God is Great, (Root) Beer is Good & PEOPLE ARE CRAZY!!!

In my mind I have written this post 7,856,943 times.....and I still haven't figured out a nice way to say this, so I'm trusting you to to just know that I am honestly trying to be nice.

We've been scammed. A fast-talking, big-haired woman with black lipstick and 2 inch tennis shoes took our money, made big promises & the only thing she gave us in return was a lot of heartache, headaches & complete aggravation!

Tonight during Karlee's soccer game (I'll post photos of that on my other blog tomorrow) Darren received a phone call from "Fraudulent Frieda's" boss. She has not only cost us money, but he's spent the last 3 1/2 weeks trying to get in touch with her & he's had the same amount of success as we have...ZERO!!! It's come to the point that "Frieda" has cost him so much money that he's going to have to shut down his entire business (and it's a pretty large Mortgage Brokerage with more than one office).

In the meantime, we are exactly where we were the end of May....cleared lot, a signed purchase agreement contingent upon a construction loan and a lost summer with nothing to show for our heartache & hard work.

You know what's funny though? I am extremely grateful! I am so grateful for a wonderful friend who was honest enough to give me a warning about doing business with "Frieda". (Sadly, she'd learned the hard way herself). I'm so grateful that all of this happened BEFORE we got into the process of building and trying to finalize loans & such. Can you imagine?!!!! I'm so grateful for sweet & patient people. And most of all, I'm so grateful for a Heavenly Father who has blessed us during this whole thing. I've been more patient and optimistic thoughout this entire thing than I ever thought possible. I've been blessed with a happy outlook and a calm feeling inside that "everything will work out".

It's been hard, I won't lie. For *YEARS* I have invested time, energy, prayers, hope and a lot of hard work into creating the house of our dreams. (Thus the title of the blog). It's made me angry that one person could be the wrecking ball of so many hopes & dreams. We aren't the only ones she has done this to. And I'm furious about that. Fortunatly we didn't loose very much moola, but I'm afraid to think about what others have lost. We're ok, I hope others will be too. We do have some other options, but, like so many who trying to get a construction loan after the big collapse of the housing market last fall, it's hard. A lot of banks want 40% cash down! Who has that kind of cash?! Uhm, not us. We'll figure it out.....in the meantime....raise a toast to honest people out there. There's got to be a few good ones out there. (Just stay away from a place that rhymes with "rElk fRidge eFinancial" & a crazy chick named "sKathy".) In the meantime, hope you don't mind if I start singing my own version of that good ol' Hank Williams Song "There's a Tear in my (Root)Beer...."! ha ha

Patience is.....

they say it's a virtue, but I'm pretty much over it & just going to say it's OVER-RATED! ha ha

I hated to put this on here for fear of sounding like a big ol' whiney butt, but this is part of the journey so I'm documenting it. *STOMP* ha ha

We've been told "this week" for several weeks now & I'm pretty frustrated. We're still waiting to close on our construction loan. We can't do a single thing until this is finalized.

While we've tried to make the most of this interim by gathering bids, clearing & mowing the land (I'll add a few extra photos a little later) & trying really hard to be patient. Right now, I'm just not feelin' the love. We *NEED* to be finished/moved in by the end of December in order to take advantage of that $8000 tax credit for new homeowners. I'm just feeling like we're now 2 months behind schedule.

Ok, fine, rant over, I'll go get some dishes done while I hope & dream of a brand new kitchen WITH A DISHWASHER! *smiles*

While I'm doing that, leave me a little feedback love & tell me what you love about your kitchen or wish you had in your kitchen.

Survey Says....

So rumor has it that you can't just call somebody & order up a house like you can a Big Mac & Fries....you have to know things like elevation, drops and slopes so that you don't walk uphill in your basement & have things slide off cabinets and shelves in the pantry or fall off toilets when you're taking care of business! (YIKES!!!) So the other night Mr. SmartDude Daddy taught us a surveying lesson.

Karlee had her assignment (holding the survey rod) and I had mine (writing down the measurements & taking photos---documentation I tell you, documentation! hee hee)

So he looked this way (West).......

and experienced the pretty little summertime view that I'll be having next summer out my front door.

And then SmartDude Daddy did some of this....he does a lot of this, and in fact, I like it when he does this because I know all sorts of very interesting things are happening in that nicely bronzed noggin of his.....
And then things start to fall into place and I see 2 of my favorite things....that determined look that tells me while he was thinking he got his information and now he's moving forward in that direction. I love a determined man! (As long as it doesn't interfere with the direction I'm going or want him to go! hee hee)...

