Sunday, August 16, 2015
Wednesday, August 12, 2015
Dreaming a Pretty Home
I've always loved anything to do with houses. I've dreamed of owning my own home since I was a little girl. A house I can design and decorate any way I want.
It's no surprise to my friends and family that when I went to college, I chose to go into interior design. I loved it, too... I felt like I was meant to become a designer. It's just too bad that the timing wasn't right. I graduated at the peek of the housing market collapse, and couldn't find a job in my "field" to save my life. It hasn't stopped me from dreaming up spaces I'd love in my home, though. I've gotta put my creativity to use somehow.
I love creating mood boards on polyvore or in Photoshop. I gather tons of inspiration on Pinterest, too.
I think polyvore is a great site for pulling items from all kinds of stores for my room designs. They have a vast selection already loaded on the site, but if you want something you can't find in their lists, you can access the site through the app and upload it yourself. Or clip the item from a website into polyvore if you are on a computer. I personally love using the app. ;)
My Childhood Home, Part 2
1. My mom couldn't officially sell the house for five years from the time of the mortgage modification.
2. She also had to live in the house... At least until she was allowed to sell it.
3. All of her "stuff" was still in the house... And I mean a lot of stuff. Think border line episode of Horders buried alive.
To make our move a little easier, we got rid of a lot of our own stuff before we moved. We knew we were looking at some major clean up in the new place.
Within the first month of us living there, we made numerous dump runs, clearing out the basement, the yard and the garage. My mom had a hard time letting go of things she thought could be used someday. During one particularly bad instance while we were cleaning out the garage, she actually climbed into the back of the truck to get some of the junk out after she had a panic attack. I was torn between thinking my mom had gone bat shit crazy to feeling horrible about getting rid of so much of her stuff.
The thing is, none of it served a purpose, a lot of it was broken, and to us, just useless. We needed a blank slate, but couldn't get that with her still in the house.
So, for the first few months that we lived there we worked on cleaning the property up, inside and out. Once we had an agreement worked out with my mom for the house, we slowly started working on minor renovations.
With the understanding that the house was now ours, we were okay with investing some money into basic upkeep. We weren't willing to do anything major until the house could be officially ours. But that didn't stop us from painting the house, inside and out, adding trim around windows and doors and adding a new fence for our dogs.
The first year of us being there went by fast. We were happy working on projects around the house, making if feel more like our home and less like a dumping ground. Little things started bothering us though. My mom still called the house hers, even though we'd been making the mortgage payments and putting our money into fixing up the house. Then one day, she let my brother move in, without talking to my husband and I. From that moment, we decided to not work on anymore projects on the house. Not until my mom and brother moved out.
It's been about a year since he moved in... I admit we feel defeated and used at this point. We are giving it a little more time, then I think it'll be time for us to move on if they choose to stay.
Sunday, August 9, 2015
Wednesday, July 29, 2015
Thoughts About My Childhood House, Part 1
Several years ago, my parents divorced one another. They waited until all five of the kids were grown before they ended their marriage, which deep down, I think we all appreciated. My dad moved to a nearby town, and my mom kept the house. I sometimes wish they would have sold the house in the divorce, it would have made so many events easier in the coming years... 
My mom has a limited income, so when she was left with a mortgage she couldn't afford after the divorce, she got creative with paying it. She rented out rooms in the house to make the mortgage payments, but all too soon, even that wasn't enough to keep up with the responsibilities of home ownership.
The house fell into a state of disrepair.
Soon after, my mom wasn't able to keep up with such a high mortgage payment, while trying unsuccessfully to maintain the property. By the time she was nearly twenty thousand dollars behind on the mortgage, the bank sent her notice of foreclosure. It was a very stressful time for everyone in my family. My brother sent her a lot of money while he was serving a tour with the Army in Afghanistan, but the bank couldn't accept the payments unless it was for the full amount.
It was at that time that she decided the only way to save the house was a mortgage modification. That was a long stressful and drawn out process for her. She was fortunate when her modification was approved, drastically reducing her monthly payments. The penalty was steep though, after paying on the house for 15 years, she now had a mortgage that was $25,000 more than the original one.
She continued renting rooms in the house for additional income, even after the modification. If not, she still couldn't afford the house. Eventually, she asked my husband and I if we'd be interested in buying the house from her... We'd been casually looking for awhile and thought it might be a good idea. She wasn't able to officially sell it for five years after the modification but for family, she wanted to do an owner carry type of contract.
