Well my faithful 40, this will be the last blog post for a bit. Because as of tomorrow, the computer is being unplugged and the Brewer's are moving to the new place! And with only a few nights of crashing with the 'rents in between! BUT, our Internet and TV are not being hooked up until July 12th. SO it will be at least after then before I can post again.
Unless I snag my mom's laptop and post while we are there.
Which I might.
Or might not.
I don't know.
What I DO know is that, thanks to an awesome realtor, an amazing loan officer, and tons of support from the best family and friends ever, this hair brained, half-thought out, crazy plan to sell and move for a specific house that we ended up not getting anyway....has become an exciting and wonderful new journey and experience for our family, and we are so thankful for the blessings that the LORD has given us. Including our beautiful new home!!! We couldn't be happier at the way it has all worked out, and we are just thrilled!!! And will be even more thrilled when this is all behind us! HA!
Until then, toodles peeps!!!!
Thursday, June 23, 2011
The Big Move
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Moving Along...Well, Moving Anyway....
We are **STILL** waiting on the repair addendum to get back from our sellers. But I drove by today and there was a roofing truck there, so I hope that is a sign that we are going to get the needed repairs done so that we can buy the house and not be homeless!!! AHHH! Echm. Sorry. Minor flip out. I seem to be having several of those a day recently. :)
Anyway, the appraisal came back good (yay) so we should be set to close next week! YAY! Which is really good because as it turns out, Cole got his S92 transition at work, and will be out of town for most of July and some of August. Sad note: despite what I previously thought, he will, yet AGAIN, miss my birthday. :( We have been together since 2006 and I have yet to spend a birthday with him. He has promised to make it up to me. I hope that means really nice granite. ;) And he has promised that, come hell or high water, we will spend my birthday next year (the big 3-0) together. We will see....
So things are moving forward on the new house. Not as rapido as I would like. I need a close date and a plan! Try getting utilities moved when you don't have a date for them to move on! HA! They mostly laughed at me. Great....
But we are packing up and getting the heck out of Dodge, er, Mesa Verde, by this weekend and will be bunking with my parents for a week or so. Fun times ahead. But I am just thankful that it is all happening fairly smoothly. So far. Stay tuned.... (KNOCK ON WOOD)
:)
Friday, June 17, 2011
Steal of a Deal
You know how sometimes, you go into a store to look for one thing, and then something that is on MEGA sale catches your eye, and you think, "I really do need that!" even though 9/10, you don't actually need it, but you use the price to justify the purchase anyway??? What, you don't do that. Huh. You're weird. ;) Anyway, this is that one in ten moment where that happened to me and I actually really, truly, needed it!!!
I was in Home Depot to drool over carpet and counter tops for our new house, and I thought I would check out the appliances just for kicks, and since we need a new fridge (ours conveys) I figured why not check those out too.
Then I saw it. The clearance tag with 948$. And the tag under it that said an additional 20% off. On this beauty...
Cole didn't know I did this. But thankfully he was just happy that I saved him a TON o' MONEY! We couldn't even buy the cheap, off brand, white fridge for $814.00!!!!
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Who Would'a Thought???
The sell of our home has gone really well...not that I am trying to tempt fate. Knocking on wood RIGHT NOW. But we have a great buyer with a wonderful realtor and everything on that transaction (including the crazy things we have asked from them for our buying transaction) have panned out really nicely.
So my most recent "who would'a thought" question has been "Who would'a thought that selling a house would be the EASY part?!!?" Not that it is "easy"....or cheap. Mercy sakes alive moving is expensive and stressful!!! I don't know how people do it on a regular basis. I told Cole that I might always look at houses- I just like doing that. But make no mistake, I am not interested in moving again. EVER. EEEVVVVEEERRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The home we are buying (see pictures below) is a great house that was on the market FSBO for a while. When we lost our Cannes house, we started looking for a new home right away since we had already sold our current house at that point. We looked. and looked. and looked. We found one that was okay. But that was it...just okay. It will be a fabulous house for someone I know. But for us, and our needs, it just didn't work. But it was clean, big, and on budget. And I was really fighting my need to have a home for our family with my desire not to settle on what we want to be our "long term" home.
