Appointment Scheduled

So we have our appointment scheduled to have an in home meeting with our Adoption Specialist, Diana, on July 15. That means we won't be able to start the required classes until September, so there will be a lot of just waiting around.

I also let my mom know about what we wanted to do. At first she was confused and disappointed, but she called me back a few days later to let us know that she "let is sink in and that she's excited and happy." She even requested a "girl" grand-daughter, LOL.

Anyways, we kinda have a "what ever happens, happens" attitude lately about the trying to conceive. We're not so much stressed about the insurance thing anymore because it's figured out now. I have been making a conscientious effort to eat better and get in at lease SOME exercise everyday. I'm debating to do South Beach induction in order to get a jump start on eating better and a little weight loss. I figure dropping 20lbs would greatly improve things for me physically. For now, I've been eating A LOT of fruits and watching proccessed foods. Also been trying to drink more water, which is harder than I thought.

So we just got back from the Foster Care and Adoption Orientation. Lots of information, but not much that I didn't already research.

On a quick side note: On both the website AND the paperwork the sent in the mail, they say the meetings are for Adults ONLY. Mostly because its a 2 hour long meeting and its boring....so anyways, this family brought both kids and the baby was LOUD and they had to sit behind us. It was a small group, probably 25 people attended. Anyways the baby was cooing and giggling and crying the whole time...Normally, I would suspect, people take the kid outside so not to disturb the rest of the group. EVERYONE was annoyed because they were missing out on important information. Finally, I had to raise my hand and ask the speaker to talk louder because I could hear her...and I was only 3 rows back.. that's when the lady finally took the baby outside.. I felt bad being annoyed by the kid, but I was there to learn and I couldn't hear. =(

Anyhoo...The next step is to contact and interview adoption agencies and pick one we want to work with. We got a whole list of them tonight. I read through the descriptions and looked at the websites. I emailed 2 of them this evening, so hopefully I will hear back soon and we can get this part done by this week or next week. I will have even MORE information then.

Thinking more about adoption

Alan and I have spent a lot of time thinking about how we want to build our family and we've been thinking more and more about adoption. There are MANY reasons why we want to adopt. Go to http://www.heartgalleryofamerica.com and you will see part of the reason. The short of it is, that we are ready to start a family, but we're not quite ready to get pregnant. We're ready to share our home, build memories and bond with a child - our child. We are prepared to love a child and raise them as they were our own. We have not taken this lightly and are well aware of what is involved. It's going to be a long exciting, and stressful process just to be eligible to have a child placed in our home. Not to mention the emotional process of bonding and attaching and helping the child to transition into our lives.

As our family grows we want to have adopted and biological children at home, as well a (manageable) menagerie of pets. These are exciting thoughts for me.

On Tuesday, we will take our first step forward with the process by attending an orientation for prospective foster and adoptive parents. I think going to this orientation will give is a lot better idea of what we are getting into (more than just the books I've read and websites I've visited) and we will know for sure if we want to go forward.

We'll keep you posted...

Rant

**Warning: My frustration my offend some who might read this. Sorry***

So Alan got his benefits package yesterday. I was excited because it means I get health insurance and I can take the whole baby thing more seriously. umm....I might have to re-think that. Seriously, I was shocked at the premium prices. LAST time it was an extra $250 per month to cover me, THIS time we're looking at twice that! PLUS, the deductible is $5000 a year. Say I had an uneventful pregnancy the cost is estimated around $12,000 if I paid cash. The short of it is that I would pay the same, if not more with this insurance. My work doesn't offer health insurance so I talked to the HR lady today and asked her to ask the officers if they could reconsider based on the growth of the company and how many of us need it now.

How much does a baby cost a month anyways? Also, I don't get much time off. I just get 2 weeks paid time after birth, that's not part of the regular time off. Actually, Alan might get more in paternity leave than I get of maternity leave.

I might have to re-think this giving birth stuff...there just seems to be a lot more to think about, and not just with money, but my health. I have a whole slew of risks...mostly because of my weight and Im having the hardest time getting it off this time around. I guess I'm just frustrated.

Alan and I thought about foster/adopting a kid in the next couple years if the live birth thing doesn't work out. We wouldn't want an infant, but maybe a kid between 2-5, for a few reasons. First, s/he will have cousins closer their age, I also feel more comfortable around tots, and whole insurance thing won't be such a big deal and I won't have to worry about infertility, gestational diabetes, etc. Alan's insurance will cover him and up to 10! kids for $250...add me into that and it's like paying an extra mortgage! Wofda~! I'll just get cheaper private insurance for myself.

I just want to have a kid so bad...but I just want them to come to us in the BEST possible circumstance so we can provide the best for them. On a selfish note, I think Im scared of the change a baby brings, even though I know I shouldn't be.

More updates.

Overall everything is going good. My mom was serious about moving down here, but then found out Arizona hospitals that do acute dialysis do not accept LPNs, only RNs. That is Seriously whack!!! Mom has 20 years experience as a dialysis nurse! Too bad after a certain amount of years nursing, you can't just get "promoted" to RN. She's 50 and doesn't feel comfortable going back to college....and it's not like you can study to be an RN online--you have to go through clinicals.

