Over the past week, we have been eerily social. All the time. I'm going to write about this because it marks our achievement of actually making and spending time with friends. :)
Sunday: Church time with friends, saw several people and stayed for a while after church to chat.
Monday: Going away party with our friends for someone who is deploying tomorrow. We sat and chatted for a few hours, had some great food and fun, as well as some deep fried oreos. There were lots of people there and it was a great time.
Tuesday: The same couple we were celebrating the night before came over for dinner. He is deploying tomorrow, and their baby is due in a month. Nat and I are going to be there as much as possible and video tape Baby as much as possible so we can send them to him while he's over seas.
Wednesday: My cousin Kim came up from Norfolk where she's stationed to stay the night with us. We hung out and went to Annapolis to see the Naval Academy (she's in the navy), then watched Despicable Me because she hadn't ever seen it. We had a blast. She is returning home this morning.
Thursday: Nat is playing kickball with his team after work. I'm sitting that one out.
Friday: Consolation get together to help the aforesaid soon-to-be-mom and take her mind off of things, after work of course. Nat is sitting this one out because it's a girls night out. :)
Saturday: Headed down to Virginia to see Nat's aunt and uncle for the evening. We'll leave after I get off work to make the hour-ish trip down there.
Sunday: Church with Nat's family, and probably lunch as well. Then we're headed over to Alexandria, VA to see Jeremiah and Katie Gibson who are down here from Boston for a few days. We're headed to dinner with them in the evening.
As people who normally only are social on Sunday, we might hit a bit of overload at some point! It's been a great week though! We have wonderful friends and family, I think I'm actually learning to like it here. :)
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Next Steps
We did things rather out of order with this housing issue. We put in an offer on Saturday for more than the amount we had been approved for with the bank. Then we went to the bank to see if we could raise our approval. Fortunately, they were willing to do that so we won't have to back out of our end of the deal.
We signed our lives away with all the paperwork on Saturday, and our wonderful realtor explained the process to us. Once we put in an offer with the listing realtor (the one who's selling the house), she will take it to the owners for their approval. If they approve everything, then the agent will take the offer to the bank since this sale is a short sale. Our realtor Katerina was also kind enough to talk us through what a short sale is, which for those who do not know is as follows: when a homeowner can no longer pay their mortgage they have two options. Those options are a short sale and foreclosure. Banks are getting pretty tired of foreclosures in this market, so short sales are increasing in frequency. A short sale is kind of the first step to a foreclosure. The bank and seller both agree that the house needs to be sold as soon as possible, and at a lower price than the balance of the mortgage on the house. Since the sale will be short to pay off the mortgage, the bank will swallow the losses and write them off at the end of the year on their taxes or whatever they do. The seller does not make any money off the house, but they are no longer liable nor do they have to pay taxes and the mortgage payments on that house. If a bank is willing to do that, it's a good alternative to a foreclosure. It also doesn't hurt your credit as badly I don't think.
Anyway, once the seller agrees to the offer, it gets sent to the bank for approval. That's where we are right now. The seller has approved our offer (wooo!!!) with only a minor change. It was listed with the realtor that they were also selling their fridge, but they have decided to keep that. I think we're okay with that since our offer was lower than the asking price. Now we're just waiting to hear from the bank!
If/When we have a contract on the house I will post a picture. :)
We signed our lives away with all the paperwork on Saturday, and our wonderful realtor explained the process to us. Once we put in an offer with the listing realtor (the one who's selling the house), she will take it to the owners for their approval. If they approve everything, then the agent will take the offer to the bank since this sale is a short sale. Our realtor Katerina was also kind enough to talk us through what a short sale is, which for those who do not know is as follows: when a homeowner can no longer pay their mortgage they have two options. Those options are a short sale and foreclosure. Banks are getting pretty tired of foreclosures in this market, so short sales are increasing in frequency. A short sale is kind of the first step to a foreclosure. The bank and seller both agree that the house needs to be sold as soon as possible, and at a lower price than the balance of the mortgage on the house. Since the sale will be short to pay off the mortgage, the bank will swallow the losses and write them off at the end of the year on their taxes or whatever they do. The seller does not make any money off the house, but they are no longer liable nor do they have to pay taxes and the mortgage payments on that house. If a bank is willing to do that, it's a good alternative to a foreclosure. It also doesn't hurt your credit as badly I don't think.
Anyway, once the seller agrees to the offer, it gets sent to the bank for approval. That's where we are right now. The seller has approved our offer (wooo!!!) with only a minor change. It was listed with the realtor that they were also selling their fridge, but they have decided to keep that. I think we're okay with that since our offer was lower than the asking price. Now we're just waiting to hear from the bank!
