Thursday, October 21, 2010
Get a house...get a baby! :)
Well lets see what new with us. We've been trucking along with the house we've found. The VA likes to throw stones and a few monkey wrenches into the plans which makes moving forward more difficult. In hind-sight we probably should have never went VA but at the time we thought it would be a good idea because of the 4.25% interest rate. *sigh* We've been going through this house buying process since August and it's past old and COLD. The house has been sitting for a few months just waiting and begging for us to move in. The guy that's selling it to us has allowed us to move our things into the house, but we're not allowed to live there yet. Plus we haven't heard back about the water and if it's drinkable. The septic test we got done didn't meet the VA's standards but we were never informed of what septic test we needed. You'd think they'd know these things since they've been doing loans for forever and a day and the same goes for Wells Fargo, but they don't. The day were were supposed to close it was passed our closing time (7pm) and Wells Fargo e-mails us and tells us we need a well test and a new septic test. We were beyond angry. Anyways...on a happier not...Chris got a tractor for the house and he's been out there splitting wood in anticipation of us moving it. We've got our bedroom set up a little and the living room is looking pretty good too. It has a wonderful wood burner that'll keep the house warm for most of the winter. We have a propane tank if we're not using the wood burner which should suffice for all of our heating needs. In the time we've been waiting on the closing of the house we found out that we're having a baby. I'm now 11 weeks and 1 day. Our due date is May 11th, 2011. We've already seen the baby (October 15th was the 1st ultrasound) and we'll see the baby again right before Christmas to find out the sex and the healthiness of him/her. We're really excited. We're hoping to get new carpet for the babies room as soon as we close on the house and figure out what money we have left over and then we can start moving other things in there like a crib and dresser. We're going to pick up a cradle this weekend. A man from Mercer was at the Washington County Fairgrounds for the craftshow and makes beautiful oak furniture...so I asked him he'd make the cradle. He said he knows a guy that makes cradles and he'd call us w/ the dimensions. Sure enough he called us and the cradle is oak and handmade. He's going to bring it down this weekend so we can pick it up at the fairgrounds. We're more than excited :) This weekend we're also probably going to chop wood and cut the grass and put the dishes away in the house so all we have to do when we move in is do some grocery shopping and hopefully have a full service kitchen. Life is moving right along for us. My parents (Amber) have been kind enough to let us stay this long in their house. We're basically scabs at this point, but we're really trying and really want to move out. We are newly weds and would really like to be adults and have a house of our own. You may read in a later blog how we hate being grown-ups after the hot water heater breaks or the washer or dryer goes. haha BUT right now we long for a house of our own to call OUR HOME! Soon..soon. Patience is a virtue, right? Well it's wearing thin! Another lovely thing about the house is it has 2 acres and Chris was able to put up a tree stand. Right after we got the tree stand secured to the tree we both climbed up to see the view and not even 10 minutes passed and a doe walked out of the woods. She's always there waiting for us in the front yard when we pull up...it's our own little slice of heaven. We'll post some pics on here and we'll post some later after we're in the house... decorating ideas are coming left and right! :)
Monday, August 16, 2010
August 2010
Well, we're officially living in the Miller's basement and all of our prized possessions are in a POD in Pittsburgh, PA. The downfall of living there is the lack of privacy and not having a place to call "home". The perks of living there would be paying off things, saving money, and the HOT TUB (which we've taken full advantage of). Another perk would be coming and going as we please since Rookie has 2 sets of parents. You'd think Rookie was in heaven with how he's been acting...we'll be sorry when we leave there because his behavior reflects him not having things the way HE wants them. Spiteful little dog!
AND if you haven't heard yet...We didn't get the house in McDonald and for a few reasons. It needed a new roof, a new chimney and a new furnace. It didn't have A/C which was a big downfall and it didn't have an attached garage. Another reason would be that the acerage that came with the house was in front of the house and behind the house. The neighbors on both sides owned up to about a foot away from the house..which is probably why the garage was up at the road a long walk from the house. If we have a baby...the point of the garage would be not taking the baby out into the cold and just getting in the car and going. The garage there would just be acting as a shed....especially since the structure wasn't sound and the wall of it was buckled out. The other downfall of the house was we had to buy the washer, dryer and refrigerator...so those 3 things on top of the chimney, roof and furnace were red flags. The owners were going through a divorce too and they just kept jerking us around...we had to walk. We still haven't received our hand money back even though the contract was terminated weeks ago. That waiting game continues......
