Christmas Day 2011

(note up-date at the bottom of this post)

Good thing we have a big house now! There will be 10 people here today (11 if you count Rowdy) No doubt it is going to be a very busy day! Mark will be leaving in a couple of minutes to drive down to Portland to pick up Christopher and I will be busy with last minute cooking. The first guests should start arriving about 2:00. The plan is to have Christmas dinner tonight & open gifts tomorrow morning. 

The turkey & ham are ready to cook & I have a time schedule made up for everything else. Dinner should be served right around 5:00 tonight. (Hopefully I wont have any oven issues today & it will be on time!) After dinner we have a nice hot spiced wine for the adults and sparking cider for the kids. 

Oh, BTW - Christmas miracles do happen! Mark & I got our big Christmas gift a little early this year. Mark will be going back to the slope on Jan. 3rd! He got a great job with the highest pay so far! 2012 is looking to be a great year! 

We will have a tone of photos & video to share soon. 
Have a very Merry Christmas everyone! 

December 26,

This Christmas has turned out to be my best one EVER! The gifts under the tree were well received & fun, but the best gifts were smiling faces & laughter. The greatest gift was family! And we thank each & everyone of you for making our wonderful family possible! We love you all so much! 

Note: We have a great video but it is to big to post anywhere. If you want a copy let me know & I will make you a CD.         

     

It's A Week Til Christmas

 A happy holiday to all.As it gets closer to Xmas we pray that all of us are stress free and that we all keep the spirit of the season in mind as we go about our daily lives.That spirit,as I see it, is all about sharing time with family and friends,being thankful for the many blessings we have in our lives,and a sense of optimism that our futures will see more of the same.
 Lori and I have been decorating our house and It's looking festive.We still have a few more additions to wrap up,but they will happen.We have a huge pile of presents for family members and friends to open.Shopping on line is such a cool way to go..........Raymond is somewhat limited as far as stores go.So shopping from home opens up the whole world.And a big thanks to UPS.
 There will be a houseful of people here for Christmas Day.We are both looking forward to the chaos and mayhem that will bring.Adds some excitement to our otherwise quite lives.Besides that ,its fun to have a crowd here goofing around and having a good time.Lots of cooking ,eating and drinking coming.We will post lots of pictures after Xmas to share with you all.
 Merry Chrismas to all,and to all a good nite.

Christmas Season is Here!!

Holdman Christmas Lights 2010 - Complete Show 

This house is incredible! Every year they do this and they get better every time. I have seen many of the short 1 song videos but this is the first full one and it is amazing! It's a great kick off for the 2011 Christmas Season! 

BYW - I copied this statement from the Holdman's YouTube website. 

The complete Holdman Christmas Light Display for 2010 after a fresh snow storm. By request I am now offering this on DVD when you make a $10 donation to Make-a-Wish. Go to http://www.holdman.com/christmas/dvd 

 HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!

Thanksgiving Day, Time to set up the Christmas tree!

I thought I had decided on a real tree this year but as I thought about it that would mean waiting till just before Christmas to get it & set it up. Not to mention that the only place to set it up is right on top of a heater vent! So I have been going back & forth practically since we moved in!

The week-end of our big family T-day, Chris & I went to Walmart to kick off our Christmas season by getting some outdoor decorations & lights. I saw this tree & problem solved! I stewed for a few more days just to be sure. Looked at a bunch of other trees, including real ones. But I ended up with the same problems, the heater vent & I really didn't want to wait till just before Christmas to put it up.

So as you can see I picked up the tree and some supplies last night.  =)
It is 7 1/2 feet and lightly frosted. I never really liked flocked trees, I always thought they looked fake even when it was done to a real tree! But this one is just right!! It will look awesome after it is decorated! 
 
 The tree comes in 3 sections and has clear lights already on it. The branches are hinged and fell right into place as soon as I put the sections together!
This is the tree right out of the box, it only took a few minutes to set it up. We fluffed up some of the branches before this photo but as you can see we could decorate it as it is just out of the box if we were tight on time.        