Mom can work in a clinic setting, but she finds that boring and unsatisfying. So their looking in San Antonio, Texas instead.

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Last weekend we took an impromptu roadtrip to San Francisco. We left at 1AM on Saturday morning and got there about 2pm. We stayed until Monday morning. Below are some pictures.


San Fransico cable car depot.

The Embarcadero. The main place where ships come in.

Golden Gate bridge.

Us in front of the Golden Gate bridge...it was COLD and cloudy!

Downtown San Fransisco.

We also went to Chinatown...but oddly enough, we forgot to take pictures. We were too busy eating! LOL

Mom came to visit

...and when she left I cried. Wow, I didn't realize that I would miss her that much! Mom said that they are planning to move out here within the next year...the major block is that they have to sell their upscale suburban home first. She's worried about that because, 1. They haven't really made any "improvements" to it. Its just generic. 2. They have opened a new subdivision in the neighborhood behind her, so she has to compete with new builds and 3. There are already 4 houses in their neighborhood for sale.

I told her to go ahead and put their house on the market now, while it's still spring/summer for a better chance to sell their house. She and I agreed that if they sold it faster than they thought, it would be relatively easy to move down here. The good news is that both of their jobs can do a transfer.

On our end, we're still doing Home improvements. We just have to finish with the tile and we'll be done. We couldn't get that done with my mom here, and Alan will be camping with family next weekend. So it may be a few more weeks before I want other people coming to see it.

Not a whole lot of news right now. Alan and I are trying to plan a vacation later this summer/fall...some place outside the country perhaps?

Updates

1. signed closing papers on Friday
2. bought a fridge
3. bought a kitchen table
4. finalizing tile decisions
5. bought a truck so we can haul our own stuff
6. transferred all utilities
7. scheduled A/C repair
8. scheduled all appliance deliveries
9. scheduled locksmith to re-key the house
10. packing up our stuff in the other house

Now...we're just waiting on the keys. As of yesterday the sellers haven't signed yet. =( They're slowing down the process. Hopefully today we will get the keys.

No news is.....

Man, we're supposed to move next week and here I sit on Tuesday we NO word on what's going on with the paperwork! We don't even have a dollar amount to what we are supposed to bring to closing...which REALLY annoys Alan.

I MIGHT be over reacting to early, LOL, but I feel like we're in limbo. I just want to solidify our plans, call service people, buy appliances and schedule deliveries, schedule days off, etc.

So we're closing 2 weeks from today. Why does the process have to take so long? Right now the ball is in the Lendor and Seller's court, so all we have to do is wait. Waiting is hard! The good news is that we will be closing 2 weeks from tomorrow. After that, we'll probably take a few days off to do pre-move in projects and to move. Before moving, we want to lay tile in the kitchen. Alan wants to do it himself, though I am not sure if he has made any calls to recruit help yet. The A/C needs repair, cable and untilities installed and a thorough cleaning.

We will be giving our notice to our landlord tomorrow when we pay him the last rent. I don't think he will be happy...its weird because he's been emailing me ALOT of articles about how its not the best time to buy just yet. Of course its his own poragative because he's loosing steady income when we move and then he has to find a new renter. But honestly, I am so ready to move.

Almost ours....

So here it is...we just locked in our interest rate...4.5%! Yeah! The inspections went smooth. We have some repairs we need to make on the A/C, but nothing too serious. Hopefully, we will have some money left over for some tile I want to put in the kitchen and hallway. We also want to paint...all the walls are white.



Many of you have been waiting for pictures, so here are a few. I included the floor plan and the numbers represent where the picture was taken from, so you kind of know what you're looking at.1. The Kitchen.
2. The Formal Dining room/Living room


3. The Entry way.


4. Cabinet Details....I love my cabinets!



5. Back Patio

6. Jacuzzi Bathtub! Can't wait to soak in that!

7. The Hallway

So that's it! We're closing on 4/17/09....in just over one month!

Offer Accepted

So, YEAY! We got an offer accepted on Choice 2! We will be signing a contract in the next few days and FINALLY be in escrow.

We have not heard ANYTHING back on the other 2 houses. They are short sales. Yeah, I've heard bad things about the "short sale" process and only 1 in 5 actually gets the house they put an offer in. This happens because 1. the bank takes FOREVER, up to 6 months, so people usually move on by then and 2. you never know if your offer is good enough, because the listing agent does not usually list the house at the bank approved price, the list for lower to get more offers in. It's been a hassle just trying to get the offer in. We put in the offer 3 weeks ago and haven't heard a peep since. We actually thought since house #1 was set to go into forclosure 2/23, they would move faster, but that has not been the case. It's like in limbo. Anyways, if, by some miracle, we get acceptance on house #1 in the next few days, we have also moved on. =P

But that's okay...we really like this house. I can't wait to get into it, paint it, furnish it and make it uniquely ours.

