Throwback Thursday!

14+ years ago! Yes, that is the same man I am married to!

Jeska

Only 2 weeks?

Has it seriously only been 2 weeks since we put in that offer and got accepted? Let me tell you, it's not been a cake walk in those 2 weeks. I see now why people complain that it's a stressful process. Granted, we didn't have our acceptance letter beforehand and that definitely would have saved a lot of time and stress. Basically, we were going the route of an Indian program. No seriously, we are Native American and we were going to go through them to help get our down payment into the loan, using banks they are in cahoots with. Only thing is Indian time runs slow, and the bank they were in cahoots with are even slower. And they apparently don't do math well. We got an offer a week after we should have, despite many calls on our end and many emails. Well, they completely left out about half of my income for 2 years because I was working 2 jobs at the time. We asked them to fix it and well... they dragged butt so we went another route. Luckily on a whim we found out the house is right outside of a city line which gives it the Rural District label and puts us in a category to go through the USDA, rural program. We barely made just under their limit, but we made it. And another good luck thing, is they are redrawing the district lines March 27th and the house would not fall into it after that. And the bank we are using (referred to by our awesome real estate agent) got the numbers right and quick to us. So now we are scrambling to get everything done so we can close before then. Wouldn't be so bad if we weren't delayed over a week due to the Indians. The inspection was yesterday and the original inspector fell through so we got one last minute and all went well. Even saved about $100. No big problems to fix, which is a good thing. So now onto the appraisal. This process is very stressful, and thankfully Steven has been on top of it because my schedule has been crazy.

And another odd thing that this 2 weeks was made long by was the fact that we didn't get our January payment until yesterday! Yes, I haven't been paid at all this year (aside from my private clients). It was for my contracts and apparently had to go before the legislature for approval for more money. OK, but that's not what dragged it out the past week and a half. They sent it to our old office, and my program manager has a PO box that they have sent it to for the past 14 years. And the Doctor that owns that office, rather than calling and telling us (we are right up the road), decided to send it back! WHAT!!! I swore that it got lost!

So, seems these past 2 weeks I have been super anxiously waiting for something the whole time. God's timing is perfect, I know, but I never know why. My nerves have been shot. Heston has been teething and moody, and Kieran was diagnosed with FLU b yesterday. Although it seems a light case. She just has fever off and on and some tiredness occasionally. I swore I thought she had strep again. So I am hoping no one else in the home gets it. We were all vaccinated, but obviously that isn't 100%. In fact I heard it's only 60% this year. But I do think it helped minimize her symptoms at least. So it was worth it in that sense.

So hopefully things start going more smoothly this week and for the next few weeks. Our lease isn't up until the end of May so we won't be in a hurry to move all in one weekend, which is nice. I hate moving. We have lived here for 5 years and I said I wasn't moving again until we bought a house. And I meant it, if I could help it.

I am tired and sorta rambling at this point. And now... onto the week!

Jeska

What have we gotten ourselves into?

It's no secret that we are wanting to buy a house this year. First one in 13+ years of marriage. We are slow to the game. I have had a real estate agent recommended by my program manager and have only really started looking. We also just recently sent in all the paperwork to get out preapproval. It hasn't even been completed yet. Last Thursday I got sent a new listing in Tontitown (same town as the Duggars) that I had to go see. The fact that it met all my criteria plus a large, almost 2 acre lot made me want to go see it. On my way home from work I drove by and took a look at the outside and the yard and fell in love. I immediately emailed my agent for a viewing hopefully on Friday, understanding it may be short notice. We scheduled it and all was good. Friday day came, along with a bunch of other work related calls on my day off. One of them was my agent saying the home already had a offer on it and asking if we were ready to make one just yet. I told her we haven't even gotten the approval letter yet. We went and looked at it reluctantly. Steven more so than I. He hates being rushed into anything. And honestly, so do I. But he agreed that it was worth a shot. The other offer made was apparently a good one, but had the stipulation they needed to sell their home first. We made a good one but with the stipulation of financing pending. Well, ours was accepted. OMG! Honestly, I prayed yesterday and my nerves were shot. I still have no clue what we are doing or if it's God's will. If it is it will happen. If not I will live. The house is not new. It's an older home but has had a lot of renovating done. Not a lot of work would need to be done to move in. The yard is spectacular and a rarity around here. It has a country feel and is more than what I was hoping for. I will be heartbroken if we don't get it just because of the yard. I am still praying for wisdom and discernment through this. Our lease isn't even up until May. Of course the process is never quick. But if all goes well it could only be 45 days, being it's an FHA loan. God be with us. We're hoping to hear back this week on financing. Could definitely use some prayers during this time.

On top of this we are still trying to do my school, Steven's National Boards test, and keep our regular jobs and be parents. It's craziness I tell you. Praying the summer will be nice and calm.

Jeska