anything until she was able to confirm with their lender their *new* financing was a go. I got a phone call an hour ago from our realtor telling us we should put the house back on the market and ask for the earnest money. Ugh. She said their lender informed her the buyer's commitment letter is contingent on them meeting a number of requirements and stated the soonest they would be able to close (upon meeting all requirements which haven't been met and final loan approval ) would be sometime between June 10th and the 17th.
We are now sitting on day 58 with these buyers and feel we have wasted too much time with them. At this point, I am seriously ready to be done. Patience has never been my strong suit, on top of the displacement of my family and all the extra money spent for nothing, I am not so sure how much more I can endure. Something is telling me I/we should just be happy with what we have.
With that said, our realtor wants us to hang in their a little longer. We are putting the house back on the market and requesting the earnest money in hopes it will make them get their behinds in gear. After all, they have quiet a bit invested in this too, earnest money and the cost of the inspection and appraisal. We know they want the house, but we just cannot wait forever. And at this point, we have to look at what is best for us.
Keep your fingers crossed for us!
I will keep you posted.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Frustrated
Frustrations are running high in the Boatright household right now and I just need to vent.
BUT, we have dreamt about having a larger home where we could coexist in a much happier manner (i.e., the living room does not double as a playroom) and after 33 days "on the market", we got an offer and accepted it. From that day on our journey has been occupied of highs and lows. Some days have been full of excitement while others full of regret. There have been several hurdles throughout the process and it has been nothing short of a smooth process. Last week was a "high", as we were back on the bright side of moving, packing boxes with smiling faces and celebrating the next chapter in our life. Our closing date was set for this Friday May 27th, at , exactly nine years to the date of when we signed our closing documents to move in. Wow!
We spent the past weekend moving the vast majority of everything out of the house, leaving only the computer and TV to help entertain our children while we continued to patch holes, paint and clean. As of last Saturday afternoon, our belongings were scattered between a storage unit and the in-laws house, but we were excited.
Then came the "low", late Saturday evening we received a phone call from our realtor (my sister-in-law) telling us "hold up on moving every thing out". Well...if she would have called about four hours earlier that would not of been a big deal, but unfortunately most everything is already out. She explained our buyers hit a bump in the road with their financing and have been working out the "unforeseen issues" all last week, but not one person on their side felt it necessary to let us know. (Honestly, after hearing the entire story, I feel for our buyers in this situation too.)
Anyhow, this brings us to today. We have no new news and are feeling all sorts of emotions, frustration being the most prevalent. We cannot do anything until our contract is up on Friday. We are hoping for everyone's sake involved this works out, but for now, we are stuck. The worst part for me is we could be living in our house five minutes from Brynn's school and twenty-five minutes closer to Danny's work, but instead Danny's commute has increased from 45 minutes to an hour and fifteen minutes each way and I am now driving Brynn back and forth to school. We are out of our routine and have no idea how this is going to play out.
I know things could be a lot worse. Our family has a place to stay and we do not have a contingency offer on another home (you have no clue how thankful I am about that). We are even prepared to move back into our home if we have to. It's the uncertainty and stress wearing us down. I know the buyers really want our home and are just as stressed as we are right now. They are a young family trying to buy their first home and going through a very tough lending system. The banks have gone from one extreme to the other with their lending requirements making it almost impossible for first time buyers.
Just writing all this makes me feel a little better. I know in the end that our family will be okay. Hopefully, we will have some answers this Friday (at the least know if we are loosing this buyer or not). Keep your fingers crossed for us.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Four years ago on..
Just minutes after Braden was born.
Over the last four years, we have watched Braden grow from a sweet baby to a feisty toddler, and now into a very curious little boy. He is our mess maker, our question asker, our puzzle doer, our hugger and kisser, our noisemaker, our cuddlier, our train lover and our button pusher. And today I could not even begin to imagine my life without him.
3 Months Old
1st Halloween
This photo was taken two days after his first birthday. Believe it or not, the bandage is courtesy of his thumb sucking habit we have yet to break. He managed to suck his thumb raw and it ended up infected.
Thomas the train is a big deal in our house. Braden knows the name of every train and what type of engine they are. He even knows their numbers.
His laid back personality will haunt him someday, we have so many photos of him in different princess outfits. Someday he will be paying his sister big time for this. *I only took the photos*
He LOVES puzzles. He got this one for his third birthday and put it together in a matter of minutes (literally). And we thought we were giving him a challenge.
Recently we rode the Austin Steam train and he was in heaven. This is him exploring the passenger cars. He constantly tells us he wants to be an engineer, so he can drive a train one day.
And today we love him more than ever!
Happy 4th Birthday Braden!
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
ABC's of Me
Recently, I received this questionaire from a friend, so I thought I'd share my answers here (since I haven't been keeping up with my blog lately). Enjoy!