The night after our second showing on the "okay" house, I was really wrestling with what we should do. Cole liked the house (mostly the price) and was in agreement to make an offer...IF I would be happy there. And I probably would be happy in that house. For 5-6 years. Not 20-25 years like we really want. So I was at the computer, and just prayed that the Lord would show me the way.
Well the day of that second showing, we had driven down a friend's street because she said there was a really nice house with a great backyard that was FSBO. We drove the street and didn't see any houses that were for sale. So we figured it had sold. Well after I prayed that night, and did ANOTHER (what I thought would be fruitless) search, BAM! There it was. I was SO excited that I called our realtor right then to make the appointment. It was the house that was for sale by owner, and they had just listed it! We got in the next morning at 9 am. Cole had gone to the store, and when he walked in the door, I told him that I had found our house! And that it was UNDER our budget!!!
...fast forward two offers, one counter, and one lackluster inspection later.... This is the house I wrote about last time that they countered our full price offer with some crazy stipulations and we walked away. Well we gave them a few days to prove that the buyers in this market at that price were not going to be beating down the door. So we put in another offer and met them halfway on their terms. And they accepted! So Monday we had the inspection. Overall, it was an okay inspection for a 15 year old house. But there are some roof issues. I don't really want to go into it, but lets just say that somethings need to be fixed or replaced before we will move forward. Our realtor is due here in about 30 minutes to write up the repair requests. Please say a little prayer that all goes well. The longer this takes, the longer we will be crashing with my parents, and the harder this whole thing will be!
Now the fun part... PICTURES!!! I took these at the inspection. We are planning on new carpet ASAP and new countertops very soon too. And of course paint and light fixtures along the way. Oh, and the WALLPAPER is coming down IMMEDIATELY!!!!!!! But the bones are good, and we love the backyard. I know, I know. I said I wanted a "turn key" house (didn't I say that on here? Well I did in person...at first...). But truth is, I like the fact that I can make it "ours." That is important to me.
ENJOY!!!
Our new home!!!
Back deck 2 levels!
Top level of deck with speakers and fan.
Walk-in pantry
Living room with built ins.
My new craft room.
Ava's room. All of the bedrooms are HUGE!
Guest room.
Guest bath
Guest bath again
Built ins....LOVE THEM!
Front door...going to be painted black. That is my signature I have decided. And I like black doors better with red brick than any other color. :)
SOOO glad it has a storm door! I love ours and really wanted one in our new house!
Huge formal dining room! Never had one of these before...super excited!!!
Eating area off kitchen. Goodbye wallpaper!
TADA! Kitchen!!! Gas JennAir range, double ovens, deep sink, TONS of cabinet space, walk-in pantry. I could live in this room. Minus the green and wallpaper! ;)
Switches in the master bathroom. This house was custom built and has light switches EVERYWHERE! TONS! Very thoughtful in the design.
Storage in the master bath water closet.
water closet in master bath. Cole's favorite room. :)
Master vanity (and guest appearance by ME!)
Ahhhh LURV this tub. It is HUGE!
Master bedroom. I have already bought new window treatments. :)
Laundry with built in office area. Love this! It is off of the kitchen so I think it will be really functional for the way we live. Thursday, June 9, 2011
Backing Up to Punt
I have been an absentee blogger! Sorry!!! Been super busy! So the last post I was talking about how we sold our house and we were waiting to hear about the house we wanted to buy. Remember? It had another contingent offer and we were the backup? Well, the other buyers were able to remove their contingent offer and we lost the house. And honestly, I was not as sad as I expected to be. I think because panic immediately set in. I knew we would probably have to crash with my parents for a bit, and we are okay with that. They have plenty of space and are generous enough to take us in. But the idea of my family not having a home is a bit scary!
So the day after we found out that Cannes was not going to be our new home, we began looking for another house. We really didn't want to go above what we were going to pay for Cannes, but I was so afraid we were going to be forced to wait it out or look at more expensive homes. Something Cole would NOT have been okay with! HA!