There are a bazillion moveable tips on all the branches so it can be formed just right! And of course I want to add some colored lights too. 
  
We didn't bring most of our decorations with us, (another reason for getting this particular tree) I think it will look great even with just a few decorations!







This is the tree positioned, centered, fluffed & ready for decorating. I might take down the curtains behind it so it can be seen outside better. 

Time to get busy! I have a lot to do! Oh BTW, I have also been stewing about where & how to set up my Christmas village this year, the box the tree came in is perfect! I will put up the village on the box in the entry!




The last few days have been to stormy to put up outdoor stuff yet so that will have to wait a few more days. I will post again when I get more stuff done!

November 19th, 2011. A VERY Thankful Day!

We had our big family Thanksgiving the week end before the actual day in order for everyone to be here. It is the first time this group has been all together since Mark & I were married, and this year will be our 10th anniversary! Way tooo long for families to be apart! 
 
I loved cooking this huge meal in my new kitchen! We had a 19lb. turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes & gravy. Green bean casserole, corn custard, green & fruit salads. Of course we had sweets too, candy left over from Halloween, home made peanut-butter fudge, pumpkin pie & pumpkin bread. Oh, and dinner rolls! 


There was lots of room in our big house for everyone to crash on the floor and the grand kids had tons of room outside to run off their sugar buzz! Of course Rowdy was right in the middle of everything! He loves the kids and the company!

It was a great day for Mark & I, we love you all so very much! We are thankful for such beautiful children! And we are excited to get ready to do it all again for Christmas!! 

November 14th. Keely's Sweet 16 Birthday!

Our granddaughter Keely turned 16 today! Mom gave her a party after school with a couple friends. Of course we were there too. After she opened her gifts we played a birthday game for the last gift. She had to cover her eyes with a scarf. Then she was taken outside and spun around. We then took off the scarf & she was to go find her last gift. 

Happy Birthday Keely! We love you! 

Live the Dream!

 

I guess I need to add a comment here, I actually had a ride on the beach like this when I was guiding! It was on a palomino Thoroughbred just off the race track. It was the first time I rode a horse full out like that, it was an incredible, thrilling ride and just a little scary! This video also reminds me of galloping down the beach on Lacey. Good memories!   =)

We have come a long way in the last 2 months!

It is hard to believe it has only been 2 months!




A new well has been drilled and we now have good drinkable water!



 The second day after move in we went to Sears & got all new matching appliances! I L O V E this fridge! Even though it is actually smaller than the old one, it has A LOT more room. It also has a filtered water dispenser on the inside! The stove & oven is huge too! Good thing because I will be cooking a HUGE!! turkey this year!!


That same day we also stopped at Selmer's furniture & got these new matching sofas & recliner. I actually found these in the Soldotna Fred Meyers, these are sooooo comfy! And they should hold up much better for us than the micro fiber stuff did!  


We also spent a whole day going to garage sales. First we found 2 nice end tables, 2 table lamps & a nice book shelf with a light in it. Then later we found this really nice coffee w/2 matching end tables and this awesome dinning table! Just the table is 5 foot but is has 2 leafs that expand it out to 7 feet! It came with 4 regular chairs & 2 captains chairs. The chairs have been newly reupholstered and were still in the bags. The table top really needs to be refinished though, a project I will have fun with this winter! (after the holidays of course =) 

My first project was installing some DVD selves! In doing some math, these 3 shelves should hold about 500 DVDs & as you can see we totally filled them up!  =)  

 My next project was office shelves. Oh yea, I got this nice desk at a garage sale too, only paid $20.00 for it! I have also bought a folding craft table to go under the window. Now with all this space & shelves, hopefully it wont get as cluttered! (hahaha yea right!  ;) 

 We have several other projects going right now in various stages of completion. But that will wait for the next blog. As we get the house more & more organized & unpacked it is leaving us more time for exploring our property & the woods around us. More to come in the following blogs!