Next subject: Are we buying land and building or buying a home? We really don't know. It would be ideal to buy and build to insure we get what we want. If we buy we'll get some of what we want and we'll be able to move sooner rather than living in the basement for the next 7-9 months. Decisions decisions...... we're trying to not stress out and just relax a little, and keep and open mind but that's hard to do. We've viewed some land and went to do a few drive-bys to check out the land and they haven't looked very promising. We're definitely keeping an eye out for a good bargain and property closer to both of our parents.
CHLOE! We miss Chloe! She's at the Lang's house in Greene County right now. We miss her terribly. When we had her alone for the last 2 weeks she was such a good girl. She couldn't find enough places to lay around the house and do what a puggle does best...sleep :) She was a little cuddle bug and it was almost like she knew we would have to part for a little while. Another reason we're not sure what to do about a house...we want our little family back together again. It isn't complete without Chloe. We'll just have to do some praying for now and hope that God leads us in one direction or another. We can use all the guidance we can get at this point.
This weekend we're headed to the Toby Keith concert with a group of friends. We got the cheap lawn seats in hopes we can all meet up and have a good time. If not...we have a good time no matter what we're doing so we're looking forward to a fun filled day. Trace Adkins is going to be there too....we're both ready for some sun, good food and good times :)
PS. Chris sold his motorcycle. I guess those days are over. I traded in my jewelry ... "CASH FOR GOLD". It wasn't a bad idea. It'll be worth it in the end when that money goes towards a house. Chris is hoping to get a Mustang Shelby some day... I'll have to watch for them in the newspaper and get a good idea of what's OK to pay for those kinds of things. I told him as long has we do car shows and cruise on a Sunday in it..it's ok with me. Everyone needs a hobby right? :)
AND if you haven't heard yet...We didn't get the house in McDonald and for a few reasons. It needed a new roof, a new chimney and a new furnace. It didn't have A/C which was a big downfall and it didn't have an attached garage. Another reason would be that the acerage that came with the house was in front of the house and behind the house. The neighbors on both sides owned up to about a foot away from the house..which is probably why the garage was up at the road a long walk from the house. If we have a baby...the point of the garage would be not taking the baby out into the cold and just getting in the car and going. The garage there would just be acting as a shed....especially since the structure wasn't sound and the wall of it was buckled out. The other downfall of the house was we had to buy the washer, dryer and refrigerator...so those 3 things on top of the chimney, roof and furnace were red flags. The owners were going through a divorce too and they just kept jerking us around...we had to walk. We still haven't received our hand money back even though the contract was terminated weeks ago. That waiting game continues......
Next subject: Are we buying land and building or buying a home? We really don't know. It would be ideal to buy and build to insure we get what we want. If we buy we'll get some of what we want and we'll be able to move sooner rather than living in the basement for the next 7-9 months. Decisions decisions...... we're trying to not stress out and just relax a little, and keep and open mind but that's hard to do. We've viewed some land and went to do a few drive-bys to check out the land and they haven't looked very promising. We're definitely keeping an eye out for a good bargain and property closer to both of our parents.
CHLOE! We miss Chloe! She's at the Lang's house in Greene County right now. We miss her terribly. When we had her alone for the last 2 weeks she was such a good girl. She couldn't find enough places to lay around the house and do what a puggle does best...sleep :) She was a little cuddle bug and it was almost like she knew we would have to part for a little while. Another reason we're not sure what to do about a house...we want our little family back together again. It isn't complete without Chloe. We'll just have to do some praying for now and hope that God leads us in one direction or another. We can use all the guidance we can get at this point.