And that hand--- in that shape! It's a personal thing that I don't expect anyone else to understand, but when we were first married and he would hold his hand like this to keep his wedding band from falling off of his skinny little fingers & I loved that he was trying to safeguard this symbol of love & committment. I love that he has continued to value our marriage in that same way. I love this man!

(I know, I'm gushing WAAAAY too much WAAAAY too early, but I'm an old woman now, so you have to indulge me on my birthday! hee hee)

And he saw this beautiful Eastern view I will have first thing in the morning! Lovin' on those mountains. Sure wish all of those little trees in the foreground could stay, but that's where my bedroom will be.

So all of this talk and all of this looking got Karlee aka "Rodgirl" completely bored! So she chewed on a little rye & practiced up for the watermelon seed spitting contest that sometimes happens at family reunions and such.....

And she studied the houseplans a bit. Every once in awhile I noticed that she seemed to be VERY intent on something at the bottom of the plans and she'd zoom in really close to look at it.....Now this is where my ego took over because I'm thinking that since I did the plans she must really be loving how I did her bedroom which is near the bottom of those plans .....My heart began to swell with deep pride..."Oh, that's my girl! You like it! You appreciate me! Oh Thank you my darling!...."

But you know what they say about pride going before the fall.....

MY HEART FALLS! WAIT!!! That sneaky bugger! She's not studying plans at all! She's doing what teenage girls do at 14 years old when they're bored.....

TEXTING! SHE WAS TEXTING!!!!!

SHE WAS SO BUSTED!!!!!!

And OH YEAH! She totally doesn't care! Look at that grin...that beautiful grin! Dang! She's cute....but she's got work to do! Put that cellphone away Rodgirl....you need to pay attention!

Because you never know when you're gonna get trapped behind an electric fence & need that SweetDaddyDude to come & rescue you!

Ok.....next.....It's my birthday & we are going to celebrate by checking out some sweet cabinets & a little lunch at Macaroni Grill! *SLURP*

How Neighborly of You!

For the last week, every extra minute that Darren's had he's been doing this:

Digging up old cedar posts! There were about 60 of them! It's very, very hard work.....

First you have to dig around it & wiggle it a bit....

And then you have to hug it and tell it good-bye....

NO! Of course not....you throw a choke hold on it & you try & yank it out of the ground...

But these old posts have been here longer than we have been here on Earth & they're stubborn...They want to stay here! So you have to use "creative leverage" with your shovel....

And sometimes you have to get REAL creative & use your......well, let's just say that Darren wants it on record that he's using his head and his butt, but they are not one and the same! hee hee (And yes, honey, I agree!)....
But Alas! SUCCESS!! LOOK at that "Root"....ok, I know it's not really a root, but what do you call it?!

After all this hard work, I'll bet you just want a good cold drink, huh? Well, bad news....this doesn't work anymore! But....

GOOD NEWS!!!! REINFORCEMENTS!!!!

Our great neighbor, Mike B. notices that we are pulling posts and offers to bring his backhoe over and pull them out with a chain on that bucket...



And Even Better News, He brought his strong young sons! Oh, they were Awesome! Thanks Robert & Paul!

And *THIS* strapping young son of mine is VERY excited because that means less time out in the weeds that make his eyes go puffy & his nose run & his body feel all sorts of yucky!

Seriously though: What this all translated into is this: What that backhoe (and helpers) did in 10 minutes saved at least 5 hours of HARD labor! I'll be making cookies or brownies for them VERY SOON! Thanks again Neighbor!

A Photo Finish?

Last week we started clearing the land in preparation for excavation & cement working. Carson & Darren started hauling old barnwood boards, logs, and fences. (6 truckloads!!!) They started early in the morning and tromped thru waistdeep grass in some areas. I assumed the role of "The Documentor". I took photo after photo of the two of them working together & some of them were really good. Particularly one where Darren had one end of a large beam & Carson had the other. Carson had this look of sweet responsibility and Darren looked so proud to be working along side of his son.

Now I'm sure you're thinking..."Just show us the dang picture, Melz & we'll figure it out."

But I can't. It's gone. I'm in mourning over the loss of all of those beautiful morning shots. *sniff sniff* Apparently my BRAND NEW memory card for my brand new (to me) camera was corrupt & I lost all of the photos! *SOB SOB*

So here's my point & why I tell you this story: I want to show you photos, really I do. My whole purpose of getting the camera was to DOCUMENT this journey...WITH PHOTOS! My new replacement card should be here today or tomorrow & I will take lots n lots of photos for you, I promise.

