Tonight someone came to see the house FINALLY! The good thing: the house got shown! The BAD thing(s): the appointment service DID NOT CALL US, so we had no idea they were coming. Thus, the house was not show-ready at all. We are generally neat people, so it was not THAT bad, but dishes in the sink, clean laundry sitting in a basket, the bed unmade, etc. General everyday clutter, because, hey, we LIVE here. The people were really nice and were genuinely sorry that we were inconvenienced but we were just glad that someone came to see it! So now we wait, hope and pray for an offer.
Sidenote: Greg and I specifically prayed last night for someone to come see the house, then promptly fell asleep and put it out of our minds. Answered prayer, once again!!!
Happy Birthday CALEB!!! (poor baby is still sicky)
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
House update
Well, today we lowered the price a little. Since it's been on the market two full weeks and NOT ONE person has walked through it, we decided to start the aggressive selling tactics. I know everything will work out, but it's still a little discouraging that it hasn't even shown yet. One good thing is that twice now there have been a hoard of Realtors traipsing though the house next door and so they HAD to have seen our sign too.. Ours is planning an open house in a few weeks if necessary. I also wrote an article for the Fort Worth Star Telegram that is supposed to run in this Sunday's paper. We are going to be a featured story in the Real Estate section! woohoo!
Monday, February 26, 2007
Hurst, Tyler, or somewhere else?
This is our dilemma now. We were prefectly happy to sell our house and find a smaller one in Hurst. We really love our church and that's really the only reason we want to stay here. Oh yeah, and there's Greg's job that he doesn't like all that much but has and better keep until we find something better. SO, we went for a Tyler visit this weekend and it was so different than usual in the fact that we weren't itching to leave town on Sunday. We actually didn't get home until 8:00 last night so that means we piddled around Tyler for more than 48 hours and wished the sun would've stayed up a little longer so we wouldn't have to drive home in the dark.
Reasons to live in Hurst:
1. City living - close to everything
2. close to church
3. we have friends here now
4. Close to my family
Reasons NOT to live in Hurst:
1. Midcities probably doesn't have the best air quality around
2. all the houses we've seen are pretty old (50s-60s)
3. not too sure about the school district/crime ratings
4. just general uneasiness
My list of reasons NOT to move to Tyler:
1. Podunk
2. not the best shopping options
3. No HEB (not that there's HEB here either)
4. All the roads are so dang bumpy!
5. Mom, Grandma-Grandpa, Aunts, Uncles, cousins that live in DFW.
6. allergies
Reasons Tyler is a good idea:
1. Property Taxes are actually affordable
2. Cost of living slightly lower
3. We know our way around
4. Lots of Baptist churches to choose from
5. Everything is closer together/less gas
6. no trouble making friends, just look up our old ones
7. TALL TREES
8. Trees in general (mesquite is NOT a tree!!)
9. we know the school system
10. Dad and the Rices live there
So this is still in the preliminary stage, but I am starting to feel the pull. I'm not all that happy about it after I've said what I've said about "people that stay in their home town for their whole lives" but maybe I'm finished with the fast lane. It's been a five year process but I think I'm ready to go home. Ugh, did I just say that???
Reasons to live in Hurst:
1. City living - close to everything
2. close to church
3. we have friends here now
4. Close to my family
Reasons NOT to live in Hurst:
1. Midcities probably doesn't have the best air quality around
2. all the houses we've seen are pretty old (50s-60s)
3. not too sure about the school district/crime ratings
4. just general uneasiness
My list of reasons NOT to move to Tyler:
1. Podunk
2. not the best shopping options
3. No HEB (not that there's HEB here either)
4. All the roads are so dang bumpy!
5. Mom, Grandma-Grandpa, Aunts, Uncles, cousins that live in DFW.
6. allergies
Reasons Tyler is a good idea:
1. Property Taxes are actually affordable
2. Cost of living slightly lower
3. We know our way around
4. Lots of Baptist churches to choose from
5. Everything is closer together/less gas
6. no trouble making friends, just look up our old ones
7. TALL TREES
8. Trees in general (mesquite is NOT a tree!!)
9. we know the school system
10. Dad and the Rices live there
So this is still in the preliminary stage, but I am starting to feel the pull. I'm not all that happy about it after I've said what I've said about "people that stay in their home town for their whole lives" but maybe I'm finished with the fast lane. It's been a five year process but I think I'm ready to go home. Ugh, did I just say that???
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Houses
Yesterday I took Caleb to get his first birthday pictures taken. Read more about that on his blog. (About the Babe)
We had a fun weekend with Ma and Pa Rice. They went to their Gaithers concert in Dallas at the AAC, and enjoyed it a lot. Then we went to church on Sunday and afterwards looked around Hurst at some houses on our list. One of them was having an open house! It was not what we are looking for (too much work done inside, making the price too high) but we saw a couple that were very promising on the outside. One house that is vacant we walked around the whole outside and then met the next-door neighbor who gave us a thirty-year rundown on all the previous owners. I peeked in the windows and the kitchen is huge, and they have put in pergo-type wood floors in the formal dining room and hallway (maybe more, but I couldn't see from the window) I know the pictures I've seen of the inside make it look really ugly because the walls need painting and the carpet needs replacing. But we also found out that this home is about to go in to forclosure because the current owners divorced. It is in the lower range of our rpice range already and if it went down even more due to foreclosure that would be such a blessing!! I really want to see the inside of the house, but I am going to wait until we get some good news on our house.
