Here I sit.....

Here I sit writing this post, instead of closing on our home today, as originally planned.  This is the product of several unfortunate events that were out of our control over the past few weeks:

-There were several liens against the home (back taxes, child support, credit card debt) we had to wait to clear in order to get a clean title
-We have waited, and waited, and waited on several documents from the sellers that have arrived in a very untimely manner
-We just got the last of those documents, the HOA disclosures, yesterday
-There is a huge discrepancy in the true square footage of the home and what the tax assessors office has on file....I don't think we are going to be so lucky to pay those deflated taxes!
-While all along, we were supposed to close today, suddenly the seller is realizing how nice free housing is and doesn't want to move out until she absolutely is made to....as you can tell from the above information they are clearly dragging their feet.

So, we are not closing today after all.  As you can see, this is completely out of our control.  Yet, we have spent the last two weeks on the phone, signing papers, keeping everyone on the same page, pushing for documents, securing a loan, picking up what others drop, moving around money, and juggling so many balls just trying to keep them all in the air!  It has brought me to the verge of tears on several occasions, due to the high levels of frustration, and we have sworn we will never buy a short sale ever again!  We have spent entire days working on this like there was no tomorrow...simply exhausting ourselves, yet seeming to have achieved nothing by the time our heads hit the pillow.  I have felt like we were running backwards!  We have done everything to make sure it didn't all come crashing down, and if it did that it wasn't due to lack of effort on our part.  I don't think this quite embodies the level of anxiety we have been under to make this work, close on time, get out of this hotel, compromise with the seller, appease the bank, get our stuff out of storage, and work around Todd's work schedule. 

Yesterday was the eleventh hour, and after a full and stressful day we felt completely defeated and frustrated knowing we would not be closing today and taking possession of the home on Monday, before Todd goes out of town.  Todd and I decided we should get out of the hotel for the night and go out for Mexican and Margaritas...that always seems to make anything better!  It seemed to work!

Today, I thought I would be upset and still frustrated.  However, I feel so at peace with God's timing in this whole thing.  I have spent my morning responding to emails that are unrelated to the house, on the phone with people I want to talk to, and focusing on my grocery list instead of my moving list.  (Sidenote: We are still doing our walkthrough this evening) For some reason, we are supposed to continue living in this hotel, storing our stuff, taking Breck out to a tiny patch of astroturf in my robe every morning, delaying our move date, and eating out of a toaster oven.  God surely is mysterious!! ;o)

Hotel Living

I'm beginning to think Todd and I should be on a reality TV show.  There has been no lack of "drama" in our lives, and we certainly would not need writers to come up with great story lines!  There are days when Todd and I can't do anything but sit back and laugh at the comedy of mishaps, horrible timing, and lack of structure in our lives right now!

Just today, I was on the phone with our cell phone provider trying to update our address to the PO Box we just opened.  The customer service rep was requiring I verify my address in order to update it.  I rattled off 3 addresses, and couldn't remember the zip code for one the one they had on file before finally getting it correct!  Turns out they had our last hotel address on file which they pulled from my return address on my last payment.  I know the woman on the other end of the line probably thought I was crazy, in fact she asked, "You don't know your address?".  No ma'am, I know my address (wait, do we actually have an address other than a rented 3" x 3" space??), I just don't know which one from the last 2 months you might have on file!

And last night, in 4 square feet of counter space, Todd and I made a spaghetti dinner using a blender and stove eye.  Yet, the toaster oven and blender take up most of the counter, so our dinner was prepped in something closer to one square foot of space.  I'm not quite sure how we did it other than we both seemed to be holding something that wouldn't fit on the counter in one hand while prepping with the other hand.  We also took our ground meat out of the small, condo size fridge to find the back is colder than the rest of the fridge, and our meat was frozen.  We might have also somehow managed to blow a fuse in the wall outlet by simply overloading it with the blender, but we fixed it so no one needs to know!  All this to say, we did eat, and it was delicious!

Our gluten free spaghetti dinner,
devoured on the closest thing we have to a dinner table,
the coffee table!

Cooking in a hotel is difficult enough, but cooking while taking my food allergies into account is even more difficult!  With our lack of appliances and space, Todd is having to eat gluten and casein free for the most part.  We just don't have the space and ability to make 2 meals each night.  So, my biggest challenge has been to make foods that I can eat, and that Todd wants to eat!  I think we have been quite successful, as we have made everything from chicken tortilla soup from scratch to Breck's dog food!  I wanted to share a few pictures of the things we have been enjoying!

Fruit salsa which has been enjoyed with 100% corn chips

Mini cornbread muffins made in the toaster oven!

Lime cake (gluten, egg, sugar, and casein free) with vegan buttercream icing.
I know you won't believe me, but this is so delicious,
you wouldn't know it was so "without"!!

Quick breads (gluten free) in the toaster oven

Strawberry sorbet (and Breck's extra food in the bag)

Today, we made things easy by having a lunch date at Whole Foods!  I love being able to partake in a buffet that actually has foods I can eat on it...and Todd loves the Tacqueria and pizza bars!  ...and tonight, we are grilling brats in the toaster oven with gluten free buns.  But for now, I am back to watching the kitchen episode of the Nate Berkus show.... getting ideas and dreaming of the day I will have a real kitchen!!!

Happenings!

We have been so busy, and I'm not sure how our calendar went from being so bare to full so soon after moving!  We are really trying to immerse ourselves in everything here, and get as settled as possible!  This is what we have been doing over the last several weeks:

Drove by the home in Oceanside I lived in for a few years as a kid.



Visited with family that came to visit, and watched
Breck entertain my cousin...or my cousin entertain Breck!

Visited open houses way outside of our price range...
just for fun!

Had my first jicama tacos, and they were delicious!

Got a little bit of home decor inspiration!

Watched Breck make friends with his obedience school classmates!

Got outside of our hotel room for a glass of wine!

...and watched Breck chase this rabbit!!
(his new hobby)

Scoped out strawberry fields, and other farms I want to visit
once we have a kitchen!

Visited my Aunt and Uncle, and my cousin in San Diego for Easter,
and we had a nation-wide online egg decorating contest with family 

...and this was my contribution to our "California dreaming"
themed egg submissions - yes, that is real hair!  lol

Found a Chick-fil-A on my way to pick up Todd
from the airport last week (he was out of town for work),
I surprised him with an Arnold Palmer and fries at 10pm!

Somehow taught Breck some obedience thanks to his classes!!
(See how in shock I am!?!)

Found several mexican restaurants (Todd's favorite) and
celebrated another Ava promotion!!

A few days ago, we moved to a different hotel that is much closer to Todd's work.  It has actually been a good thing.  However, the move was not as easy as we thought it would be!  We couldn't believe we somehow got all of the same stuff through the airport, and cross country only a month ago!  It seemed impossible!! 

I also bought a toaster oven recently, so we set it up in this hotel room after the move.  I made baked chicken last night and was so thrilled to have a decent meal in the hotel!  Today, I bought a VitaMix blender, and so I'm sure that will be my new obsession once it gets here!

We sure are missing everyone, and as time goes by we are also missing our stuff (how silly does that sound??).  We are hoping to have house news soon...and as always will keep you updated!