Well we were looking at a house in our desired neighborhood, but in a different area. This particular neighborhood is large and has lots of different "sub-neighborhoods" I would call them. And this house was in an okay area, but it didn't have any trees. Cole and I tend to lean towards a little older homes (mid to late 90s) in this neighborhood because they have mature trees and shady, private lots. And we are into that. So we were still unsure of the house, and I just had that sick feeling. It was a super nice house, but I just knew it was a mistake. We were talking about what to do when I did yet ANOTHER search and saw that a new home had JUST been listed. I called our poor realtor at 8:00 that night, and we had an appointment to see it the next morning. I loved it online and didn't sleep at all! I just stayed up wondering and thinking and praying.
Well we saw the house at 9 that morning, and loved it! It is a bit smaller than the Cannes house (it is about 2300 sqft) and it doesn't have a half bath. But it is a great house with lots of potential! I say that because, true to form, it needs some cosmetic help. But no knocking down walls and new kitchens this time! Just take down some wallpaper, new counter tops, and new carpet. And paint, but I would do that in any house! ;)
So we made a full price offer. And you will never, ever believe this...they COUNTERED!!!! A FULL PRICE OFFER!!!! We thought we were being really generous and knew we could be because the house was less than Cannes by about 8k and because it had so much potential! But they countered down the price with no closing costs paid, which is all the same really to us. But the thing that we had to walk away from was the terms. They apparently had been burned in the past and were not eager to make a deal with someone who had not yet closed on their other home. The paperwork they wanted was doable. Not fun, but we were willing to provide that. But they wanted things within 5 days. Things like the inspection and appraisal contingencies removed from our house by our buyer. Things that were not in our control. We would never have been able to keep those promises, so we walked away. We were going to wait until our house closed, then go back to them. But we decided the longer we wait, the longer we are living out of suitcases and boxes, and with a 16 month old, that is hard.
So yesterday, we put in another offer. The money is the same (actually we increased our offer $500) but the terms are more reasonable. We have given them everything they wanted, but just said we will give them the documents as they become available to us. We were told they would have an answer by noon. It is now almost 2, and we are still waiting. I just want this to be done with, and know where we are going to be living!!!! I know that the Lord has the perfect home for us, and I truly believe this is it! So I am just praying that He will clear the path! And if this doesn't work out, I know that there is an even better home out there for us!
Speaking of homes, our buyer had his inspection Monday, and that evening we got the report. TWO items!!!! Our hot water heater was leaking and failing and he wanted a new one, and he wanted our AC serviced. The hot water heater is in (no wonder our water bill has been high lately!!!) and the AC people come Tuesday! PTL! That was the one thing I was worried about. I didn't think that there would be an issue, but you just never know!!!
If we get the house we want, I will share with you the MLS link. But for now I am keeping it to myself. Sorry for the suspense, but no use in sharing if it doesn't happen!!! ;)
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
And here we go....
A few posts ago, I was whining and throwing a little pity party about being discouraged that our house hadn't sold after a week and a half on the market. Boohoo poor me, right?! I know, in this market, it takes TIME. Apparently in our case, it took 15 days. 15 days after we listed our house, WE GOT AN OFFER, which we accepted! Whoohoo! Let me back up...
Last week, on Tuesday, we had some strong storms that were expected to roll into town. Our neighbors to the north got the worst of it, as it would turn out. But that morning I had already been preparing for a "just in case" showing, knowing that it was a long shot that anyone would want to look that day because the weather was just not looking good. I had spoken to Cole, who was at work in Louisiana, and we agreed that Ava and I needed to "evacuate" to my parent's house (they have a basement) in case the weather became really bad. So as I was getting ready to load up the car with Ava and our dogs, the phone rang. It was the appointment center calling to schedule a showing for that evening. So I readily agreed and decided that I would leave Ava with my dad during her nap time and come back home to really clean and get things ready for a showing.
After I fed Ava lunch and put her down for nap, I came back home and got things ready, then I went back to my parents house. About 30 minutes after getting to Little Rock, the appointment center called to cancel the appointment due to weather. Which, being married to a pilot and being weather geeky people anyway, I totally understood. Then about 15 minutes later, we get another call saying that the people changed their minds, they wouldn't be able to look again until next week and they really wanted to see it before then, so they were coming afterall! So that evening after the scheduled time, I got home, put Ava to bed, and started looking around....
