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Archive for February, 2012

Update

February 28th, 2012 at 02:45 am

We are moving in just three days but things have finally started to fall together. Thank you for all the suggestions for the move. It's nice to know someone out there is listening Smile

Biggest change, hopefully for the positive, we put an offer in on a short sale back in October for a house in Washington and found out last week that the bank approved the sale. The house is in pretty good shape, part of the sale agreement even includes new siding for the house, VA wouldn't approve the loan with the existing siding. We found new tenants for what was going to be our rental in WA and the owners agreed to refund our security deposit. Our mortgage payment will only be $150 more than what we would have been paying in rent and it's in a great location so theoretically it should rent easily in case we end up not being able to get a back to back tour in WA. We feel confident about this decision and it's a huge leap of faith but we as a family think it is a good step. We have never owned a house so it will be a learning experience. There is cosmetic work that needs to be done but nothing we shouldn't be able to handle or can't wait for a while to be updated. On another positive, I got a raise from my part-time bookkeeping work. I guess sometimes it needs to rain a little before the sun can peak out.

I am nervous about home ownership but excited about feeling grounded and connected to a place. We have a plaque that hangs on our front door that says "Home is where the Navy sends us" but it will be nice that for the first time it will ours.

The kids have been helping us pack and we've left three wardrobe boxes out for them to make forts with in their room since all of their toys are packed. Their have been some tears and expected added meltdowns but not as bad as the move from Colorado. My husband will be driving with us to Chicago then he flies back to finish his last week of work and I'll continue on with the kids and dog. I'm more concerned about traveling with the dog than the four kids.

We popped a tire on our van last week and when we went to have it fixed found out two of the other tires are at the end of their lives and probably wouldn't make it cross country. Right now we have the run-flat tires on the van because Toyota did not build it with a a place to store a spare. They are super expensive and have lasted us on average 30k miles per set. We are going to put regular tires on this time (half the cost). It's a little bit of a gamble but we have AAA so I think we'll be okay.

We got our tax return last week, $3,200 which, will help cover the tires and shipping of our second car to WA. The rest will go into savings for now. It's going to be an insanely busy next few weeks. I'll have to continue working through our move(downside of working from home) but hopefully I'll be able to find a quiet corner in the hotel room after the kids go to sleep.

I am thrilled at the thought that we may have a routine soon. Still no definite news on when Jon will be deploying but we'll be okay. I feel more peace right now than I have in a long time which is a nice change of pace. Let's just hope the baby feels that way after 5 days in a car.


A little off topic.....

February 9th, 2012 at 01:08 am

I know this isn't finance related, but I needed a place to vent and I figure no one I personally know will read this. So, our kids are doing a "fasting" of sorts with the children's group at church, each day this week they have to sustain from something different, i.e. t.v., sweets, or video games. They also have a worksheet they have to fill out each day to go along with it. Today they have to draw a picture of one of the struggles they think they will have to face soon, our oldest daughter drew a picture of a moving truck. I breaks my heart every time we have to up root them and move and start over again. It was easier when we (and they) were all younger and didn't really know what was going on. We've been in CT since August 2011 and are moving again in three weeks to WA (thank you USN). These last few months have been very challenging emotionally for me and the kids. It's hard to try to put down roots knowing you are leaving so soon. In the name of saving money we opted for a smaller older home here, knowing it was short term but it's been a nightmare to say the least. Rooms flooding, heat not working, just to name a few. I was hoping Washington would be a better situation but due to the wonderful cost of living at no availability for housing on base it looks like we will be in a similar housing situation in WA. I know it's the "smart" thing to do but it's tough thinking back on past decisions and wondering if you had made different one's if things would be different now. We are also doing a "do it yourself move" where you set up and move your own household goods, again in the name of hopefully making a little extra money when the move is all done but, now I have a house with boxes scattered throughout it for the next three weeks. I feel like I am living literally in a box. I know you can't change the past and we shouldn't dwell on it but I still sometimes wonder. My husband loves what he does for the Navy so it's hard to think about walking away, especially when retirement is 9 years away. In the same breathe, it's hard thinking of, worst case scenario of having another 5 moves ahead of us. It's exhausting. He will probably be deploying in the next 2-3 months, just for a few months but still it means four kids and no family on my own. I've always been a strong person and weathered the seasons of life fairly well but it certainly doesn't get easier. I just want some sort of normalcy for a while but it seems impossible. This is the life we've chosen, I just pray that our children will grow up and feel like even though we moved a lot that they always had a home. God has always taken care of us and I have no doubt he will continue too but sometimes it's hard to see past the moment. I pray he continues to watch over us, especially our children and just brings us peace through this process...