If/When we have a contract on the house I will post a picture. :)
Friday, July 13, 2012
We're approved!
As evidenced by the title of this post, we have been credit approved for a mortgage! It's wonderful news, and we're planning on putting in an offer on a great house as soon as possible.
We actually found out that we were approved a week ago, but we hadn't seen anything particularly interesting until today. We went to showings with our realtor on Wednesday to 3 houses. The first was fine, not something that we were even remotely interested in. The second house was so cute! It was one of those houses that has so much character it's really hard to pass up. It had a white picket fence, beautiful floors and a great fireplace. There were lots of hidden passages and storage places, random doors that didn't lead anywhere, and an absolutely beautiful kitchen. Unfortunately, it didn't suit our needs at all. It's not worth purchasing a house just because it has character (although it was tempting!). The last house we saw was supposed to need 'cosmetic work'. That statement normally means that the house needs some paint, possibly even new carpet or sheetrock on the walls. The house we walked into was disgusting. There were holes in the walls, the baseboard heater was falling apart, there was mold on the furniture and carpet. That house needed so much more than 'cosmetic work' - it was a flipper!
Our realtor also tried to get an appointment at a house in Severn, but they didn't allow showings after 2pm. So we scheduled one for today at 10. It was a beautiful house! We pulled up and I knew that I was already interested in this house. It's a single family home, 3 beds and 2 full baths, 3 floors with a finished basement. The entire top floor is the master bedroom suite, the other two bedrooms are on the ground floor and share a full bathroom. There is a nice sized living room when you walk in from the front, and a small dining area by the kitchen, which is a pretty good size and has lots of cabinet space. The basement has the laundry room and a great gathering room which is L-shaped. There is an outside door leading up to the back yard that is large and has some large trees for shade. There is also a 2 tiered deck from the kitchen which will be great for back yard parties and entertaining. :)
We have a meeting with our realtor tomorrow to work on the offer and sign paperwork!!
We actually found out that we were approved a week ago, but we hadn't seen anything particularly interesting until today. We went to showings with our realtor on Wednesday to 3 houses. The first was fine, not something that we were even remotely interested in. The second house was so cute! It was one of those houses that has so much character it's really hard to pass up. It had a white picket fence, beautiful floors and a great fireplace. There were lots of hidden passages and storage places, random doors that didn't lead anywhere, and an absolutely beautiful kitchen. Unfortunately, it didn't suit our needs at all. It's not worth purchasing a house just because it has character (although it was tempting!). The last house we saw was supposed to need 'cosmetic work'. That statement normally means that the house needs some paint, possibly even new carpet or sheetrock on the walls. The house we walked into was disgusting. There were holes in the walls, the baseboard heater was falling apart, there was mold on the furniture and carpet. That house needed so much more than 'cosmetic work' - it was a flipper!
Our realtor also tried to get an appointment at a house in Severn, but they didn't allow showings after 2pm. So we scheduled one for today at 10. It was a beautiful house! We pulled up and I knew that I was already interested in this house. It's a single family home, 3 beds and 2 full baths, 3 floors with a finished basement. The entire top floor is the master bedroom suite, the other two bedrooms are on the ground floor and share a full bathroom. There is a nice sized living room when you walk in from the front, and a small dining area by the kitchen, which is a pretty good size and has lots of cabinet space. The basement has the laundry room and a great gathering room which is L-shaped. There is an outside door leading up to the back yard that is large and has some large trees for shade. There is also a 2 tiered deck from the kitchen which will be great for back yard parties and entertaining. :)
We have a meeting with our realtor tomorrow to work on the offer and sign paperwork!!
Thursday, July 5, 2012
4th of July (and then some)
[Imagine a fireworks video here... it didn't upload. Look at Facebook for it.]
We went to watch the fireworks yesterday at one of the most historic places in the country. Baltimore Harbor is where the war of 1812 was fought, which prompted Frances Scott Key to write the "Star Spangled Banner." I couldn't help thinking about that last night as we were sitting under bombs bursting and red glare from rockets.
That was my patriotic bit. Other than that, it was just awesome! A couple's parents from our small group sailed their boat up from Florida and were docked in the harbor. Our entire small group was invited to come aboard to watch the fireworks. We were so close that pieces of the burnt fireworks were falling on us. This is the barge that the show was shot from:
It's a little difficult to see, but it's on the left in the picture. That's how close we were. (It was really loud too!)