I kind of like coming home after a showing. I intentially leave things a very specific way so that I know if they looked at something or not. HA! And these people not only looked but really inspected and even sat at our table! A good sign!!! But we didn't hear any feedback for a couple of days. Our realtor finally was able to talk to the buyers agent, who said that her buyers really liked the house and were considering it. Then a day later, they asked for the disclosure. Another good sign. We knew that they were not going to be able to meet with their realtor until Tuesday (at least that is what we were told) so we were really shocked when our realtor called and told us that she had an offer on our home!!!! WHOOHOOO! It was a clean offer, though a little lower than we really wanted. But they didn't ask for much in closing help, so we were able to accept and remove our contingency on our Cannes house!
In this post I explained the deal about that...but long story short, we are the backup offer, so there is another buyer that also has a contingent offer on the home and they have 24 hours to remove their contingency or it is ours! So now we are just waiting on the clock, to see what happens. We haven't heard anything yet, and don't know when they were notified to start their 24 hour clock. But it should run out by tomorrow, if not sometime today. Waiting waiting waiting!!!!
So that is where we are. But it is a bit scary because our house is basically sold! Our buyers could still back out, but we don't really expect that. But I know you never know. We are not worried about the appraisal at all- we are well within the sold comps- and our realtor feels certain that the buyers financing is secure. The inspection is nerve racking, as all are. But we have a brand spankin' new roof, a foundation system that has a lifetime transferable warranty, and all of our major systems have been serviced recently and are in good working order. I don't think there is anything that would make someone walk away, especially since I feel like it is a really good deal for them. But you never know.....
But back to what I was saying, our house is basically sold. We went to see some other homes, looking for a backup to our Cannes house, and none really spoke to us. We are just really sold on the Cannes house. Ugh. Time will tell....
One thing I have been praying this whole time is for the Lord just to let things fall into place and show us what to do. Well our buyer wants to close on June 24th (a friday), and has graciously given us that saturday and sunday to move out without paying them anything. Well, Cole will get home from his next hitch on the 23rd!!! Talk about timing!!! I was so worried how that would work out, but it seems to be falling in place. I know the Cannes people want to close ASAP as they have already moved out, so I don't see us closing that day for them being a problem!
Keep us in your prayers...this is our first house to sell and it is a difficult thing- financially, emotionally, and physically!!!!
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Rest In Peace, Easy 40
Happy Memorial Day weekend! I know most of you are planning family BBQs or (if you are in Arkansas) trips to Riverfest, or maybe time on the lake. But as a military family, and the home of a combat veteran, this is more than just a long weekend in the Brewer home. Cole and I are very determined to teach our children of the importance and true meaning of Memorial Day, Veterans Day, and Independence Day. I think it is important for all Americans to understand the purpose of these federal holidays and to observe them and pay respect and honor to those that they are meant for...and I think teaching that early to our children is important.
Memorial Day is a day that we take a moment and remember those who have sacrificed everything to ensure the rest of us can live in a free country. In January 2007, however, Memorial Day took on a whole new meaning....
Cole was serving in Iraq at the time, with the (then) 1-111th Aviation Razorback Medevac. For those that don't know, Cole serves in the Arkansas National Guard as a Blackhawk Medevac pilot. He has served three year+ long tours overseas, and has performed numerous search and rescue operations on US soil, including rooftop rescues after Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. (I am just a LITTLE proud of him!!!) So Cole was in Iraq, and we were engaged at the time. It was a weekend. A Saturday. I don't remember what time it was here, but I know that it was during the day- late morning or early afternoon. I had been instant messaging with Cole. Now if you know anyone who has served overseas, you know communication is not always the best. I would get an email from him every few days, and a 15 minute phone call once a week. But that was usually it. This was before magicjack and Skype came onto the scene. It just so happened on that day that his Internet was working really well and he was able to keep a connection to IM with me. And being a Saturday, I was off work.