ABC's of Me
(4.12.2011)
A - Age: 35
B - Bed size: King
C - Character you like: Cookie Monster
D - Dog's name: Don't have one.
E - Essential start your day item: Grumbling about having to get up!
F - Favorite color: Green
G - Gold or Silver: Silver
H - Height: 5'5"
I - Instruments you play(ed): Hmm.. I tried the flute in 6th grade,but that didn't work out. Does the recorder count?
J - Job title: CEO of the Boatright household
K - Kids: 2 | Daughter - Brynn | Son - Braden
L - Living arrangements: In a house with husband and children
M - Mom's name: Laura, but goes by Dianne (her middle name)
N - Nicknames: Shan | Sha na na
O - Overnight hospital stay other than birth: Child birth (2)
P - Pet Peeve: Bad manners
Q - Quote from a movie: "How about them apples?" (Good Will Hunting)
S - Siblings: Brother, Aaron
T - Time you wake up: 6:30 a.m.
U- Underwear: Of course!
V - Vegetable you dislike: Brussel Sprouts
W - Ways you run late: Unexpected Traffic
X - X-rays you've had: I have actually had a full body x-ray, so I think that covers everything.
Y - Yummy food you make: Banana Nut Bread
Z - Zoo favorite: Elephants
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Hello March!
Hello Blog, Hello mid-March!
I cannot tell you the number of times over the last month and a half I sat down to write only to be interrupted. Somehow, I never made it back to the computer or when I did think about it, the tiredness took over. However, I can tell you I am so glad the month of February is done and over with. It was not a great month for the Boatright household. I was surrounded by sickness. Both Brynn and Braden were sick the entire month, one germ would move out and another moved in. On top of being sick, Brynn's asthma decided to give us a challenge causing her to miss another three days of school. Then Danny joined in the fun with a sinus infection. I don't know how, but I was the only one who did not get sick. I don't know what is worst being sick myself or dealing with all the sickness. I am just glad it is over.
So the month of March is here and that means warmer weather, blooming trees, blowing pollen and increasing the allergy meds. This is the time of year Danny and me talk about moving somewhere else. I just hope this spring, we actually have a spring and it doesn't hit 90° until at least May. (I know I am dreaming, lol!)
We started the month with getting our house ready to put on the market and successfully accomplished that last Thursday. So far, we have only had one showing, but received positive feedback. Putting our house on the market with two small children has been a bit of a challenge and God help me because it's only been a week and I am already wandering how I will make it an entire month, or two or three. Actually, I don't even want to think about it. Just keep your fingers crossed that it sells.
Brynn is on Spring Break this week and we are enjoying her time off. We started the week off with a trip to the Austin Rodeo and Fair. We met up with two of my close high school friends (who are married) and came through town on their way to San Antonio Texas
The Fair was great and the kids had so much fun. Brynn rode several roller coasters that surprised Danny and I. You can definitely tell by some of the pictures that she didn't enjoy all of them. Lol! Braden spent a good amount of time being mad because he was not able to ride most of the rides he wanted to (that boy has no fear). He even called one of the ride operators "a mean man." By the end of the day he I think he gained a "short complex" because he kept asking when will he grow taller.
Here's a few pictures from our day.
The Fair grounds.
Brynn's first "roller coaster" - At first she was not sure about this ride, but by the end she was all about it. She rode it two more times. You can see Danny (squished in the seat) and Braden towards the back.
Brynn's all smiles here, but once this one got going she was in tears. She made it through, but didn't even hint she wanted to go again. This was one Braden was to small for.
Danny and Shawn on this ride.
If you look closely you can see the uncertainity on Brynn's face. (BTW: She's sitting with her friend Lexie on most of these, didn't want you to think we sat her next to a stranger!)
I love this one of Danny and Braden, they were both having so much fun!
Danny and Braden. Braden kept yelling "higher, go higher"
This is more her style.
Me and Amber.
My crazy husband and Shawn rode this one. They screamed the entire time. Even the ride operator asked us if we thought the were okay. Lol!
I told you they were screaming!
Brynn and Lexie coming down the slide!
(This was Brynn favorite ride.)
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
It's COLD outside!
It is the first day of February and baby its COLD outside (33° to be exact), definitely a long way from the 80° weather we experienced yesterday. I am enjoying it though; I even made a special trip to Target this morning after the gym to pick up some hot chocolate and marshmallows to have with Brynn and Braden after school this afternoon. The only this missing is a fireplace and maybe a little snow.
With January behind us, so is our 30 days of no eating out challenge, which I am proud to say I completed the entire month without cheating once. I did have a rough day last week when I experienced an unbelievable craving for a Freddy's steakburger, but I resisted.
I am glad we did this challenge, it changed many things for our family; most noticeable was in the bank account and that alone was motivation for me. I know I will be thinking a lot more about stopping and grabbing a bite to eat. A big thing this has forced me to do is really prepare all our meals as well as our snacks. I find myself shopping completely different at the grocery store and the funny thing is I am using the same budget as I had for groceries before the challenge. I am enjoying finding new recipes to try and best of all I lost four pounds this month (I know this number would have been higher if Brynn wasn't selling Girl Scout cookies).