Catching Up! (Part 3) Home at Last

We didn't sit in the truck to long, we were to excited! So far everything we could see from the outside & in the dark was so much better than the photos we couldn't wait to see the inside of the house. Mark went in first to flip the main breakers and get some lights on. I had spent so much time dreaming of this moment, of the two of us walking into this new house for the first time together. I was not very happy that I couldn't just jump out of the truck and go in with Mark. But stumbling around in the dark with the walker was not a good idea!

As soon as the power came on the house was filled with several very loud, annoying & distracting beeping sounds! The house has several smoke alarms and they were ALL going off sounding low batteries! So the first really cool thing we noticed in the new house was the very high ceilings! Which at the moment was not a good thing because we could not reach the alarms to turn them off! 

We decided to unload the bags we brought with us on the plane, then Mark went in search of something to stand on to turn off the alarms. He managed to get all but two of the alarms shut down. It was still noisy but at least we could concentrate on looking at the house now. 


The house is HUGE! The high ceilings give it an even bigger felling. And like the outside the photos didn't even come close to showing how awesome this house really is! It felt like we were walking into a palace and we still can't believe how lucky we are to have found such a perfect home!

About this time exhaustion was overcoming our excitement and even the still chirping smoke alarms. It was about 5am and except for a very short nap on the plane we have at this point been up for well over 24 hours! Then another problem, Rowdy would NOT come into the house! He too was totally stressed out by the move and I guess the noisy alarms were more than he could take. He jumped into the bed of the rental truck & would NOT move! Luckily it was a very warm night so we decided to set up the airbed in the living room & left the door ajar so Rowdy could come in if he wanted to. However we couldn't find the airbed pump, to tired to worry about it, we slept on the floor.

We didn't sleep long but felt refreshed when we woke up. The first order of business was coffee! Unfortunately that was not to happen, what little water came out of the kitchen faucet was disgusting! Brown & smelly! Well we knew there might be some water *challenges* we will have to deal with it.

We had to go into town anyway to get a ladder & some batteries for the smoke alarms but we stopped at a small diner for coffee first. We got our thoughts together & wrote out a "To Do" list. We contacted the plumber/driller that replaced the well pump & talked about drilling a new well. It is going to be a major expense that we were hoping to avoid but we knew it would be worth it in the long run. So an appointment was made for Sept. 9th. 


We spent the morning getting supplies (including an airbed pump & a ladder!) We do not have any appliances yet so we didn't buy any groceries. We did get a coffee maker & LOTS of water though! We got home, replaced the smoke alarm batteries & set up the airbed. We were finally able to encourage Rowdy to come in the house. 

The internet & phone was sapos to have been turned on a few days before we got here but of course it wasn't! On top of that our cell phones only worked in one very small space by the front windows. So we spent the rest of the day trying to get phone, internet & TV. Our house sits in a dead zone, we have ended up with 3 satellite dishes on the house and even then, we just barley have internet & cell phones! This has actually been a good thing, I have spent more time OUT side in the last 2 months than all of the last 6 years! So yea... it's a good trade!

With that said, this blog is so far behind that important stuff is getting missed! So I will wrap this up in the next blog and bring it up to date!

        

