House Hunting Woes

So...as you all know, we've been searching high and low for a home. We've concentrated mostly in the Herriman and Riverton areas for two reasons. One, we like it out there. And two, Tanner's baseball team is based out of Riverton so it will make those 3 or 4 times a week practices not quite such a chore to get to. We've put in an offer on a short sale home. It was such a high on Thursday to find out that the sellers had accepted our offer and it was now on it's way to the bank for the final approval. THEN we got the call on Friday that said that someone had upped our offer. And, my high was gone as quick as it came. For those of you that don't know how short sales work, let me explain what I know. A short sale is a house that is very near foreclosure and the bank has stepped in and said you have to sell. I compare this process to buying on ebay. For example, we make an offer. It has to be accepted by the sellers first, then onto the bank for approval, which can take weeks, months, who knows. We can be outbid at ANY time by another buyer up until the signing of the papers. We could be in our car, on the way to closing, and they could get a higher offer and we'd be ousted for the higher bid. Such a headache. I love, love, love the house we put the offer in on but it STINKS!!! It definitely needs new carpet and paint. We're grappling with the issue now of whether we up our offer, knowing that we need to sink about $5000 into this house right out of the gate to make it liveable or move on and hopefully find something that doesn't need improvements right away. Can I just say that I hate not having disposable income to spend at my leisure?!

I am blessed

I heard this morning that one of my sister's best friends little boy passed away last night. I don't know them well, I've hung out with them a couple of times at my sisters, but my heart aches for them. He was only five years old. He was diagnosed in June with cancer with a good chance of remission. He received his first bout of chemo which shrunk the tumor so quickly and so much that it perforated his bowel and he got sepsis. He never recovered from that and he continued to spiral downward, just one thing after another. It causes me to reflect on my children and how incrediby blessed I am to have overall healthy children. It makes me put into perspective the day to day things with my kids that I think are so horrible. They may drive me crazy some days, but they're here. I can hug them and kiss them whenever I want. I can yell at them when they're being naughty. But still, they're here for me to yell at. I can't imagine having to take your five year old off of life support and hold him while his heart stops beating and I pray to God that I will never have to know. I know that I am going to hug and appreciate my children a little more today, and everyday. I guess sometimes it takes a tragedy to make one appreciate and put into perspective their lives. Life is not about having money, or the best house on the block, or the nicest car. Life is about family and memories and love.

I'm a sucker

So...I've been suckered into starting a blog! Let's start with the basics. I'm a single mom to two great little boys. Tanner is now 10 and Landon is 7. And nooo....I'm not old enough to have a ten year old. Tanner is my sports/four-wheeling/fishing loving kid. Landon is my tenderheart. He loves animals of any shape or size, much to my disliking. Landon currently has (and by Landon I mean me, because I'm left to take care of them!) a cat named Dexter, a frog named Sizzle and a fish named Bella. We are a zoo in the making! I'm blessed to have two smart kids. They both do very well in school and make me a proud parent. Landon was the first grade spelling bee champ last year and loves learning to spell new words. Tanner plays on a super league baseball team which took us to Colorado, Arizona and Nevada last year for tournaments. He usually plays first base but also plays some outfield and has one mean bat on him! I will be doing my student teaching in January at Cottonwood. I've been back to meet with the teacher and it's surreal being back in the halls of CHS. I am currently dating my ex-husband and we are shopping for a home. It's a task I love and hate all at the same time! Steve and I are doing amazingly well. I think it took both of losing what we had to make us realize how much we do indeed love each other. Now that you're all up to date, I will try and keep regular blogs so that my friends can stay in touch with me and vice versa!