So this post is way overdue. I guess since Facebook, I haven't felt the need to blog. But there is a lot to update, so here I am.
Anyhow, we finally have an end to our housing problem. We bought our first house. It's a double-wide in a trailer park. I feel a bit embarrassed to say that; it somehow feels at first like a step backwards. But it's really not. It's just that we were so close (well, close for us) to getting the house of my dreams, that this feels like a concession. And, in a way, it is. We could still be looking. We could still be dealing with the asshole landlord. But a friend of mine kept suggesting we look where she lives, Walnut Ridge. She kept pointing out that it's a nice park, they have their own 'special' financing for people in our situation, and we would live closer to her.
I have nothing against double-wides. In fact, the dream house was a double-wide, but it had been completely drywalled, was on a foundation and had that big addition. It in no way resembled a double-wide. I just wasn't sure that I wanted to live in a park. I had had enough of living under other people's rules and I wasn't sure I would like going from living with no close neighbors to people living within 10 feet in every direction. Plus it would mean either switching Syd to a school district I don't like, (no, no no, never gonna happen) or driving her a bit further.
But, I relented. I was tired of the fight. The asshole landlord had become even more of an asshat and the prospect of going home every day to a place we had once loved, had now become unbearable. So we looked at a few places. Some were too small, or had funky layouts, or were on odd lots. Finally we looked at a place that seemed to fit the bill. It's 1900 sq. ft. with 3 bedrooms and 2 1/2 baths. It has a large kitchen with an island and it opens to a nice sized family room with a fireplace. Our bedroom is quite large and has a really nice master bath with a garden tub (no jets-rats!) and a separate shower. It had new paint and all new flooring, including a nice laminate hardwood in the kitchen.
We weren't really fond of the island as it was, but we had two very nice, solid wood cabinets that we had picked up at the Merillat outlet, so we decided to right away replace the island. We installed the cabinets and bought a nice butcher block counter from Ikea. Then Dennis built a wall so we could mount a high bar on the other side. I got a bargain on bar stools and, viola! A new island. It looks MUCH better. It's likely we will eventually paint the cabinets since they are somewhat worn, and definitely replace all the counter top to match the counter we used for the bar.
There are a few things I'm not nuts about, like the fact that it has a formal living room, which I'd rather not have. I'd prefer that space be used for a fourth bedroom, but the way it's layed out it's not possible. There is also a sliding glass door in the kitchen. Unfortunately, they way they put it on this lot (it was already here) it's so close to the neighbor's lot that we won't ever be able to use it. There's only a couple of feet to the back of the lot line. This really annoys me since there are several empty lots that border the woods- why on earth wouldn't they have put this house there? But oh well.
This is the island before we replaced it. I'll post some more pictures soon. (just for the record, this is a couple of days into the move, which is why the kitchen is a mess)
Other than that, this is a great house, and buying it was a really good idea. (thanks, Laurie!) The park is nice, clean and quiet. We're right across the street from the pool. We're close to town, which I'm finding is better than I thought. And this is the best part: At times, we struggled to pay out rent. While this house is technically $100 more a month, we aren't struggling. That's because we pay our lot rent on the first of the month and our mortgage on the 15th, thus splitting our housing payment in two. It's seems like such a small thing, but it's made a HUGE difference in our ability to budget effectively. We got a decent interest rate. Well, decent for us, considering how bad our credit is. And our loan is for 12 years, so we have all that time to get our poop in a group. I'm not sure I'd want to stay here 12 years, but it certainly is plenty of time to straighten things out. It's nice being able to breathe. I feel happy and stress free for the first time in a long time.
The move wasn't without it's problems. Those of you who know me well, know what a slob I am. I did a really good job fooling myself into thinking things weren't so bad at the old place. Well, I got a HUGE wakeup call when we moved. The amount of shit we I had accumulated was astounding. And the place was filthy. I mean nasty! It was just this side of literally having shit on the floor. (I do have standards, lol) And it smelled. I was mortified, and ashamed of myself for allowing it to get that way. The three of us swore that we would change our ways when we moved. We had a fresh start. But quietly I had my doubts about myself. I don't change easily. I mean, I've been a slob my whole life. But happily, it seems to have worked. We all have taken on a new sense of ownership and are all doing our part to keep this place clean. Is it spotless? No, probably never will be. But the floors are swept regularly and the kitchen is clean. Everyone keeps their stuff pretty well picked up and we are keeping up on the laundry. Dishes are done more often. Being right next to the kitchen means that no one leaves their dirty dishes in the family room. Christmas kind of interrupted my unpacking, and in some areas it still looks like we just moved in. But I'm getting there.
A happy ending indeed.

























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