Our House Is Feeling Like Home

Familiarity does not breed contempt....the more familiar we become with our new house...the more comfortable we are.
We are finding out where to put stuff.....what stuff we did bring with us...and some of what stuff we still need to get.
I've been home for a week now and am so pleased with all the work Lori has put into our new home.She has done a remarkable job.We now have a dining room table,some coffee and end tables,and we are starting to get some shelves in the garage.I'll be making a lot more shelves so we can have a place for everything and everything in it's place.Both in the garage and in the shop.That'll help keep stuff more organized and easier to access and find.
Of course,we still have a lot of un-packed boxes to get to and figure out where to put things.But that is a nice problem to have ,cause we have so much room to use.Time will tell if that will remain true or not in the future.
We got to get out on the river this past Saturday.Took Christopher,Lori,and Mark out in the kayaks.It was so nice to be out again.We tried fishing eggs under a bobber and even though we didn't hook-up with any fish it was a great time.Cool cave like feeling under some over-hanging tree branches.Nice fall colors on the trees.Easy,gentle current on the water.Just a great day......
We will work on the fishing part.We don't have any salmon in the freezer at this time ,so that has to change soon.Will get a tide book soon and see if that makes a difference or not.Will also be trying aa few other spots until fish are found.......Looking forward to that exploring.
Stay tuned.......more to come.........

Calming down ????????

    The reality of our move to Washington is starting to take hold.We are back.And glad to be home.
 I am currently at work in Prudhoe Bay,Alaska trying to make some money to help pay for the many expenses moving generates.And I think we got a bunch generated.Only 5 more "get-ups" and I'll be home.Looking forward to some time off,getting the house,shop,and garage organized,and maybe going fishing a few times.We didn't bring any fish down from Alaska so we need to re-supply our pantry.
     Lori is doing so much better,her leg is healing,and she is working on getting stronger every day.I'm hoping my fishin buddy (Lori) will want to join me on the rivers and catch some big boy salmon.If not,I might have to sneak away for a few hours occassionally.I don't want to push/pressure her at all,but I do want some salmon too.She will probably outfish me anyway but that's fine with me.I love how excited she gets when she has a hot fish on.....Way too much fun.
   Lori has been had at work getting the house in shape while I'm gone.Should be interesting to see the changes she's made.For sure there will be some.......That's okay...everyday will be a treasure hunt for a while.Thank-you ,my wife,for all your hard work.I truely love you.See you soon..........

Catching Up! (Part 2) The Arrival

Even though Mark has hunted in the area of the new house many times in the past, it has been awhile. We decided to take I-5 south to the HWY 6 turn off. We made our way through a number of small towns heading toward Raymond. It was much further from the freeway than I thought it was! I was starting to get worried about how far away this place was. (no wonder I was having trouble finding utilities & services!) 

After what seemed like hours of driving through woods & farmland we finally found the Mallis Landing Road. It is a small gravel road that looked more like a driveway than a road. It was a pretty steep grade with lots of twists & turns. Mark was getting very concerned about getting our truck & trailer up this road and I was thinking "I sure hope the road out of Raymond is in better shape than this one!" 

Eventually the road did turn to pavement and as we came up to the very top of the hill, there it was!! Coming from this direction we saw the pasture & barn first. (at this point I think we both forgot about the crazy road that got us here!) The barn is not huge but it is a REAL barn, at least two stalls! And the pasture is plenty big enough for a couple horses! As we slowly drove closer the truck's headlights brought the house, garage & shop into view. It was a very dark night, (no moon) so we couldn't really see much but we could already tell the the photos we have didn't even start to convey what is here! We sat in the truck for a few minutes surveying everything we could see in the headlights and letting some of the built up stress wash away, we are FINALLY here!

Catching Up! (Part 1) Homeward Bound

Mark wrote the last blog from Alaska just after I broke my ankle & 2 days before the move. So much has happened in the last 2 1/2 weeks, I will try to get the blog caught up. I will have to skip a lot of details, but I guess that is ok. I tend to ramble anyway!  =)

The first couple of days after the break I was totally out of it & poor Mark had to do the rest of the loading & last minute packing with out much help from me. Our organization & timing took a big hit & we just barely made it out on time. We left a bunch of stuff behind that we hope wasn't important! And the Soldotna house was a disaster! Mark was amazing though! He did all the last minute loading & packing AND took care of me! He did a fantastic job getting it all done & getting us and our stuff here safely!

