August Recap...

WOW, this past month has seriously been crazy!!! I'm pretty happy to see it go and move onto fall... Some of the MANY things we accomplished/got through/survived/and even enjoyed:

• My birthday weekend... thank you Spencer!
• Scorpions concert... this was my favorite band in high school. Man, they are old... but they can still Rock It Like a Hurricane (forgive me, that was pretty lame).
• Stuck kidney stone = emergency surgery. ugh... NOT fun!!!
• Back to school shopping, shopping and more shopping! 6 kids is killing us!!!
• Work deadlines and projects... but at least I got out of going on my DC trip!
• Hopefully we have figured out a way to sell our house and still keep our credit in tact... now we need some buyers. C'mon, we're practially giving it away...
• Kids started school: Kesley is a junior, Ash is in 8th, Dallin in 5th, Max in 4th, Hallie in kindergarten, and Audrey in pre-school. And the 6 of them are at 5 different schools.
• Dallin, Max and Ash are playing soccar this fall... we have either games or practices EVERY day except Sunday for the next 7 weeks. It's crazy...
• Kesley got her first car... and it was terrifying watching her drive it away from the DMV after we registered it. My baby is almost 17!
• And one last major last thing I'm not going to post yet... have to figure some stuff out first.

Bring it on September. After this past month, I think I'm ready for anything.

Frusrated!!!!

Can I just say this housing market is insane!!!!! When Spence and I got married this past spring, we decided that my 4 kids & I would move in with him & his 2 kids into the townhouse he bought in Nov 2008. 8 people in a 3 bedroom sounds ridiculous (and it is), but we were confident it would be temporary. We were working with his bank to short sale the townhouse since it appraised for $15,000 less than he owed on it. AND we were willing to take out a loan for the difference (out of our own pockets) to ensure the bank received their FULL LOAN amount. AND if the townhouse still wouldn't sell (plan B), we'd rent it out.

We've picked out our house to build and lot to build it on. We have the money to put down on it. Then everything fell apart. New housing regulations were released from the feds... Anything termed a short sale would be reported on your credit as a foreclosure. WHA??????? The bank gets ALL of the original loan paid back to them and it's STILL a foreclosure? I know, makes NO sense to us either. OK, so we'll rent it out... NOPE!!! Regulations now say that rental income has to be reported on your taxes for TWO YEARS before it will count as income.

AND to make everything so much better (that was SO sarcastically typed)... the townhouse community that we live in continues to build even more townhouses and selling them even lower than this townhouse is approved to short sale for. Who in their right mind would buy a more expensive used townhouse if you can buy a brand new one for less money. No idiot I've ever met.

We are SO frustrated. We both have good jobs and make decent incomes... we would qualify for twice the home we want to build. But because we can't get out of this stupid townhouse, we are stuck. We obviously can afford our home but we don't fit in it. Victims of a ridiculous situation we have NO control over. At this point, I'd love to just pack our things and walk away... except that would cremate Spencer's credit and we'd be unable to build/purchase a home for 5 years. Even then, it would be hard to get a good interest rate. And rates are SOOOOO low right now, who knows where they will be in 5 years. Home prices could again skyrocket by then too...

So what do we do? We cannot stay here much longer. Kids are going insane and making us lunatics as well. It isn't fair to them and nobody has any privacy. Ugh, seems like an impossible situation, huh? I know I'm not the only one stuck in a messy housing problem, and I am grateful we have a home and we can afford it... we just don't fit in it!!! Grrr..........

Highlights from my Birthday Weekend

Yesterday was my birthday, but in true Rachel-style, I like to drag it out and party and celebrate for as long as I can... My fun started last Thursday...

Thursday, July 29th

• Left work early to get my 3 youngest ready to go camping with their dad for the whole weekend. I love my kids dearly, but this was much anticipated because it meant I would have 3 whole days to sleep in as long as I wanted... oh, the blissful heaven of laying in bed and not having a 3 year old pestering you for cartoons & apple jacks at the butt-crack of dawn on a weekend...


• Received some unexpected birthday cash in the mail from my grandma... woo-hoo!!!!!


• Went to a lovely dinner with my amazing husband Spencer and his two kids, Max and Ashley to Spaghetti Factory. Oh, dinner was SO good!!!! It was really nice to do something with just them for a change.

Friday, July 30th

• Saw "Dinner For Schmucks" with Spencer and my oldest Kesley. She really didn't want to go at first, but ended up having a great time with us. After we grabbed a quick lunch at the mall food court and then shopped a little too. Spence got me the cutest necklace...

• Later, dropped of Kes to work and picked up some yummy pasta for a quiet dinner at home. Watched a movie and got to relax!

Saturday, July 31st

• Spence gave me my present a little early... cutest tee from Buckle... I love it!!!




• Headed over to Good Times Tattoo and got my 2nd tattoo (the ankh - Egyptian symbol of life) on my ankle. Also touched up my hearts tattoo on my shoulder blade and added a flourish to tie it together better. VERY happy with the outcome... but OUCH!!!!


• Quick lunch and a little shopping at the Gateway. Got a new phone case for my IPhone.


• On our way home we bought 2 new fish for our fish tank as well as figurines of Spongebob and Patrick - we already have the "pineapple under the sea" in our tank, so this made sense, right? :)



• Stopped to see my mom and she surprised me with a new book that I wanted and $$$... glad we got to visit with her for a bit.



• Didn't feel like going anywhere that evening, so we made a frozen pizza and finished watching Season 6 of 24... we are almost caught up!


• Had my first diet coke in 2 months.... hey, it's MY birthday!!!

Sunday, August 1st... MY ACTUAL BIRTHDAY!!!

• Had a very low key day... slept in till 11am. Colored my hair. Ordered 2 more shirts from Buckle with birthday money from my mom (thanks mom!). Pre-ordered a book coming out later this month.


• Spence gave me a very sweet birthday card.


• We had a yummy dinner at Happy Sumo... Vegas roll - my fav & Coconut Encrusted Halibut (seriously, it's like candy... SOOOO good!) I love that place!!! ♥



• Finally found a water bottle at Dicks Sporting Goods to replace the one I melted in the dishwasher. I am SO particular about my stupid water bottle, but this one is awesome.... and it's pink :)



• Picked up my kids from camping... they were all freshly bathed and even their laundry had been done. Happy Birthday to me! I missed them, so it was awesome to get them back again. They were tired, but had a blast.


• Went home and kids sang me happy birthday and we had cupcakes and ice cream that Spencer had picked up earlier.... so thoughtful.



• Kes gave me some really cool earrings and lip gloss. I love that she picked something out for me... it was really sweet of her to do. Made my day.


• Finally got to crawl in bed and watch E! with Spence... perfect ending to my birthday weekend!!!

THIS WEEK

• Planning a birthday lunch with my work friends.


• Lunch on Wednesday with my bestest long lost friend Shalayne.


• Lagoon on Saturday with Spence, Kes, Ash & Max (rest of the kids are floating the river with their dad).


• AND in 2 weeks... Scorpions concert!!!!! These tickets were also a birthday gift from my amazing husband. Can't wait!!!!