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.

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....