The trip from Soldtona to Anchorage went well, not to much traffic and great weather! We left a couple hours later than we wanted to but we got the truck & trailer to the barge just in time. As Mark was unloading the bags & stuff that we would be taking on the plane he couldn't find the gate to the dog crate! Now we would have to find a cab that would take us & the unrestrained dog! We also had to take that cab somewhere to find & buy a new crate! It worked out great though! The cab company was understanding & sent us a small SUV and a cabbie that liked dogs! He instantly fell in love with Rowdy, asked a ton of questions about him & took a bunch of pictures to show his family! (BTW, Rowdy has been exceptionally good through all this craziness! We had to walk him through the airport on his leash & he only barked once as we past some stuffed wolves on display!)

Anyway, so we finally made it through the airport and got on the plane. (being in the wheelchair made this part easy & fast!) The flight was smooth and seemed to go quick. We both got a little sleep but got really excited seeing the Seattle night lights as we landed in Seatac. Mark got our rental truck and we got on the road again. The weather continued to cooperate, it was clear & warm. The traffic was light and we made good time heading home!

A Big Boo Boo...........

It's Saturday afternoon and we are still on track.Kinda.......
Last nite,we had a boo boo.Lori was getting out of the trailer and had a bad step which resulted in a broken ankle bone.Fortunately she wasn't carrying anything which could have made things worse.I think she was pushing too hard,was tired,and lost her focus on what she was doing.But at least she won't need any surgury to repair the damage.The broken bone is in her ankle,where the tibia forms a brace or collar for the foot bones.I guess we are lucky that it was a simple stress breakage.Cause it could certainly have been worse.As it is,she is in a lot of pain,even with vicadin to help manage it.We borrowed a wheelcair from the hospital but our house is not wheelchair friendly,tight squeezes everwhere.So I'll try to find a walker for her today.
Got the walker--only $56.00 not too bad.
Lori is awake now so I've got to go.

Another Step Completed

  Today we picked up,loaded, and returned the U-haul U-Box .It's amazing how much stuff we got in a 5'x7'x8' box.And believe me --that box was stuffed.So that was a major accomplishment.
   With only 3 days til we hit the road there is still a lot of work to do...but we will make it happen.Runs to the dump,disasemble the water bed,and start throwing stuff in the horse trailer.A trip to the vet to get the dog certified is set for Friday.Close out the post office box Saturday.And all the final left-overs on Sunday.We are very close.
   Oh...and we got the keys to the new house today in the mail-------sweeeeeet.Pretty soon we will be walking into the house for the 1st time..We both are anxious for that.I think the reality is starting to set in a little.By the time we get on the plane Monday nite we'll probably be exhausted--but so excited too.We are ready.

6 days to go!

Mark is home and we are very busy getting last minute details & packing done. I finally got the plywood panels attached & most of the caulking done on the trailer, but there are still a couple of seams that need to be done. Hopefully the rain will hold off for a couple of hours so I can get it done. Even then it wont be totally water proof but with the tarps it will work. 

We will be draining the waterbed today, that will be the first thing to load up in the trailer. It will get a bit crazy here the next few days. We will need to do a couple dump runs before we can load up the truck, which will be the last thing to load. The TV, computer and the lighter boxes will go in there.

Oh yea, a small set back in the rental of this place, the guy backed out at the last minute. It's kind of a big deal but the manager has a couple more families lined up & has assured us that she will get it rented by the 1st. I am disappointed but not really worried. The main attraction of the new house was that we could afford both if we had to. We also found out that we will not be able to pick up the truck from Tacoma until Sept. 6th because of the holiday! That is going to be inconvenient but the rental truck will have unlimited miles, we will just have a couple more days rent on it. The hardest part for me will be going with out a computer, but we will have the laptops with Mark's phone internet so we will make it work.

It is amazing how many small details have to be worked out for everything! I was remembering how crazy it got in the last minute when we got ready for the move here from Aberdeen! I do believe it is going much smoother this time (at least so far) 

I will try to post at least one more time before I pack up the computer. The next few days will go by fast and soon we will be walking into our new home for the first time! 

