A mess of thanks

Oh man, these photos make my heart go pitter-patter.  This series of photos was probably from around January of this year.  I thought, hmm, maybe today, I'll post up another blog.. I mean its only been about a month.. hashtag winning. HA. And as I was sorting through a previously written post, I saw these photos at the very end. I decided they  needed a post of their own.

Its funny, how God times things.  We've officially been in our house now for 3 1/2 weeks. Everyone has said to me, Oh you must be SO excited to have your own space! You must LOVE it. And I do! It's been so nice. But the type A person in me really has been struggling. Right after we moved in, we had start working on the backyard, which meant that while the main areas are mostly set up, there are still LOTS and lots of boxes and clutter and disorganization everywhere. I was very honest with myself. I knew that it would take me probably a few months for me to really enjoy my home. So I'm not really surprised that I feel anxious and unsettled. It just takes time. And we've been so busy that I am barely doing what I can to manage just the day to day stuff! Like washing dishes and making sure we have enough clean underwear. I finally cleaned the bathrooms last weekend, because they were just nast. But in general, my house is not spotless, and I get that that is just where we are right now. But from time to time, its overwhelming. And also now that I have a child in my own house, I want to enjoy him and play with him in the evenings, rather than do dishes.

So, finding these photos today was the perfect does of gratefulness and warm-fuzzies that God knew I needed. This room, where these photos took place, is now my bedroom. MY bedroom, and MY bathroom. And they are not only functional, but they are pretty! And nice, even with all the clutter and boxes everywhere. I am thankful for this messy, unkempt place. With dirt and dog hair, and food crumbs and toys everywhere. I REALLY pray that this feeling of thankfulness lasts.

This set of black and white are my FAVE. Once things settle down a bit, I WILL print them and hang them!!

The Journey to our House, part 2

Just tuning in? Read part 1 here! Also, enjoy the unrelated pictures of Will drinking a smoothie :)

I gathered boxes, and slowly began packing up the things that we didn't use everyday, like extra bedding and mementos.  We tried to get rid of as much stuff as we could.  I started to look at pricing for a storage unit.  HOLY COW they are expensive!  We knew we would need one for at least a year, and since we were packing up pretty much our entire house, we'd need a decent size one.  We got a few estimates that were around $300, and knew we had to get more creative.

We researched some other options, and ultimately decided to purchase a sea container.  We got the idea from Rich's uncle, who stores his on some vacant property that he owns in town.  It cost us about $1800 to buy the container, have it painted, have vents installed, and have it delivered.  There is more than enough room for our stuff, and the benefits of owning one is that we could sell it for easily half of what we paid.  This saved us thousands of dollars, especially since we ended up being at his parents house for longer than we thought.


We moved all of our stuff out of our house and into the sea container, and my in-laws house the weekend of Easter 2012. We spent a couple of months cleaning the house, painting, installing new carpet, and fixing up things to get it ready to rent.  I used Craigslist to list our property, and it worked out great.  I think we had about 5 people look at it, and 3 submitted applications before we found the people who rent our home currently. Finding the right people takes time!  My advice is to go with your gut. If you feel like something is slightly off, be patient until you find the right tenants.  There are a lot of laws that protect tenants in California, and you don't want to deal with bad tenants for a year.  We originally wanted to rent our house by June, but we found the perfect tenants who couldn't start the lease until July.  We wanted a at least a one year contract, and this family wanted a two year contract.  They signed the contract without having physically walked through the house. And they have been GREAT tenants.  We love them! They are kind, take care of our home, and keep in touch with us.  We are SO thankful for them.



Fast forward a little over a year to the summer of 2013.  We hadn't quite saved up everything we needed, but we decided to start our house hunt because these things take time.  We were looking for something that was at least 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, some land, extra parking, no HOA, close to the freeway, and in a good school district. We knew that we were looking for a fixer-upper; we couldn't afford anything turn-key.

We looked at LOTS of listings, visited a couple of houses that had potential. In August, a house came on the market that really piqued our interest.  It was just a couple miles from our in-laws, close to the freeway, in a decent school district. It was a cute little blue house with white trim on a quarter of an acre, and had a mature oak tree in the backyard.  The listing said the house was built in the 1950's, was three bedrooms, one and a half bath, hardwood floor, decent kitchen, and hooked up to sewer.  The house had amazing natural light, with windows everywhere. and deck in the front and back of the house.  There was space to run around. And one of the best things about this house? Rich's brother's family, and some friends of ours, lived right across the street. I remember going to look a the house, and getting kind of excited, thinking about dinners and block parties, and lots of kids playing.