In other news, we're waiting to hear back from the mortgage company. They should be contacting us today or tomorrow (hopefully today) to tell us whether or not we will be able to buy a house! We're getting excited, but no too excited because we still don't have an affirmative. I'll post the news sometime soon.
I also have started an herb garden (thanks to Pintrest) in mason jars. Apparently oregano doesn't do well in high temperatures. I had all the plants (oregano, basil, lavender, mint, and rosemary) on the patio and even with regular watering the oregano dried up and looked dead. I watered it really well and brought it inside and now it's alive again! I feel a bit like Dr. Frankenstein because I was pretty sure that it was completely dead as the leaves were all shriveled up and brittle. It was a pleasant surprise because I made the following meal with my fresh herbs:
It was kind of chicken caprese, and it was a lot better than it looks in this photo. :(
We went swimming for the first time yesterday! That was fun, and the water was already really warm. Fortunately it wasn't just warm in spots. Ew. Anyway, Nat and I went to the farmer's market that is in the parking lot of the community center to get fresh peaches and some fresh peppers, and saw that there was almost no one in the pool. So we ran home and changed and walked over to the pool and hopped in. It was a nice, refreshing dip.
It was a fun few days recently, but now it's back to work.
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Over 3 million without power
Friday night we had a little storm. There was some wind, a little rain, and a massive power outage. I'm still not completely sure that the storm was nearly as bad in our area as other people say it was. The thunder didn't even shake the windows.
Anyway, the lights flickered a few times then went out completely. It was about 11:15 pm. Thinking that the power would come back on by itself in a few hours, we went to bed.
Next morning, still no power. Nat got to sleep in, but I had to get up and get ready for work. Showering and trying to get ready by flashlight (no windows in our bathroom) is not a pleasant experience. Fortunately we had flashlights because I was able to rig a way to see. We also never lost water coverage, and our hot water heater is gas powered. That was a huge blessing. I was not looking forward to a cold shower in a very dark bathroom.
So I showered then put on make up by the windows, trying to be quite to not wake up Nat and also trying not to open the fridge. I did open it a few times to get out our water pitcher and pour some milk into my cereal, but I closed it fast. I was still expecting the power to come back on at any time.
On the way to work, there were a few branches on the road, but that was expected because the growth is very close to the road. By the time I got to the main street, I realized the street light was out. Not blinking, but completely dead. If you know my opinion of Maryland drivers, this was an incredibly bad thing. Most people were doing the correct thing by making the 3-4 lane road intersection a 4 way stop. Some people were very stupid and decided to run through the light at about 50 miles an hour. Fortunately, I made it in to work.
Everything was dead: no signs, no lights, no phones, no computers, and no alarm. My manager and her boss were both there (strange site to see a VP in jean shorts) because the alarm was beeping and running off a battery backup. Since we didn't have any power whatsoever, Wendy said that if we were not up and running by 10:00 am, we could all go home! To help our members, we put a sign on the door saying that we had no power, so we would not be opening. Then the workers started guessing when a persistent member would try one door handle, then the other, then look inside, then knock. I guessed 9:30, after we were supposed to open at 9. Other guesses included 9:20, 9:03, and 9:10.
At 9:27 a member pulled one handle, shook the locked door, cupped their hands to the glass to see inside, swiped their card to try to get to the (powerless) ATM, shook the door again, then went to sit in his car. I won the satisfaction of guessing correctly! The member sat in his car for about 15 minutes, hoping we would open. He never saw the huge sign that was taped to the window three inches from where he peered into the branch.
We got to go home at 10, which was great! My first Saturday off at home since I started working there. We spent the day trying to stay cool and not open doors. It was about 100˚ outside, and it actually didn't get crazy warm inside. I think we topped out at 79˚ yesterday evening. We called BGE (our electric provider) who told us that they would have the power on by 1:00. Nat had planned to go into Washington DC to have lunch with his aunt, uncle, and cousins already. It was great that I got to go too! It's nice having family so close, but it's also annoying that I work on one of the only days that they have off.
We all met at Hill Country BBQ close to the capitol building (we drove, that was scary). It was by far the best BBQ that I have had in this state. The waiter told us that all the brisket is slow smoked over wood that is shipped up from Lockhart, Texas. Everything there was based on a little family diner in Lockhart. It was absolutely a wonderful taste of home. The waiter, Charles, walked up to us as we sat down and recognized Nat. It turns out that Charles and Nat had a few classes together at ACU. None of us were from this area, but all the ACU alumni ended up in that restaurant and he happened to be our server. It's a small world when you are an ACU alumni.