So, what do you want to see?! (Appropriate answers only please....I simply refuse to pose for another photo wearing my polkadot bikini! hee hee).

Houston....Address Unknown

So when we first took this big ol' leap of faith we made a decision that we weren't going to do it with eyes clamped shut, we were going to keep them wide open looking for alligators, snakes & rats that could bite us in the tushies when we landed. We also were on the lookout for branches, rings or anything else we could snatch onto in case we needed to create a pause in our big ol' leap.

So the other day we heard some pretty scary warnings about a pretty major player in this "Build a House" game. We decided to call a time out and approach the mound, ask a few questions & either proceed in the same direction or call out a different player to replace them.

Yesterday we approached this player. Honestly, I was a bit scared to do this (I hate confrontation, what if there's screaming involved, or hitting or spitting or worse!-NO MORE HOUSE DREAM!). But I had a secret weapon....a silent partner....a brilliant strategist who knows his stuff---my hubby! He approached it like a pro, asked intelligent questions, asked for documentations & all things necessary for him to review the situation & make a decision.

And that's where we are now....We are reviewing. (Perhaps I need to review my overuse, misuse & the appropriate meshing of metaphors while I'm at it! hee hee) We are making a decision & we are proceeding with the next phase....Bid Gathering!

We hope to close on the construction loan by next Friday & then to celebrate....
We're gonna dig a BIG HOLE & pour some cement in it! YAY!!!!!

Please Contain Your Excitement! No Really, Please Do...

Last night I attended Carson's school program, it was cute, it was musical & the kids were darling...especially mine, but I digress & I don't want to make you feel bad because your kid couldn't do those fancy dance moves like mine did so I'll move on....*grins*

So, as we were leaving some guy comes up behind me, leans over my shoulder & whispers in my ear

"I'm so excited!"

I jerked around, really grossed out & completely freaked out & trying not to have a fist-throwing or expletive-flying meltdown (those apparently are reserved for overaged cleavage-baring glitter queens & I'm not one of them!). As I am trying to figure out who thought it was ok to invade my personal space in such a....well.....in such a personal way, the man rattles on.....

"I talked to your husband today & heard you're building a house & I'm so excited for you guys. That's so neat & I'm so excited......"

Ok, I thought, thanks....but next time, please try & contain yourself. Or at least refrain from sharing that excitement in such an inappropriate way. It completely freaked me out & you almost learned first hand (or elbow, foot or knee) how UNEXCITED I was about the whole ear whispering deal. I'm still sick to my stomach & trying not to vomit. (or hit you, kick you, or rearrange the order of your facial features!)

Back to your regulaly scheduled wait for the blog I will post about Houston, and a problem we are hoping we don't have there.

Once Upon a Houseplan....

Several years ago my SIL decided to build a new house. She was using "this cool program" to design it. After getting my paws on it & playing around with it, I fell in love. I learned how to draw walls, insert windows, doors & even cabinetry. I learned how to use the 3-D camera effect and actually see what my newly designed room looked like! It was the coolest thing I'd ever seen & before long I was dedicating hours and hours to designing my dream home.

I went through several different plans, changing things here, adding and subtracting floors and rooms there. In looking back, it's interesting to see how my tastes have evolved. In the beginning, I was ADAMANT about having a 2 story house. I envisioned gazing out of an upstairs window at the vast landscapes before me. I dreamed of prom photos and wedding portraits of Karlee taken on a long, sweeping staircase. And then reality set in. We weren't spring chickens anymore. We were getting older & I needed to get wiser. I needed to listen to Darren. So, I scrapped the upstairs loft and started creating main floor master suites that would be kinder in my geriatric years.

One thing that never changed was the location. We began talks with our current landlord nearly immediately after designing the house. She wasn't ready, we needed to secure financing. Needless to say, it took a little longer than we anticipated. Finally, last Friday we came to an agreement. Yesterday when we received the signed purchase agreement I breathed a sigh of relief that that hurdle had been cleared.

Planning & Zoning approved our plans last night & tonight the town council will have the same opportunity.

So our plans are good.....but you know what they say about all good plans....

One phone call this morning the warning bell sounds & panic begins....."Houston, we have a problem." Stay Tuned....

Constructing Our Dream House

We are about to embark on a journey we have been wanting to take for years---that of building a new home! It's already been one involving several emotional roller coasters & frayed nerve endings & I'm sure that there are many more to follow. But through it all, I've decided to document the process so hold on tight & pray for a safe journey.