Another bit of exciting news is Brynn has learned to ride her bike without her training wheels. She is SO proud of this accomplishment and we are so proud of her. Last Tuesday she asked to take off her training wheels and by Friday, she was riding with no help at all.
Monday, January 24, 2011
24 days and counting.....
I am 24 days into my goal of 30 days of absolutely no eating out and going strong. The challenge began because while balancing our checking account for the month of December I was startled by the number of times we ate out and the amount of money we spent doing it. We are not a family of frequent 'fast food' stops, but it was clear from the checking account we visit (and pick up from) many of the local 'sit down' restaurants. Most of the damaged occurred on weekends and the slap in the face was the dollar amount of $363.27. I know it is ridiculous and I fell like there should have been a really nice dinner in that dollar amount somewhere, but let me assure you there wasn't.
So now, you know why we are doing this and yes, this started as a family challenge. Danny fell off the wagon last Friday when he met up with some old friends. They ended up going out to lunch and believe me he has heard tons of grief (and now I am going a step further to out him on my blog).
I was surprised he gave in and I think it's strange he made it all the way to day 21 and caved. For me the hardest part was the beginning when I was constantly craving Asian food, Freddy's burgers and a wild berry smoothie from Jamba Juice. After the end of the second week it became easier and easier for me. I have already witnessed several positives on this challenge that make me want to keep going.
I'll be back to share the rest of the journey at the end of the month. I am really curious to find out what I will do when this is over....will I run out and grab a burger with a yummy Dr. Pepper (which I also haven't had, since we don't drink cokes at home) or will I be strong enough to continue?
How are you doing with your resolutions?
Saturday, January 15, 2011
36 @ 36
Whenever I have trouble sleeping, I find myself migrating to the computer. Although I set out to catch up on my 'blog roll' that typically never happens, because I start clicking on that persons 'blog roll' and pretty soon I find myself reading about some random persons life. I know it's a little disturbing, but sometimes you come across something interesting like I did on this blog. It's a 'to-do' list for the year and the number of items on the list is equal to your age.
Since I liked the idea so much I decided to come up with my own list. It turns out finding 36 doable items for 2011 was harder than I thought (although I did consider only doing 35, as I will be 35 until November). Anyhow, I did managed to get 36 items listed, now let's see if I can actually complete all 36.
Here's my list for 2011 (items highlighted in yellow, I started at the beginning of the year)
- Complete the Twilight Series (I was a late starter...and when I started reading the books I started with the fourth novel since I already saw the first three movies. Since the fourth book was so good, I decided to read one, two and three.
- Complete Project 365 (a daily documentation of our lives)
- Have a girl's weekend
- Take a sewing class
- Go back to school
- Go camping with family
- Visit my grandparents
- Take a trip to
Canton ,TX - Complete four scrapbook layouts a month
- Organize all my recipes
- See a musical
- Use a film camera
- Buy a bike
- Transfer all my CD's to computer
- Scan old photos
- Try a new recipe each month
- Redo our bedroom
- Lose 10 lbs
- 30 days of NO eating out
- Go to the gym at least 3 days a week
- Learn more about God
- Join a women's group at church
- Do something in
Austin - Sell items to resale shop
- Make something old new again
- Use my recycle bags
- Volunteer more
- Learn to create digital papers & elements
- Take a class on-line for fun
- Create a Shutterfly book of Brynn's artwork
- Have a "girls only" outing with Brynn once a month
- Spend Less Money
- Go to more garage sales
- Learn to make body scrubs & soap
- Make Handmade gifts for Christmas
And sticking to my list here is my second week of Project 365. (Click on photo to view larger)
Journaling reads: [Saturday] Braden is loving his Geo Tracks he received for Christmas. Everyday he drags them into the living room and builds a new track design. Daddy helped him with this one and he enjoys using his remote control train on it. [Sunday] I got the chance to finish a few scrapbook layouts for Brynn’s book. [Monday] Brynn in her Girl Scout uniform as we head out the door for her Girl Scout meeting. She is having a great time being a Girl Scout. [Tuesday] Brynn and Braden’s Highlights magazine arrived in the mail today. Thanks to G-ma for ordering this special monthly treat, the kids love it. [Wednesday] Braden fighting to stay awake so we can pick Brynn up from school. He skipped a nap today. I love how he always has a train or two near by. [Thursday] We had a surprise movie night for the kids, which meant homework, dinner and baths were all done by 6:30 p.m. It is amazing what can happen, when Daddy gets out of work early! The movie was pretty good for a bunch of talking dogs. [Friday] Daddy sat down on the couch for some ‘web surfing’, but didn’t get very far.
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