Keep your fingers crossed!

Well, today is a milestone day.....My credit score is FINALLY back where it belongs & high enough to start processing my construction loan. We arent out of the woods yet, but at least the score part is done.

Hopefully, with fingers, toes, etc crossed, we'll be able to secure funding & start this little project...finally!

I will keep blogging as I have more news...Cant wait to blog the construction pics....but not crossing that bridge til it's built.

The house that Grant built...or is still hoping to build...

Well, the house plans are still moving along, just at a snails pace instead. A late payment at Home Depot has thrown my credit score into a tail spin....so Im just waiting for it to recover and then we can move forward. Scott, my contractor, is hanging in there with me. He has applied for all of the permits & we are just waiting on the approval of the septic plan. I am hoping to have a day off during the week, so I can go to the hardware store to look at fixtures and make some preliminary decisions. The store he uses is only open m-f....how weird is that?! Oh, well. My mind still races thinking about how to do things, colors to use, placement of furniture, etc. This home will really be my dream home since I will have been dreaming about it, vividly, for over a year!

Reality Check!

March has been a crazy month! Between the hospitalization of my ex-wife, her stay in Cardiac ICU and the death of my good friend Ryan's Dad on March 9th from a Pulmonary Embolism, I've been rethinking how I live my life.

Ryan's dad was 51, a Washington State Patrol Detective & a great guy. It always amazes me how the good guys are the ones to go first. I guess God needed him...so called him home. Well, 51....wow....Only 10 years older than me. The family had been in Vegas for a wedding and on the day Ryan was going home, his dad wasnt feeling well, so Ryan hung out with him until heading to the airport. Well, sometime while in flight, Mike was rushed to the hospital and died. Ryan got a call when he landed & in that short moment, his life was forever altered. Mike left behind his wife Tracy, Ryan & his brother. A rich & wonderful life, cut short.... The good part was that Mike & Tracy were so in love...lived every day to its fullest & enjoyed their friends & family.

My point is that I need to look at my life...am I happy? Happy with my choices in life....well, not really, I guess. I needed a reality check. So, I've been re-evaluating everything and I think Im ready for some changes. Nothing too drastic...well, YOU probably wont notice much, but I will. I am going to make an effort to Learn, Live, Laugh & Love...maybe not in that order....but will concentrate on doing a few things differently to make me happy. For too many years, I have done what other people thought was best for me, not what I thought was best. Well, with change comes growth. I guess its time to do things for me & if I screw up...well, I will learn. But I wont have any regrets, like I do now...that is what is important.

So...for all of you that are now scared....lol...dont be, that is my job! Change is good, change is healthy. Im ready for it and will embrace it no matter what.

Testing...Testing....

Well, the test hole has been dug & the specimen has been sent to the lab! We are just a few days from the 'big dig'.....

Another step....not forward or backward though...

I drove by the property yesterday to see if the test holes had been done...nope....but noticed that there were two posts defining where the driveway should be, with the address written on surveyors tape. As I drove by, I saw my neighbors mailbox, only to realize it is the same address! The county assigned my neighbors address to my property! LOL....I told them originally that it would be 1627 or 1629, so they assign 1631 which is already assigned. Not sure what that is all about, but when I called my contractor last night, he just laughed...what else can we do! So...hopefully the backhoe doesnt show up and drive down her driveway and dig a few holes...lol.

1 Step Forward, 3 Steps Backward

I feel like I keep moving ahead & then backward. Between loan issues & weather, its been a rough couple of weeks. After a few minor setbacks, the loan has been moved on to another bank for approval. Now...we wait, again. They are using the same paperwork at least, so all the work I've done with MetLife wasnt a waste at all. Hopefully it will all get figured out this week.

On a better note, my contractor applied for all the permits before new years, to get the '2008' rate. He's got a guy coming today to dig the test holes for Septic & once the city/county approve, we are good to go on the permit end. Hopefully by next week, they'll be done & the loan will be secure. Once all this is done....we get to start digging! I'll be posting pics when we get to that point. Oh...& because we have permits in process...we have an address! 1629 S. Royal Street! below is what the house is supposed to look like.....


We've had lots of snow...see the pics below. Stoli loves to play in it! The roads around town are finally getting better, but where I live 'Brownes' is still a mess.

On to the last step!

Last night I received a call from Jamie at Met Life to let me know that my contractor choice & plans had been approved. So....she moved the paperwork along to get the loan approved. Within a few days, this part of the process should be complete & we should be able to break ground! I will blog again when we break ground...with pics!