Speaking of, a week ago today we listed the house and have gotten a couple of calls but no showings. =( Greg called our Realtor yesterday and she was surprised that it didn't show over the weekend. That she was surprised, surprised me, pleasantly. We were actually calling to ask her if she thought we should go ahead and lower the price. She said NO, give it another week or so at least before lowering the price. So we'll listen to her. But after seeing the house up the street sell for full price in four days we were already getting weary of ours not having any interest at all.
So we'll just keep praying for God to do His perfect timing. Because who knows, it could be another couple of months before that house we like goes into foreclosure and we definitely would like that.
We had a fun weekend with Ma and Pa Rice. They went to their Gaithers concert in Dallas at the AAC, and enjoyed it a lot. Then we went to church on Sunday and afterwards looked around Hurst at some houses on our list. One of them was having an open house! It was not what we are looking for (too much work done inside, making the price too high) but we saw a couple that were very promising on the outside. One house that is vacant we walked around the whole outside and then met the next-door neighbor who gave us a thirty-year rundown on all the previous owners. I peeked in the windows and the kitchen is huge, and they have put in pergo-type wood floors in the formal dining room and hallway (maybe more, but I couldn't see from the window) I know the pictures I've seen of the inside make it look really ugly because the walls need painting and the carpet needs replacing. But we also found out that this home is about to go in to forclosure because the current owners divorced. It is in the lower range of our rpice range already and if it went down even more due to foreclosure that would be such a blessing!! I really want to see the inside of the house, but I am going to wait until we get some good news on our house.
Speaking of, a week ago today we listed the house and have gotten a couple of calls but no showings. =( Greg called our Realtor yesterday and she was surprised that it didn't show over the weekend. That she was surprised, surprised me, pleasantly. We were actually calling to ask her if she thought we should go ahead and lower the price. She said NO, give it another week or so at least before lowering the price. So we'll listen to her. But after seeing the house up the street sell for full price in four days we were already getting weary of ours not having any interest at all.
So we'll just keep praying for God to do His perfect timing. Because who knows, it could be another couple of months before that house we like goes into foreclosure and we definitely would like that.
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Caleb's Wish List (for real this time)
http://www.toysrus.com/ControllerServlet?lastName=Rice&firstName=Caleb&cityOrState=&target=search&userType=giftGiver&pageNumber=&searchForPerson=primReg&whereTo=viewRegistry&x=68&y=4
If that link doesn't work, try this at toyrus.com. registry #: 39279733
If that link doesn't work, try this at toyrus.com. registry #: 39279733
Pictures from lately
Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos
Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos
Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos
Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos
Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos
Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos
Big news
I have been wanting to write about this for a couple of weeks now, but we were waiting for a "for sure" moment. Well, that moment came on Monday when we found out how much our mortgage is going up. We were barely hanging on as it was, so to find out that our payment will go up by around $700 a month for the rest of 2007 was the breaking point. I had been feeling very convicted about how we were living anyway, and it's like God was affirming my thoughts by slamming that weight down on my toes. So now we know. If there was any question before, now we know that we must sell our house and buy something smaller. Monday afternoon our Realtor, who we love very much, came out and took pictures and we signed the listing agreement and Tuesday the house was listed for sale. And now we wait!
Where will we go? We are looking in Hurst and Bedford and North Richland Hills, although the traffic in NRH SUCKS! So if Hurst doens't give us something, we will expand to NRH. My dream house, (as big as I can dream for $115,000) is something built in the 60-70s that is fully functional and really ugly. That way we can live in it, and make it pretty as we are able to save some money. The hard part is finding something liveable for that price. Other important criteria are a back yard with TREES, a garage that we can park two full size cars in, storage building, and a decent neighborhood, (not a 'hood, haha) But we can't be too picky, because the price totally puts a cap on what we can find. I was surprised to find as many nice homes as I have. We will just see what God has in store for us next.
OH HO!! I almost forgot. I may have accidently gotten myself a part time job starting in September teaching preschool two days a week. The good part is that I can take Caleb with me for free. It's a 9:00-2:30 job Tuesdays and Thursdays at a Baptist Preschool/Mother's Day Out program. I am going to try to get on the substitute list as soon as we move. The church is in Hurst, so it would not be worth the drive from our current location, but man if I lived down the street it would totally rock!!
SO, good things fall into the laps of those who give it all up to God. I'm just waiting for the next lesson.