This weekend we're headed to the Toby Keith concert with a group of friends. We got the cheap lawn seats in hopes we can all meet up and have a good time. If not...we have a good time no matter what we're doing so we're looking forward to a fun filled day. Trace Adkins is going to be there too....we're both ready for some sun, good food and good times :)
PS. Chris sold his motorcycle. I guess those days are over. I traded in my jewelry ... "CASH FOR GOLD". It wasn't a bad idea. It'll be worth it in the end when that money goes towards a house. Chris is hoping to get a Mustang Shelby some day... I'll have to watch for them in the newspaper and get a good idea of what's OK to pay for those kinds of things. I told him as long has we do car shows and cruise on a Sunday in it..it's ok with me. Everyone needs a hobby right? :)
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
NEW HOMEOWNERS???
Well...we're in the process of buying a house. It's been a short road, but it sure looks long from here on it. We loved the house as soon as we walked in...we both said YES YES YES this is it....Until Saturday when we got it inspected. It needs a new roof and some major repairs to the chimney and it needs a new furnace. We also found out that it doesn't have A/C. We're probably just spoiled at this point with the A/C we have now, but that was a true detail in a home that we wanted when we purchased. Right now we're waiting for the owners to get back to us about the new asking price. We couldn't afford to pay what we offered before due to all the updates it needs now on top of the washer & dryer & refrigerator we knew it needed from the beginning(which was a downfall). They have 5 days to respond...it's been 3. Neither of us are sure if that's a good or a bad thing. I mean at least they're considering it and we understand this person will be upside-down on this house, but can they really continue to pay 2 mortgages? That's where they're at right now... we'll have to wait and see. At this point we're ready for the green light or the red light. If we don't get it, then it wasn't meant to be and we'll find another place to plant our roots and call home. It's been an interesting journey.... but that's OK...it'll be well worth it in the end............WE THINK.
Other than home buying we've been enjoying the porch at the house we're in now and we're soaking up summer. We haven't done much since we're trying to save but a few events are coming up that we've been looking forward to.
Chris is still in the process of getting his MSgt stripe. It isn't an easy sew on but this stripe will definitely be worth the hard work in the end. He's been doing a really good job as a new supervisor in the LRS and it hasn't gone unrecognized (he's on his way home from Dover AFB as we speak).
The dogs are loving summer and they're enjoying being out in the yard. They both are spoiled with the A/C as well...it's hard to keep them out in the yard when they know it's cooler in the house. Chloe likes to look out the window and bark at the birds and Rookie likes to bark at Chloe when she's barking at the birds..... :)
Well that's just about it for our neck of the woods. Busy Busy Busy... hopefully when we get a house we can have some people over. So be looking for an invitation in the next few months. HAPPY SUMMER everyone :)
Other than home buying we've been enjoying the porch at the house we're in now and we're soaking up summer. We haven't done much since we're trying to save but a few events are coming up that we've been looking forward to.
Chris is still in the process of getting his MSgt stripe. It isn't an easy sew on but this stripe will definitely be worth the hard work in the end. He's been doing a really good job as a new supervisor in the LRS and it hasn't gone unrecognized (he's on his way home from Dover AFB as we speak).
The dogs are loving summer and they're enjoying being out in the yard. They both are spoiled with the A/C as well...it's hard to keep them out in the yard when they know it's cooler in the house. Chloe likes to look out the window and bark at the birds and Rookie likes to bark at Chloe when she's barking at the birds..... :)
Well that's just about it for our neck of the woods. Busy Busy Busy... hopefully when we get a house we can have some people over. So be looking for an invitation in the next few months. HAPPY SUMMER everyone :)
Friday, June 25, 2010
Summer fun!
Chris and I are going to be moving. We thought it might be a little later in the year, but it looks like the house is going up for sale now and we're off to look for a house of our own. The house we're in now has been a work in progress and we've had fun fixing it up and making it new again. I hope whoever gets it is pleased with it and that they're just as happy as we were in it. One of the perks of moving is being closer to work hopefully. We drive 45 mins now and it'd be nice to spend more time at home rather than driving. Plus, Chris is working an unusual schedule right now with his new job and being closer to work would help him out as well.
In other news Chris tested for MSGT on Wednesday and PASSED! He has to meet a promotion board and possibly jump through a few more hoops and he'll be promoted by August at the earliest. We're both really excited about that. It seals the deal for wanting a baby, but not knowing if we should have one. That was the green light...so whenever it happens.. it happens. We're just going with whenever God thinks it's a good time.