At first, we were thrilled to accept the agreement, and started working out a contract immediately. She'd need to stay in the house for a few years, per the rules of the mortgage modification that she had, but that didn't need to stop us from moving into the house.
Monday, March 19, 2012
Challenge part 4
15 Random Facts About Me....
- I am a lifetime member of Weight Watchers. (Who needs to get back to her goal weight.)
- My most favorite color is purple.
- I do not eat any ground or processed meat.
- I can quirk both of my eyebrows, and waggle them back and forth.
- I have a "writer's bump" on my middle finger of my right hand. I always feel for it when someone asks me which direction, left or right...
- I am a clean freak, I like my home to appear spotless, but if you open a closet, be prepared for an avalanche to assault you! Closet clutter.. haha
- I have 2 tattoos, one on my back and one on my right ankle. (And I want more!)
- I drink 2 cups of coffee a day, to keep the headaches away.
- Procrastinate is my middle name.. well, it should have been anyway. It's actually Marie. Marie should have meant procrastinate.
- I'm close enough to 5'8" tall, that I just go with it.
- Back in the day (high school), I was the only female in the carpentry program, it was awkward but fun.
- I love daisies. They remind me of freshness, renewal, springtime, sunshine, and happiness.
- I'm hungry, right now.
- I can plug my nose with my upper lip. Look mom, no hands!
- Is that enough weird random facts? Okay, one more.... sigh. I read many historical romance books.. I have boxes and boxes of them packed away. I even re-read the ones that I loved the most. I read about three a week. If I could have been born in another era, I'd go to Regency England.
Monday, February 27, 2012
Blog Challenge, Numero three
I fail at this blog challenge thing. I have already fallen behind, but that is mostly because I keep writing the one I'm supposed to do, and hating it sooooooo much that I delete it.
Today it will get done. I promise.
Part 3 I randomly generated the one to pick up a thesaurus and choose 10 words I like the sound of. Sounds easy enough right? Wrong! I don't have a thesaurus, or if I do, its most likely packed in a box in the deep recesses of my storage closet with all the other school related stuff I no longer use.
What to do....
Urban Dictionary to the rescue! It has a thesaurus, plus I get highly amused for hours whenever I browse the site.
***I apologize in advance for my warped/perverted sense of humor.
Alora~ Most people that know my online persona, know I go by CiaoAlora, LadyAlora or just plain Alora for various games. My husband used to call me allora quite a bit until I found out it means pretty much "hey you, girl" or some such generic saying...
Angry Dragon~*giggles like a schoolgirl*
Rawr~ Word that means "I love you" in dinosaur.
A simple .~ It stops a sentence in its path!
Designa Vagina~ A vagina that has had surgery, to become tighter.
Clitter~ Glitter for your vagina. Woohoo glitter! (I would not actually let glitter near my vagina, it sounds too similar to what might happen if sand got near...)
Weenis~ The skin on your elbow, or the nickname my sister likes to call me.
Cock~ A rooster. Honest.
Rake~ Rakes make the best husbands.
Woohoo, I did 10!! Okay, that is all for now.
Today it will get done. I promise.
Part 3 I randomly generated the one to pick up a thesaurus and choose 10 words I like the sound of. Sounds easy enough right? Wrong! I don't have a thesaurus, or if I do, its most likely packed in a box in the deep recesses of my storage closet with all the other school related stuff I no longer use.
What to do....
Urban Dictionary to the rescue! It has a thesaurus, plus I get highly amused for hours whenever I browse the site.
***I apologize in advance for my warped/perverted sense of humor.
Alora~ Most people that know my online persona, know I go by CiaoAlora, LadyAlora or just plain Alora for various games. My husband used to call me allora quite a bit until I found out it means pretty much "hey you, girl" or some such generic saying...
| Spokomton~ My hometown, Yo! |
Angry Dragon~*giggles like a schoolgirl*
Rawr~ Word that means "I love you" in dinosaur.
A simple .~ It stops a sentence in its path!
Designa Vagina~ A vagina that has had surgery, to become tighter.
Clitter~ Glitter for your vagina. Woohoo glitter! (I would not actually let glitter near my vagina, it sounds too similar to what might happen if sand got near...)
Weenis~ The skin on your elbow, or the nickname my sister likes to call me.
Cock~ A rooster. Honest.
Rake~ Rakes make the best husbands.
Woohoo, I did 10!! Okay, that is all for now.
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