We were chatting, not about anything in particular. The wedding, his leave, how things were there, what I was doing at work. The usual stuff for most people, but conversation that was so precious to us. All of the sudden, in the middle of a message, I saw something like this... "I have to go. I am okay. I love you." And I knew. Something had happened. Something bad. When someone dies in a war zone, all communication is cut off for those connected, so that the families have proper notification and rumors are not spread. Totally understandable. And I thank the Lord all the time that He allowed us to be chatting (a VERY rare occurrence during that deployment) when we heard the news, and I knew that he was okay.
After he logged off, I immediately clicked over to CNN and saw it. My heart literally hurt. A deadly blackhawk crash. 12 aboard, all believed dead. Helicopter from Arkansas National Guard. I knew that my love was safe. But I knew that for some women not far from me, their life had taken a tragic and unbelievable turn that would change them forever. I was physically ill after I read the story. I sobbed in my mom's arms, my heart breaking for the newly widowed wives, children who would never see their daddy again, parents and siblings who would soon get the news...
The helicopter, call sign "Easy 40" had been shot down. It was an assault bird from Arkansas. The crew were friends and acquaintances of my husband and his father (who also was a pilot with the ARNG).
We see so often on the news that more troops have died. But until it hits close to home, I don't think we give it a second thought. I never did until I met Cole. Now every soldier that is reported fallen, I pray for his or her family- and thank the good Lord that it wasn't my husband. Because it so easily could have been.
My grandfather, Paw Jim, was a Marine in WWII, and was on Guadalcanal. My grandmother has a picture of his unit before and after the war. Before, there were probably 200-300 of them. After, maybe 30. Heartbreaking. This country is founded on the blood of those who sacrificed for our freedom. Please do not forget to take a moment to remember them. Not just this weekend, but every day.
For those that are interested, here is the story of Easy 40's final flight. Get a tissue....
US Features
Black Hawk down heroes
By Pamela Hess Feb 16, 2007, 17:48 GMT
BAGHDAD, Iraq (UPI) -- Twelve U.S. soldiers died Jan. 20 when their Black Hawk helicopter was shot down northeast of Baghdad.
A U.S. Army press release details their names, hometowns and ages but it does not tell what happened that day. That is left to their friends, who protected and avenged them but in the end could not save them.
It was a day time flight for this National Guard unit, 1st Battalion, 131st Aviation Regiment of the 36th Combat Aviation Brigade. It was a dangerous but routine mission to ferry soldiers from one base to another. Black Hawks are the safest means of getting around Iraq. Vastly more soldiers are killed by roadside bombs than anything else in Iraq. Getting them up in the air is the easiest way to avoid them.
Black Hawks fly in pairs. On Jan. 20 Easy 71 was the lead aircraft in the formation.
'I remember we were doing an ordinary transit mission, a routine mission carrying passengers across Iraq,' said 1st Lt. Craig D. Neely, 25, the lead pilot on Easy 71.
Easy 40 was flying behind when it was hit by machine gun fire from three insurgents in the back of a truck below them.
'We heard (Maj. Michael Taylor, the company commander) talking to (his) aircraft. He yelled out he was hit; there was no question in his voice that they were hit. Myself and Sgt. Evans were able to see him and see his aircraft,' Neely said.
Sgt. Terry L. Evans, 33, is one of Easy 71`s gunners.
'We saw the aircraft get hit initially. I saw they were in trouble. I told (pilot-in-command Chief Warrant Officer Max Timmons) -- I told him they were hit. I immediately started returning fire and Mr. Timmons banked left toward Easy 40.
'Easy 40 was on fire and we knew they were in trouble. We had moved into a position where we could possibly help them if they went down. The aircraft impacted the ground. That`s when I told Mr. Timmons and Lt. Neely to put our aircraft on the ground so we could go secure the aircraft,' Evans said.
They landed 75 yards from the burning helicopter but Evans and gunner Specialist David L. Carnahan, 33, jumped out before the bird was even on the ground. Armed with just pistols, the two raced to Easy 40 to rescue the wounded and protect their aircraft from ground attack.
But everyone on board - four crew and eight passengers -- was dead.