After we walked through the house, we sat in the car with Rich's dad and our realtor, Tom, and brainstormed how we could make the house work.  There didn't seem to be much renovations that needed to be done right away, so we could move in, live in it and save more money, and then make the additions we wanted. The room they had listed as the third bedroom wasn't really a third bedroom.  It wasn't tall enough, and there were some pretty steep stairs leading down into the room.  We thought we could easily use that as a home office, a playroom, or a kids room, but we would have to rework the stairs.  We wanted to add another bathroom, and we wanted to add a real master bedroom. The house was listed at the top of our budget. In our car brain-storm sesh, we decided to put an offer in at asking for the house.  We thought it might go quick. I think it was a Friday. Within the contract, we asked that the seller cover any repairs due to termite damage. We went home and continued to think about how we could add onto the house to make it work for what we wanted.


Here's where things start to get a little weird. By Monday, we found out they had accepted our offer, but it was contingent on the tenants moving out at the end of September. The turn around for acceptance of an offer isn't that quick, usually. Why didn't they wait to get other offers? Was something wrong with the house? We scheduled an appraisal of the house and an inspection right away.  If something was wrong with the house, they'd find it, right? That same week, we had an inspector come to the house to check it out. That also gave us another chance to really look in, under, and on top of the house.  Rich walked the house with him.

The appraisal came out great.  It appraised for $35,000 more than the asking price.  This was promising, but also caused us to question, again, why they were selling it for less than that, and why they took our offer so quickly if they could have gotten more money for it.

There were a couple of things that came out of the inspection report. 1. At some point, years and years ago, there was a house fire near where the fireplace was. There was visible charring from smoke damage  both under the house and up in the attic.  All of the damaged wood had been re-supported with new beams.  The inspector told us that in its current condition, the fireplace wasn't safe to hold fires.  We were okay with that, because it was right on the floor (no real hearth) and we probably wouldn't have a real wood fire in there because of William. Everything else related to the fire had been addressed and the house was safe from that aspect. 2. The wiring in the house was all messed up.  It was old, with a couple different panels, and it needed to be re-done. Not a problem for us because Rich is an electrician. 3. Some minor termite damage.  Very typical, and we could work with that. 4. Minor things like leaky faucet, and some ducting that should be replaced from the water heater that could be a fire hazard. Also, the jacuzzi tub hooked up underneath the house by an extension cord, when it really should have its own dedicated outlet.   So there were somethings that could be fixed, but certainly nothing substantial.  We were cautious, but still felt like the house had potential.

About two weeks later, we received the disclosure reports from the owner.  If you are not familiar with this document, by law, the owner is to disclose to the potential buyer the condition of the house.  It should include anything that they know is faulty, down to cracks in the walls, as well as anything that has been replaced or updated. If something like mold or dry rot was not disclosed, and we could prove that the owner had knowledge of it, and we went ahead and purchased the house and then had to deal with said mold, we could legally go after the previous owners for the damages. It is in the best interest of the seller to be VERY descriptive on that report. Oddly, the ONLY thing our seller had listed on there was that they had replaced the AC unit. Literally nothing else. Again, weird.  They should have listed that there was a house fire.  Additionally, from the previous listing, we knew that the house originally had a fire burning stove in the dining room area, which was no longer in the house. That should also have been listed.  These were red flags, but they left us confused, because it really left them in a bad position, not necessarily us. Tom pointed those things out to the selling agent, and asked about them, but the other agent stuck to his guns and said nothing else. We discussed it, and decided to keep moving forward.  We were still, however, very cautious.

In late August, we submitted our request for repair.  We listed EVERYTHING we could, knowing that they wouldn't fix the larger things, like the electrical, but hoping they would agree to do some things.  Just like we expected, they turned down most of our requests, except for  a few things, like replacing the ducting on the hot water heater, adding a dedicated outlet for the jacuzzi tub, servicing the AC unit, and a couple of other things. We also had a bid for termite repairs that we submitted to the seller, which they already agreed to do when they first accepted our offer and signed the contract.

