Thursday, June 30, 2011

6 days until the closing!

 Well folks, today was the day we started packing! I've been wanting to start packing for a few days now...but Chris has his way of talking me out of it! Who really wants to pack?! Definitely not me.  It seems like I've been packing a bunch lately...first my Waco apt and now Chris' house! But once this is done, then the fun part begins...finding a house & unpacking/decorating!

Today Chris conquered the ping pong table.  We needed to disassemble it or will not fit in the u-haul.  Look how organized all the parts are! He was one determined man.
While he was working on that, I started packing boxes... keep in mind this is only a few of them! :)
Our next project is disassembling this tomorrow...
Can't wait for this to be on the patio of our new home in Waco...which ever home that may be. :) We've been searching on different websites, such as Realtor.com and Hot Pads to see what houses are for sell in the Waco area.  We definitely have a list of houses we want to see, can't wait to see which one we like best! We do have a favorite and can't wait to see the inside of it.

Over this past weekend, the house got a new roof! If you read Chris' post about the pains of selling the house, you know the full story behind having to get a new roof to sell the house.


Chris is currently playing racquetball and when he gets back we are heading to trivia with Hank.  They've gotta get as many days of trivia in before we head down to Texas.  Ohhh and let me just say, last night they got 1st and I knew the answers to maybe 2 questions--Go ME!
Wish us (them..I am no help) luck!

Until next time,
Sarah

Friday, June 24, 2011

The BEST way to make money!

So over the past week or so, Chris and I have decided we needed to get rid of some bulky items that we don't want to move down to Tejas....we are trying to get away with just using a 6'x12' u-haul trailer. Craigslist was the first thing that came to mind.  Chris has bought/sold multiple things over Craigslist, so we have had a little bit of experience with this.  We listed the various items, thinking it may take 4-7 days, if not more,  for us to get rid of the the stuff....

Well let me just tell you in the past TWO days we have sold...
This desk for $50....Don't ask how it went when Chris and I moved it down stairs.  That's one BIG piece of furniture.
This keyboard/piano for $120.  This was much easier to move (thank goodness)!

These pieces of wicker for $30! We probably could have gotten more for it, but it's gone and that's the most important! 
And finally, this lovely chair for $20.

Chris did such a great job with setting up times for people to come get the items.  He had about 10 people email/text/call him about the wicker...it was craziness!

Through out the craigslist dealings, we were able to fit in some fun things.  Last night, Chris took me to a place that had a spectacular view of the sun setting behind the mountains. It was so beautiful!

And today we went to the Littleton History Museum.  I think we were the only people there that did not have 3-4 kids running around them.  I'm not really into museums-but they did have a map of the US from 1720...now that's old!

Thanks for stopping by! That's it for today :)

Sarah

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Selling House: An Exercise in Pain

When the Lamb opened the second seal, it was poured out upon the land. And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword. I demanded the name of this rider, and she replied, "I am Melissa, your adjuster from Farmer's Insurance." And at once, the earth was dark. Revelation 6:3-4.

So, when Sarah said she wanted to start this blog to help friends and family keep up to date with our happenings and such, while to the layman, or say, any normal person, that would come across like, "Oh wow, what a nice idea, I'm sure since you are at such a distance from said friends and family, that idea is really a good one." Well, I am no layman. I immediately seized upon the opportunity to rant and rave to what I am sure will be a mostly uninterested audience (specifically uninterested in my pontification, Sarah's very entertaining, I anticipate interest in her postings)

For those of you who have never sold a house before, I envy you. You still have a childish innocence that I feel for me as been ripped asunder. Buying a house is a delightful process. If you have only bought, but never sold, I am sure that in your mind it has been a stressful process, quite exhausting. In the words of Elanor Roosevelt, "Cowboy up, wuss, you don't know the meaning of pain." Ok, maybe she didn't say that, but I promise you she thought it. When you buy a house, you have an agent who does all the hard work, for free mind you, and wants nothing more than to make your sale happen at no cost to you. You have pick of the litter for which house you want to buy, it can be anything! Yes, getting approved for a loan and all that crap is a pain, but really that's about it. But there is a darker side to the real estate aisle.........selling a house.

Selling a house is akin to medieval torture, or imagine being stuck in a chair in a white room airing nothing but reruns of Kathy Griffin standup. My experience has bordered on nightmarish. I would imagine the story of selling my house would have been rejected as a potential screenplay for "Saw 7" based on the theory that they couldn't keep an R-rating. I'll save you all the gory details, but let the record show that selling a house is a pain. Not only do you need to keep the place in immaculate shape during your showings, which for me was months long (while I tried to leave as small of a daily footprint in my own dwelling as possible), but you are forced into random escapes sometimes with almost no warning. I've been sitting on the couch, covered in my own disgrace and pretzel crumbs, laundry all over, and gotten a call where I was informed at say, 11:18 that a "showing was scheduled from 11:30 - 1:00." This is a human rights violation as far as I am concerned. This is the Highlands Ranch version of war crimes.

But, one day, someone said, "Hey, we want this place." Now, if you've only purchased a house before, never sold, this would come as delicious news. But now that I am knee-deep in this business, I've realized that is only 1/3 of the battle. Inspections have come and appraisals and the like, and we were asked to replace the roof. If you have Farmer's Insurance...run. RUN AS FAST AS YOU CAN. I tried to get my Farmers adjuster out to my house, and keep in mind this is a fella who does NOTHING except inspect roofs. That is his niche. That's his thing. It took a week to get him out here, but he finally did...and it shows up and then says, "Hey, btw, I don't own a ladder. I will came back in a week with one." ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Its his job to inspect roofs! Roofs, I've learned, are not located on the ground. What an idiot. So anyhow...turns out they aren't going to cover anything, because all their capital is going to be appropriated for pictures of ladders, not actual ladders.

Insanity. Anyhow, the closing has been pushed another week, and I am ready to perch myself atop a tower with a series of NERF weaponry. I don't want to hurt anyone, and that would be a hilariously insane way to go out.


This guy knows what's up.

So yea, anyhow...things are still moving along, but Lord almighty, is it stressful. But soon we'll be departing for the shores of Waco, and Sarah will start teaching, I'll be doing voice stuff as much as I can, and GutPaks will flow like wine. Pardon the rant, and it most assuredly won't be the last, as I have a wide range of opinions that I am tired of yelling at my dog, because he doesn't care that I think that the fact that "The View" is still on the air technically violates the Geneva Convention, so, I will share with you. I apologize in advance.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Yummmy BBQ Wings

Well, hello blogging world! I was quite leery on starting a blog because a) are people really that interested in what Chris and I are up to and b) I am no writer/English major.  But I decided that I should give it a try!

Today Chris and I, well more so Chris, ventured into making wings! On Sunday we went to the local Farmer's Market in Highlands Ranch and bought some delicious sweet and spicy bbq/wing sauce.  We intended on getting fresh strawberries, but ended up with bbq sauce and a new adventure of making wings.

We first boiled the wings for 15 minutes (I did that!) and then Chris put them on the grill and worked his magic with the sauce.
He is becoming the REAL griller!
Below is the almost finished product :)

They were so tasty---Way to go CHRIS!
I can't wait to see what else we decide to cook up! We've been pretty creative so far.

Until next time,
Sarah