After lunch, we made it back home and fell into an afternoon-long food coma. For some reason, we hadn't ever pulled out the candles that we have. I finally remembered to do that yesterday evening after our excursion to Chick-fil-a. It was an absolute mad house there. The drive-thru was wrapped around the building twice, and it was packed inside as well. Since so many people were without power, it was a good place to find AC and a meal. After we left the chaos, we came back home, lit the candles and played cards for a while.
At this point, I was resigned to the fact that we wouldn't be getting power any time soon so we just went to bed. It's really unpleasant to sleep when it's really hot. This is when I join the rest of Maryland and become a pansy. Fortunately, we woke up this morning to the sound of our fish filter running! Our power came back on at 8:33 Sunday morning which means we were out of power for about 33 hours.
Anyway, the lights flickered a few times then went out completely. It was about 11:15 pm. Thinking that the power would come back on by itself in a few hours, we went to bed.
Next morning, still no power. Nat got to sleep in, but I had to get up and get ready for work. Showering and trying to get ready by flashlight (no windows in our bathroom) is not a pleasant experience. Fortunately we had flashlights because I was able to rig a way to see. We also never lost water coverage, and our hot water heater is gas powered. That was a huge blessing. I was not looking forward to a cold shower in a very dark bathroom.
So I showered then put on make up by the windows, trying to be quite to not wake up Nat and also trying not to open the fridge. I did open it a few times to get out our water pitcher and pour some milk into my cereal, but I closed it fast. I was still expecting the power to come back on at any time.
On the way to work, there were a few branches on the road, but that was expected because the growth is very close to the road. By the time I got to the main street, I realized the street light was out. Not blinking, but completely dead. If you know my opinion of Maryland drivers, this was an incredibly bad thing. Most people were doing the correct thing by making the 3-4 lane road intersection a 4 way stop. Some people were very stupid and decided to run through the light at about 50 miles an hour. Fortunately, I made it in to work.
Everything was dead: no signs, no lights, no phones, no computers, and no alarm. My manager and her boss were both there (strange site to see a VP in jean shorts) because the alarm was beeping and running off a battery backup. Since we didn't have any power whatsoever, Wendy said that if we were not up and running by 10:00 am, we could all go home! To help our members, we put a sign on the door saying that we had no power, so we would not be opening. Then the workers started guessing when a persistent member would try one door handle, then the other, then look inside, then knock. I guessed 9:30, after we were supposed to open at 9. Other guesses included 9:20, 9:03, and 9:10.
At 9:27 a member pulled one handle, shook the locked door, cupped their hands to the glass to see inside, swiped their card to try to get to the (powerless) ATM, shook the door again, then went to sit in his car. I won the satisfaction of guessing correctly! The member sat in his car for about 15 minutes, hoping we would open. He never saw the huge sign that was taped to the window three inches from where he peered into the branch.
We got to go home at 10, which was great! My first Saturday off at home since I started working there. We spent the day trying to stay cool and not open doors. It was about 100˚ outside, and it actually didn't get crazy warm inside. I think we topped out at 79˚ yesterday evening. We called BGE (our electric provider) who told us that they would have the power on by 1:00. Nat had planned to go into Washington DC to have lunch with his aunt, uncle, and cousins already. It was great that I got to go too! It's nice having family so close, but it's also annoying that I work on one of the only days that they have off.
We all met at Hill Country BBQ close to the capitol building (we drove, that was scary). It was by far the best BBQ that I have had in this state. The waiter told us that all the brisket is slow smoked over wood that is shipped up from Lockhart, Texas. Everything there was based on a little family diner in Lockhart. It was absolutely a wonderful taste of home. The waiter, Charles, walked up to us as we sat down and recognized Nat. It turns out that Charles and Nat had a few classes together at ACU. None of us were from this area, but all the ACU alumni ended up in that restaurant and he happened to be our server. It's a small world when you are an ACU alumni.
After lunch, we made it back home and fell into an afternoon-long food coma. For some reason, we hadn't ever pulled out the candles that we have. I finally remembered to do that yesterday evening after our excursion to Chick-fil-a. It was an absolute mad house there. The drive-thru was wrapped around the building twice, and it was packed inside as well. Since so many people were without power, it was a good place to find AC and a meal. After we left the chaos, we came back home, lit the candles and played cards for a while.
At this point, I was resigned to the fact that we wouldn't be getting power any time soon so we just went to bed. It's really unpleasant to sleep when it's really hot. This is when I join the rest of Maryland and become a pansy. Fortunately, we woke up this morning to the sound of our fish filter running! Our power came back on at 8:33 Sunday morning which means we were out of power for about 33 hours.
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