My mom's all excited and is going to fly out on my birthday to come visit.

A weekend NOT looking at houses....

Okay, so far we've narrowed down to three...meaning we have 3 offers out on the table. Two off them are short sales and the other is a foreclosure. Because these are short sales it takes a long time to hear back from the bank to see if our offer was approved, we've decided to put in two offers.

This is the main house we're hoping for. Its 1,900 sqft, 3 bed, 2 bath plus den. It's a former model home, so everything is upgraded. Has a nice front porch with a fountain. The backyard is finished with a built in BBQ. Its move in ready. We put in our "best offer" last week, so hopefully we'll hear something back soon.




Here is our second choice. It's a foreclosure. It is also over 1,900 sqft with an open floor plan. It has vaulted ceilings, huge master bedroom and bath with a jetted tub. The back yard is relatively large. It's unfinished but has lots of potential. Again, the kitchen is upgraded and it has 4 bedrooms. We would have to put little work into this home to make it "perfect", but the price was definitely right and it is move in ready.


Here is the third house. Also plenty of upgrades, 3 bed, 2 bath, no den, so it's smaller than the first 2 houses at 1,720 sqft. Nice corner lot, the backyard is completely landscaped with a built in BBQ.

Pre- Approved!!

We were easily pre-approved for exactly what we were asking for. Now the fun starts!! They even E-mailed me the pre-approval letter to print out, so we're all set and can make an offer on any house at any time! I am SO excited! This weekend we are looking at houses. It looks like we might be able to get into our first home by my birthday in April.

This is awesome!

Starting the house hunt

It's like the stars are finally aligning or something!
My first contact with our Realtor today, over the phone. Got some excellent info from her today, as well as some names of mortgage lenders (whom we will be calling next week). We are meeting up with her next weekend to actually look at houses!

We're going to be looking in a few areas. See green areas on map below. The D and A are where we work. But we're going to keep things open incase our Realtor knows of a Gem of a neighborhood.

There are certainly a lot of good deals right now, so I don't think Alan and I will have any troubles finding a house we love.

**does good credit dance**

Wow...for the longest time, I thought I had bad credit...well, I probably did. Alan and I were starting to stress because we wanted to buy a house soon, but with the higher standards for lending, we thought we had a lot of work to do to boost the credit. We wanted to buy before June so we can get the tax credit.

Anyways, Alan got his report and score last week. After a bit of whining about MY score (I signed up for the credit monitoring and they have a "score"), we finally just paid the $$ to get my Official FICO score from Equifax. 673...I was flabbergasted. That's in the "Good" range...most importantly, that in the "I can qualify for a house" range! We ran the other 2 credit bureaus to make sure it was not a fluke...and it wasn't!

The next step is getting in touch with a mortgage broker. My co-worker's friend is a mortgage broker that works with FHA loans, so we will be talking with him soon. Our main concern is the difference in credit scores. We expect Alan's to be a lot better in a few months and mine would continue to raise if I pay down some things. If I can boost a few more points, that means lower interest rate. Im sure talking with him and getting information will put our minds at ease....and we could possibly be in a our own home sooner that we think!

MixedUpMarbles update

EDIT: Sorry Guys the original email was incorrect. Its "Forum" not "forums". My bad! I updated the link on this blog.
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Hey guys,

Due to a technical issue (Cox blocks port 80) I've had to create a temporary workaround to get to our website. This is only temporary and within a few days it should be working normally, but in the meantime, to get to the website you need to use the following address : http://forum.mixedupmarbles.com:8080

When you register and go to log in (or any time you log in after being logged out), the :8080 part will go away and you'll have to re-add it. However, once you are logged in, you don't have to keep re-adding it as it should be automatically added by the server. Worst case scenario, just use the above link and you'll get back to the main page.

I'll inform everyone when the DNS issue is fixed and there's no need to use the 8080 any longer.

So...in a nutshell
1. Go to http://forum.mixedupmarbles.com:8080
2. You should be able to register without any issue.
3. Next log in with your username/password and click on the log in button.
4. The page will show up blank, but thats okay, just go back to http://forum.mixedupmarbles.com:8080. It will put you on the index page, but you will be logged in and ready to view and post. You should not have to do the 8080 thing anymore during your visit.

Thanks!

Server down..

Looks like the server or something went down or something. BUMMER!

The cat probably chewed through a the internet cable or something. = ( Sorry about that! Anyways, Alan will fix it when he gets home, not much we can do about it during the day.

We'll get it up soon and it'll be fabulous!

Family Forum is back!

www.mixedupmarbles.com

As of Early morning 1/4/2009, the family forum is up and running! Alan and I made a project of it this weekend. We're even hosting it on our own server...so any problems and we can point straight to Alan, LOL/JK.

All friends and family are welcome with open arms! Spread the word.

I can't figure out....

how to get those really cool blog skins that my Sister-in-laws and other people have. Anyone want to enlighten me?