Almost immediately, the selling agent came back to us, questioning the termite repairs (there were repairs needed on both decks, and the eaves of the house).  He claimed that they never agreed to cover the termite repairs. Tom politely pointed out that it was already agreed to when they signed the contract initially.  They had to cover it.  The agent made a huge mistake there with the seller by not reading the contract fully! The bid we received was for close to $8,000.  There were a some problem areas, and the house needed to be tented.  There was also wood that needed to be replaced on the deck.  The seller decided to get a second opinion, and wouldn't you know, their bid was only $2,000! Red flag. Still, we stuck it out.

A few weeks before we were supposed to close, we went to church, like we always do.  That morning, the choir sang "Great is thy Faithfulness."

Great is Thy faithfulness
Great is Thy faithfulness
Morning by morning, new mercies I see
All I hath needed, Thy hand hath provided
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto thee

As I sang along, I couldn't help but feel it deep in my bones. I tried to coach myself early on, and prayed a lot the beginning to not become emotionally attached to anything we saw.. but fully expecting myself to do that. That's my deal. I'm emotional, and I'm a planner, and with that comes the projection.  Imagining what life would be like in each home. I would imagine parties, and get togethers, and how dinners after work would go down. Playing in the yard, and envisioning our kids running around, and picnics in the front yard, and getting ready for school, and growing up. But this time, it was different.  I could totally imagine what life would be like in that house, but I was really completely surprised at how unemotional I was towards the home.  I felt at peace, and like my heart was protected. I sang that song on that Sunday, and found myself humming it at random times of the day throughout the rest of the escrow process. I knew that God had a plan for us, and that He would be faithful to us, whatever house we were able to buy.


Rich, Tom, and I were all pretty wary about the house. Well, not really about the house, but at the interactions with the selling agent, and how they handled the process. We felt like they were hiding things from us, but from what we could tell from all of our inspections, there wasn't anything too concerning regarding the house. It seemed like the owner wanted out, and quick. There was something off.

The seller agreed to give us $2,000 credit to cover the termite damage (not the $8,000 we had a bid for). They also provided us with the invoice for the handy-man who fixed the handful of things we agreed upon, as well as the invoice from the AC company that serviced the unit. We found out that the tenants were planning on leaving before Sept 30th, as they had bought a house.  Great news to us, because you just never know with tenants. We set a date to sign all the docs for the loan, and we had provided them everything they needed.  Things seemed to be going smoothly.

Then, a few days before we were supposed to close escrow, the selling agent sent Tom an email with some documents from the septic company who they had service/pump the septic tanks. Wait. A. Second. Septic? And tanks, as in plural?! We were not afraid of owning a property with a septic tank. But septic tanks are installed based on the amount of bedrooms and bathrooms the house currently has. You also can't build over where a septic tank is in the ground.  The house had a fairly big lot, but the house was right smack dab in the middle of it. The area of the yard that we had envisioned building the addition would likely interfere with the septic system, especially with there being two.  We were pretty shocked. We wouldn't be able to build on to the house without re-doing the septic system. We asked the agent why the house was listed on sewer, and they said it was a mistake. Niiiiice.  The two tanks on the property were small, and one of the tanks was directly under where we wanted to add on. Also, the septic company could only certify one of the tanks.  The other one was so old, and they recommended it to be replaced because it was likely to back up. Grreaat.

Rich went over to the house to verify where the tanks were located. He also looked around and found some more interesting things.  Remember how they had sent us the invoice for the handy-man who was supposed to fix a bunch of little things? Yeah, well, most of them weren't actually fixed.  The jacuzzi tub was still hooked up by an extension cord.  No dedicated outlet had been installed, even though they said they had done it. The ducting on the hot water heater wasn't replaced. Awesome.

It was really easy for us to make the decision to back out of escrow.  The house clearly wasn't what we thought it was. We could still add on, but it would cost probably double what we thought originally because of the septic tank issue. I was a little bit bummed because we were excited to have our own space again, but also REALLY thankful that we found out before we finalized everything. It would have been a really big mess to find out that stuff after the fact. We found out later that when the current owner bought the house a couple of years ago, it was a foreclosure, and the bank gave the owner a large credit. It was most likely to fix the bad septic system. The owner most likely just pocketed the money, rented the house out, and then started to get complaints about the sinks backing up from the tenants.  Instead of putting the money in to fix it, they wanted to sell it.

We signed the cancellation papers, and were refunded our money. Great is thy faithfulness still played in my head, as we started looking at listings again.