Chris and I made a few plans for the summer. We're going to a gun bash with some friends the 31st of July and we're also going to the Toby Keith concert on August 22nd. Both should be really fun. I need cowboy boots for both of these events I'm convinced...so I think I know what Chris is getting me for my b-day. We also got tickets to go to the Pirates game on Sept 4th and following the game is Luke Bryan in concert. That's sort of part of Chris's b-day present.
Well that's about it for both of us. We'll be busy cleaning out the house and getting it ready to sell. My apt was rented out yesterday so that's a done deal. It seems as though we're well on our way to a long and happy life together :) PURE BLISS~
In other news Chris tested for MSGT on Wednesday and PASSED! He has to meet a promotion board and possibly jump through a few more hoops and he'll be promoted by August at the earliest. We're both really excited about that. It seals the deal for wanting a baby, but not knowing if we should have one. That was the green light...so whenever it happens.. it happens. We're just going with whenever God thinks it's a good time.
Chris and I made a few plans for the summer. We're going to a gun bash with some friends the 31st of July and we're also going to the Toby Keith concert on August 22nd. Both should be really fun. I need cowboy boots for both of these events I'm convinced...so I think I know what Chris is getting me for my b-day. We also got tickets to go to the Pirates game on Sept 4th and following the game is Luke Bryan in concert. That's sort of part of Chris's b-day present.
Well that's about it for both of us. We'll be busy cleaning out the house and getting it ready to sell. My apt was rented out yesterday so that's a done deal. It seems as though we're well on our way to a long and happy life together :) PURE BLISS~
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Home Sweet Home
Well, we're home. The trip was great and we got to do a ton of stuff. We ended up going on the ziplines and the alpine slide in Ober Gatlinburg. We also hiked, saw bears, mini-golfed, and we made it to the Dixie Stampede. I guess you can say we saw almost ALL of the Smoky Mountains. Oh and we went to Cade's Cove...which is an 11 mile loop of property that was declared historic and still has all the houses from the 1800's still standing. There were bears and deer and turkey and snakes (oh my) every where. Chris was thrilled to see just one bear but we saw 5 that day between the cove and hiking. At one point we were 8 ft from a cub....yeah....it was dangerous but he was just as curious as we were but we really DIDN'T want to meet his mother so we high-tailed it out of there.
The most exciting part of our trip was Wednesday because we got married. We started our day by going to Advanced Auto Parts to use their code machine because my "check engine" light was on. Then we went and bought some ribbon at Wal-Mart and we picked up our wedding cake. Then we just headed back to the cabin. We decorated the porch, ironed, showered and then it was just about time to get married. The reverend came and we got married a little after 6:30pm. It was great because the sun wasn't too bright and it wasn't too too hot. It was perfect. We took a lot of our own pictures with the self-timer on the digital camera and a photographer came with the reverend to take some pictures too. It was a great and memorable day. Now I just just have to remember to use my new last name LANG :) (I just sewed it onto my uniform actually..) Tomorrow we both head back to work and that should be interesting, but we're ready.
*CHEERS TO THE END OF OUR VACATION*
PS. Our tattoos in the last blog are fake ... ever heard of henna?
Sunday, May 30, 2010
The Adventures of Galtinburg, TN
Chris and I ventured out yesterday and did some sight seeing. First, we stopped and got an old tyme picture taken. It was fun picking out a scene and posing. After that was done we went on the ski lift to the top of the mountain. We didn't realize how scary it was going to be until we got on and looked back...I continued to take pictures to keep our mind off the shrinking city below.
It started to rain a little so we ducked into Ripley's Aquarium and checked out the fish. Holy crap are there some big sharks in there!! We got up close with the penguins and got to pet some horseshoe crabs and stingrays too. The military discounts here are great by the way...Ripley's gives us a deal at every location. When we figured that out we headed over to Ripley's "Believe It or Not" Museum and saw some crazy/cool tid-bits of history. Examples: Shrunken heads, impaled people, the 9' 11" tall man that only lived to 22, etc.
Oh and last but not least we did our fair share of wine tasting. We were tipsy before noon, but hey it's 5 o'clock somewhere, right? We hit 4 wineries.