They ran around the aircraft to see if they could pull bodies out. They couldn`t. Evans went back to Easy 71 for his rifle and then returned to Carnahan and the burning helicopter.
'We were going to attempt to get (Maj.) Taylor`s body out,' he said.
Unspeakable things happen to the bodies of dead American soldiers here if they are not protected on the battlefield. Evans and Carnahan would not allow that to that to happen. The two, with their rifles and pistols, set up a defensive perimeter.
It was instinct that drove them out of their helicopter and onto the killing ground.
'You don`t think about people shooting at you,' said Carnahan. 'For me it was a pretty traumatic experience -- to watch a helo go down with people from my unit. You don`t think about yourself at the moment. You think about the people on the other aircraft.'
By this time, two other Black Hawks flying had received Lt. Neely`s mayday call. They were overhead.
Easy 53, commanded by Chief Warrant Officer Jerry D. Sartin, 41, and flown by CW3 Michael Hodges, 37, was just a minute behind Easy 40 on the same flight path.
'We started to land to lend aid and assistance when we noticed a truck moving at a high speed,' said Sartin. 'We took off to engage that vehicle.'
Black Hawks are not attack helicopters. The machine guns that protrude from either side are meant for self-defense.
'We practice aerial gunnery (on a range) at least once a year. The only difference is the targets at the range don`t shoot back,' said Staff Sgt. Gary L. Smith, 32.
Easy 53 made five passes around the truck which was now firing on them with the same weapon that brought down Easy 40. After the first pass, one of the insurgents pulled out a rocket-propelled grenade launcher.
'He was neutralized,' said Sartin.
This was one of Smith`s first combat engagements.
'It`s nothing that you really think about. It`s more of an instinct. We are there to protect our brothers. We will do anything it takes. If it means putting ourselves in the line of fire to attack them that`s part of what it means to be a soldier,' he said.
'When we started making our runs on the truck I really wasn`t thinking. It was more just acting out, engaging the truck, following up targets. When the weapon was out of ammo, the actions of reloading, getting the guns back out the window when it was your turn to fire again engage the enemy. There really wasn`t much time to think,' he said.
His first response was sadness at seeing Easy 40 hit and smoking, then anger when he heard the mayday call and realized it was an aircraft in his own battalion. Then adrenaline took over.
'Once we started engaging the truck all that flew out the window and we paid attention to engaging targets,' Smith said.
The Black Hawk gunners killed the three shooters during a 15-minute fight.
Apache attack aircraft arrived just minutes into the battle, allowing the two Black Hawks in Easy 53`s flight to land with Easy 71.
'We had that place swarming. The enemy had nowhere to run,' Neely said.
The crew and soldiers on board formed a defensive perimeter around the four helicopters now on the ground while Evans and Carnahan did what they could to put out the fire and pull their friends from Easy 40.
Ground forces were on their way to secure the scene, but it would take time to get there. The route in had been thoroughly booby trapped with improvised explosive devices, an Army official said this week.
The Black Hawks were running low on fuel. With Apaches overhead protecting the site and ground forces on their way, they decided to take off together, leaving the 12 men on Easy 40 in others` hands.
They flew together to the U.S. air base at Balad where they delivered their passengers, completing their mission.
'The crew of Easy 40 is very brave and they did heroic things,' said Neely, naming and memorializing each of the downed crew. '(Maj.) Taylor was our company commander from Arkansas. I`m a pretty young pilot. I`ve only been flying for two years and we flew together quite often.'
'Capt. Sean Lyerly was at the controls,' he said.
'They made every effort to talk to us, to let us know what was going on. They were controlling that aircraft to the ground,' Neely said. 'We saw them smoking and burning and heard (Maj.) Taylor`s voice on the radio, talking to Capt. Lyerly, controlling that aircraft.'
'(Sgt. Maj.) Thomas Warren and Sgt. First Class Gary Brown, the crew members in the back, were doing all that they could as well,' he said.
'The crew of Easy 40 went down fighting. They are the true heroes in this. There is nothing we can do to bring them back. But we can make sure the world knows these guys were total professionals,' said 1/131 battalion commander Lt. Col. Zachary Maner.