The Journey to our Home, part 1

I feel like the title of this post is kinda cheesy, but I couldn't come up with anything more creative. I've never claimed to be a writer, so I'll just have to deal with it!  If you follow my Instagram, you know that my husband and I are in the process of renovating a home. Today, and in the next few weeks, I'll be sharing what that process has been like for us, starting from the very beginning.  We have changed SO much in this house.  We are getting close to being able to move in, and it just seems like its taking FORRRR EVVV VERRR (High-five for anyone who can name the movie!). Going back and writing out the process is helping me to appreciate every little step, and most of all, see God's provision through it all. 

Bear with me.  This will be a longer post than usual.  Some of these details may be boring, but I really wanted to document this so I can look back on it one day, and remember it more clearly. Also, these pictures are totally unrelated, but still ones that I love, so enjoy!

I guess this story starts with the story of us. Of Rich and I.  With some great guidance, Rich bought his first home back in August of 2008. We were just dating at the time (he proposed in November of that same year), but he was obviously thinking of settling down.  It is a great little house: two bedroom, two bath, open living room and kitchen, on a quiet street, and best of all, he could afford it.  It was a little dated, but none-the-less, it was a great home. One that we could see ourselves living in for a long time, start a family in, even. But we also knew it could be a great rental house, should we decide to move on to something new.  The Lord certainly had his hand in it, because there was a LONG list of offers on this house; a full 8 ½ x 11 sheet of paper of offers.  And his was certainly not the highest, nor a cash offer. But, his offer won, also with the help of our amazing realtor, and the house was his.

We married in July of 2009, and lived in the house a few years.  Along the way we made some changes.  We added another room, and replaced all the windows, laid tile in all the common areas, replaced the carpet in the bedrooms, rebuilt the patio covers, and put new stone on the fireplace.

 I love that little house.  We have so many memories from our first years of marriage there. It was the first place I was able to make my OWN.  I became a wife in that home. We held dinner parties, had late night convos with friends and family, and made some big decisions together in that home. We found out we were pregnant in that home.

I didn’t move much growing up.  We lived in San Diego until I was about 5, and then my parents moved into the house they still live in.  In a way, I’m thankful for that.  Though they weren’t outspoken about it, my parents were content with what they had in a home and they made it work.  They rarely did any huge changes.  To this day, my parent’s house has the original kitchen and bathrooms, and its over 20 years old. I remember seeing all these beautiful model homes or other friend’s new homes with updated kitchens, and thinking, oh wow, that’s cool! But, that was it.  I never had a desire for better.  Rich comes from a family of builders. Most of his aunts and uncles, grandparents, even family friends, have either built their homes from the ground up, or bought a home and completely gutted the inside and replaced everything. So, I blame him for all of this. J While I saw our house as our home and began to be emotionally invested in it, he always thought we would end up moving into something else.  Something better.  He cautioned me to not become emotionally invested in that house.

Over time, I started to agree with what he was telling me.  Our house didn’t have a lot of land, just a TINY side yard, which meant adding on was impossible. It was in a community with an HOA (seriously so annoying!).  Our cul-de-sac of 14 homes shared only two guest parking spots, and there was no parking on the curbs.  I always wanted to host things at our house, but that made it virtually impossible.. well that and the parking brigade who would monitor the streets and issue parking violations.  It wasn’t in a very good school district. It was far away from the freeway.  Once, I counted 23 stop lights from our house to the freeway, in just 4 miles!!!!! (Please know that we are grateful for this house! All of these things are certainly live-able.  It took me a while to even consider leaving.)

Rich had thrown the idea around about looking for a new house ever since we were married.  He joked that we could always move in with his parents.. but I knew he was only half joking.  And over time, God worked on me, because it all started to make sense to me.  We could rent our house out, move in with his parents for a little while, and save up for a down payment.  It just never seemed like the timing was right. In 2011, we took a Dave Ramsey financial class through our church.  It was amazing.  We both are pretty good with our money.  Neither of us had any debt going into our marriage.  In fact, at 25, I had never had a credit card. Crazy. The class really got us on the same page and helped us to focus on telling our money where to go, instead of never knowing where our money went.  I highly recommend that class to anyone! Anyway, after the class was over, we started talking about renting our house again. Interest rates were dropping, house prices were low, and rental prices were pretty good. 

In November of 2011, Rich and his parents talked more seriously about our idea.  Really, his parents had encouraged the idea from the beginning, but also didn’t think it was the right time. But now, everything seemed to be falling into place.  God, is this what you want us to do? I thought. It was a great opportunity, but, there were a lot of things I kept mulling around in my head….