The MLS listing:
http://ntreislistings.marketlinx.com/SearchDetail/Scripts/PrtBuyFul/PrtBuyFul.asp?prp=mls&AgentId=0434046&EmailKey=19089540
Where will we go? We are looking in Hurst and Bedford and North Richland Hills, although the traffic in NRH SUCKS! So if Hurst doens't give us something, we will expand to NRH. My dream house, (as big as I can dream for $115,000) is something built in the 60-70s that is fully functional and really ugly. That way we can live in it, and make it pretty as we are able to save some money. The hard part is finding something liveable for that price. Other important criteria are a back yard with TREES, a garage that we can park two full size cars in, storage building, and a decent neighborhood, (not a 'hood, haha) But we can't be too picky, because the price totally puts a cap on what we can find. I was surprised to find as many nice homes as I have. We will just see what God has in store for us next.
OH HO!! I almost forgot. I may have accidently gotten myself a part time job starting in September teaching preschool two days a week. The good part is that I can take Caleb with me for free. It's a 9:00-2:30 job Tuesdays and Thursdays at a Baptist Preschool/Mother's Day Out program. I am going to try to get on the substitute list as soon as we move. The church is in Hurst, so it would not be worth the drive from our current location, but man if I lived down the street it would totally rock!!
SO, good things fall into the laps of those who give it all up to God. I'm just waiting for the next lesson.
The MLS listing:
http://ntreislistings.marketlinx.com/SearchDetail/Scripts/PrtBuyFul/PrtBuyFul.asp?prp=mls&AgentId=0434046&EmailKey=19089540
Friday, February 09, 2007
Shameless Wish List
This is a link to Caleb's First Birthday wishlist!
http://www.toysrus.com/cart/index.jsp?wlName=wishlist&clickid=topnav_wish_txt
user:greglexirice@yahoo.com
password: calebrice
He also could use size 12-18 month summer clothes, and 18-24 month winter clothes. He wears size 4 diapers and I like Huggies best!
http://www.toysrus.com/cart/index.jsp?wlName=wishlist&clickid=topnav_wish_txt
user:greglexirice@yahoo.com
password: calebrice
He also could use size 12-18 month summer clothes, and 18-24 month winter clothes. He wears size 4 diapers and I like Huggies best!
Friday, February 02, 2007
Happy February
This was the month Caleb was born! Also the month I smashed my car to pieces and sent it to Honda Heaven. We're going for a much less eventful February this year. Maybe a first word, or a first step, or both would be nice.
Countdown to the party is ON!!!! Official Party time is March 3rd! Still deciding on lunch time or afternoon. Also undecided on a theme at this point. Party City hasn't been on my way to or from anything lately, so I'll stop in later to find something with CARs on it I hope. Pop Quiz: CAR stands for what? Zoom Zoom!
Greg is going to see the doctor today because he's had a sore throat for several days and wants something stronger than Tylenol. He even shaved for the occasion! Last time he went to see Dr. Walter she fussed at him for being so hairy on his face. She told him her employees would not be allowed to look that scruffy.
Yesterday the warranty people came and painted the spots the "fixed" earlier this week. There was one that is so much worse now that they will have to come back and "fix" it again next week. What is so hard about making a straight line?? The silly guy even had a leveler. I don't think it does much good if you use it to wipe off the excess putty stuff. No one ever taught that man how to use the thing... poor little man.
Greg just called to tell me he had a meeting with his boss today and told his boss that he's not getting paid enough. Yesterday Greg went to meet with a claimant who happens to be in the ICU due to the injuries from the accident that Farmers' insured caused. While he was there some one DIED in the ICU and Greg saw them wheel the gurney out. Talk about traumatic for NO REASON. He told his boss that story and said, "I do not get paid enough to see those things. I hope you will reward me for that." Go baby go!!!! Yay for boys with cajones to tell their bosses what they think! I love my man!
Countdown to the party is ON!!!! Official Party time is March 3rd! Still deciding on lunch time or afternoon. Also undecided on a theme at this point. Party City hasn't been on my way to or from anything lately, so I'll stop in later to find something with CARs on it I hope. Pop Quiz: CAR stands for what? Zoom Zoom!
Greg is going to see the doctor today because he's had a sore throat for several days and wants something stronger than Tylenol. He even shaved for the occasion! Last time he went to see Dr. Walter she fussed at him for being so hairy on his face. She told him her employees would not be allowed to look that scruffy.
Yesterday the warranty people came and painted the spots the "fixed" earlier this week. There was one that is so much worse now that they will have to come back and "fix" it again next week. What is so hard about making a straight line?? The silly guy even had a leveler. I don't think it does much good if you use it to wipe off the excess putty stuff. No one ever taught that man how to use the thing... poor little man.
Greg just called to tell me he had a meeting with his boss today and told his boss that he's not getting paid enough. Yesterday Greg went to meet with a claimant who happens to be in the ICU due to the injuries from the accident that Farmers' insured caused. While he was there some one DIED in the ICU and Greg saw them wheel the gurney out. Talk about traumatic for NO REASON. He told his boss that story and said, "I do not get paid enough to see those things. I hope you will reward me for that." Go baby go!!!! Yay for boys with cajones to tell their bosses what they think! I love my man!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)