Today we set out for some exploring but all we got really was a lot of traffic, some rain, oh and some matching tattoos. We wanted to go up to Ober Gatlinburg on the Tram, but it was raining and we'd like to do the alpine slide 1800ft down the mountain so we're going to wait for a nicer day.
Tomorrow we get to check in to our cabin and get settled in. Maybe we'll try to hit the tram and alpine slide after that. We'd really just like to relax and soak in the hot tub for a day too. We're just taking it one day at a time. We have fun no matter what we're doing so that's always good.
On Tuesday we go get our marriage license and then we're sitting front row at Dolly Parton's famous Dixie Stampede..thanks to the lovely lady at the ticket counter. She was tickled by us being military members and set out to get us the best deal. Chris and I are really excited about the dinner and show!
Wednesday we get married...we'll probably just get ready for that and relax that day.
Thursday we might try to do a trail ride on horseback. There are tons of stables around here so we shouldn't have too big of a problem finding a deal.
Friday could be another "relaxing" day or maybe we'll find some adventure. We haven't been hiking yet, but we'll definitely find some time to do that before we go home on Saturday.
Well, that's how our week is panning out. We're having a great time and it's nice to be back together again :) That's why it doesn't really seem to matter what we do...we're just happy all the time and having a good time. I'm not sure if we'll have wi-fi at the cabin or not, but I'll be sure to post pictures when we get home if we don't. Thanks for reading our 2nd blog :)
It started to rain a little so we ducked into Ripley's Aquarium and checked out the fish. Holy crap are there some big sharks in there!! We got up close with the penguins and got to pet some horseshoe crabs and stingrays too. The military discounts here are great by the way...Ripley's gives us a deal at every location. When we figured that out we headed over to Ripley's "Believe It or Not" Museum and saw some crazy/cool tid-bits of history. Examples: Shrunken heads, impaled people, the 9' 11" tall man that only lived to 22, etc.
Oh and last but not least we did our fair share of wine tasting. We were tipsy before noon, but hey it's 5 o'clock somewhere, right? We hit 4 wineries.
Today we set out for some exploring but all we got really was a lot of traffic, some rain, oh and some matching tattoos. We wanted to go up to Ober Gatlinburg on the Tram, but it was raining and we'd like to do the alpine slide 1800ft down the mountain so we're going to wait for a nicer day.
Tomorrow we get to check in to our cabin and get settled in. Maybe we'll try to hit the tram and alpine slide after that. We'd really just like to relax and soak in the hot tub for a day too. We're just taking it one day at a time. We have fun no matter what we're doing so that's always good.
On Tuesday we go get our marriage license and then we're sitting front row at Dolly Parton's famous Dixie Stampede..thanks to the lovely lady at the ticket counter. She was tickled by us being military members and set out to get us the best deal. Chris and I are really excited about the dinner and show!
Wednesday we get married...we'll probably just get ready for that and relax that day.
Thursday we might try to do a trail ride on horseback. There are tons of stables around here so we shouldn't have too big of a problem finding a deal.
Friday could be another "relaxing" day or maybe we'll find some adventure. We haven't been hiking yet, but we'll definitely find some time to do that before we go home on Saturday.
Well, that's how our week is panning out. We're having a great time and it's nice to be back together again :) That's why it doesn't really seem to matter what we do...we're just happy all the time and having a good time. I'm not sure if we'll have wi-fi at the cabin or not, but I'll be sure to post pictures when we get home if we don't. Thanks for reading our 2nd blog :)
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
OUR FIRST BLOG ENTRY:)
Currently I'm in Mississippi and he's in Pennsylvania. In 2 days he'll be here in Mississippi and then we're headed to Tennessee to start a glorious adventure together called:
THE REST OF OUR LIVES
We're getting married on June 2nd at 6:30pm in the Smoky Mountains. For our honeymoon we've rented a cabin w/ a hot tub and we'll have a spectacular view of the mountains from our porch. Life doesn't get any better than that, huh?
So that's just a little bit of what we have going on now and what we have to look forward to. In the next entry I'll be sure to add some pictures of our trip & explorations.
Thank you for reading our first entry...it's a work in progress.
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