How long would it take to reach our goal? Would we find renters?  We would be living with my in-law’s for at least a year…. Which can cause all sorts of complications.. think about it…. How many married couples move in with their parents, and their relationships are still great afterward?! What would my parents think about it?  Where does all our stuff go? All my pretty, new things we received from our wedding, to help make our house a home… packed away?


We mulled the idea over for months, and discussed it with my parents, who were supportive, before we finally made the decision with Rich's parents that we would move in with them.  We decided that we would make the move in April, and hope to have the house rented out by June.  We thought it would take us about a year to save up what we needed and to find a house. 

And then, in January, we found out we were pregnant. 

So, we reconsidered our plans once more.  We would be taking up two rooms instead of one at our parent's house. Would they be okay with that? What about when the baby came?  How would it all work out?  We sat down with Rich's parents, once again, and shared with them the amazing news of a baby coming.  They were ecstatic and completely surprised.  We talked about our plans, and ultimately, we did still want to move in with them, if they were still on board.  Now, more than ever, we could see how beneficial it would be for us to find a better home to raise a family.  They told us that having a little one would never have changed their mind, and they were excited to be apart of it all.  



So, we began packing and prepping our home for our move and for renters. 









To be continued!

Spring rolls and Chopsticks with a side of grace, please!

I think I've approached the age with Will where I can't take him out to a restaurant anymore. Last week I met up with a good friend, whom I haven't seen in quite a while. We both have had a lot of things going on in our life since we last spoke, and honestly, I really needed some girl time.  The first thing I did wrong was think that I could have an open, authentic conversation with my girlfriend while having my little around. NOT. William was all over the place.  We chose a Vietnamese restaurant for some salmon spring rolls and vermicelli.  Looking back, I think the wait staff at this mom-n-pop place were scared when they saw us sit down because they knew what would come.

The fact of the matter is you can't share your heart on the things you're struggling with when your son is reaching for the Siracha. Or when he's waving the chopsticks around like numchucks (how does he even know how to do that?!), and sticking them in the delicious peanut sauce. Or when he tries to help himself to your friend's fried rice, and his aim is not quite on par yet, so 85% of the contents of the spoon end up on the floor (I think the wait staff just LOVED that.. have you ever tried to sweep up rice?!)   Or when he throws a tantrum because mommy won't let him run about the restaurant, harassing other diners, shoe-less because he insists on kicking his flip flops off every time we sit down.

The longer we sat there, and tried to eat, the more stressed out I became. I was embarrassed that my son was acting that way, and bummed out that my friend and my convo was constantly interrupted. Knowing that I couldn't give 100% of myself to neither my friend nor my son stresses me out. I desperately wanted the time with my friend, but Will wanted my attention also.

I waived my white flag about 10 minutes after our dinner came, apologized, and told her that we just need to go back to our house and finish dinner there.  He was becoming more irrational by the minute, and I knew it wasn't going to end well if we stayed.  I hate to sound dramatic, but I felt defeated.

My friend extended such grace to me the entire time.  She tried keep Will entertained.  She let him eat her fried rice, and helped feed him. She helped me pack up my food, and she even paid for my dinner. It's silly to even feel embarrassed, because it's not like I can control him, but I did.

Once we got back to my house, we set up our dinner on the patio, so Will could play and we could eat.  Almost immediately, the stress melted away.  Will was perfectly happy dumping sand out of the sand box, and playing with the tractors, and my friend and I finished our food and conversation.

A few lessons learned.. for one, no restaurants for a while with my boy.  It's just not worth the stress. Secondly, I want to be better at spending time with my friends. I'm realizing that I am much more introverted and hermit-like than I thought I was.  I am in a stage of life that is incredibly busy, and I've fallen off the radar socially.  Time with my friends is life-giving. Also, it is so easy for me to give grace and be helpful to others, but I have a terrible time receiving it. I guess its a pride issue, that I think I should be able to do it on my own. Typically, when I see a failure, I devise a plan on how to not fail in that way again. This just makes me more self-reliant, and also sets me up for more failure, because failure is inevitable. I get nowhere. I need to recognize and admit that I will fail, and accept God-given grace, in whatever form it comes in.  That day, it was in the form of my amazing friend, who made me feel so loved and supported. I am THANKFUL for friends like her, who can see that I'm struggling, step in, and love me anyway.