          

Travel Arrangements Confirmed

Getting down to the wire now and working on all the little details. Got the trailer home & registered, the flight for me, Mark & the dog have been made & paid for. Mark reserved a rental car, he got a 4-door truck similar to ours, very awesome! You do good work Husband! =) The barge reservations have been made & we can pay anytime by phone or at the terminal. There was some drama over the last couple of days that have put me a bit behind but now that the travel arrangements are confirmed I should be able to catch up ok. 

I will be picking up the plywood & supplies for the trailer today. It has been raining the last couple of days & it does leak, more than I thought it would. But I'm not as worried about getting it totally water proof as I was. We will tarp everything real good. I have also been lining most of the boxes with trash bags, so everything should stay reasonably dry. A friend is coming to pick up the freezer & table. That's the last of the furniture. I figure by this time next week that new sofa is going to sound pretty good!

One of the dramas was regarding the house keys. We can't just pick them up, all the keys are returned to HUD so all door locks have to be replaced. Anyway Travis is taking care of that & will send them UPS to us next week. That way we wont have to disturb anyone when we arrive in the middle of the night.

Well I better get back to work, still tons to do before we are ready to start loading up. 10 days to go!

Now The Pysical Work Begins

It feels so good to have the closing over and done with.Not the labor comes into play.
On Tuesday,Lori will pick up the horse trailer we'll be moving our meager possessions with.It has a few holes in it that probably should be sealed to try to make it waterproof.We have the silicon already,there are quite a few small holes though.Then--register the trailer in her name (she's excited by that),send that info to TOTE for the barge,and more packing.
I get home in a week from today--and then I've got a ton of stuff to do--packing ,dump runs,give-aways,and more.Lots to do.
Lori has been great about getting so much done already..I can not thank her enough.Awesome job my wife.
Looking forward to getting this done ,getting back to Washington,and seeing our new house for the 1st time.An exciting time for sure........
Lots more to come.........................

Fixed the comment section

It has been awhile sense I used blogger and I was in a bit of a hurry due to the excitement of the subject matter and I did not spend the time to get it set up correctly. (then I forgot about it) It is fixed now so Y'all can tell us what ya think about the photos & stories now! 

Oh and as you can see Mark is posting now too so he can tell you all about the great Washington fishing & hunting details coming soon! I am sure he will also be sharing some of his amazing Alaskan north slope photos & stories.

2 weeks from today is the big move! We can't wait to be there!!   

Lori is doing great

Thanks to the hard work of one sweet little lady--this move back to Washington is happening.Thank-you wife..for all you do.
To those that are paying attention--------we'll be seeing you soon.......

More Packing

Today went surprisingly fast! I also got a lot done. I have a big part of the packing done and as you can see there is still lots of room! I still have the desk & computer (the computer will go in the truck) & 2 or 3 more office boxes. The TV & electronics (also go in the truck) 1 or 2 kitchen boxes & some odds & ins. We just might be able to take the tall book shelf! Or maybe the old stereo  =) Next week will be busy too, closing tomorrow and picking up the trailer Tuesday. The next 2 weeks will go fast! 

Closing Day is Set, Travel Date Confirmed! Seattle Arrival Aug. 29 at 11:29pm

It's funny how well everything is falling into place. 
HUD called me early Friday morning to arrange a closing appointment with the title company (Monday the 15th) & to let me now how much the closing cost will be. It's going to be $2000 less than we had figured! About an hour later I got an email from our realtor for the house here and we have a renter! He will be signing a 6 month lease for the full amount we were asking! By late Friday afternoon we had the barge & flight to Seattle reserved & confirmed!! The barge will be a bit less than the quote because the trailer is not as long as first stated. THEN as if that just wasn't enough excitement for one day, Mark called late Friday night with the Seattle flight conformation. It turns out I had a bunch of Alaska airline miles saved up (Thank-you Wells Fargo!) and my ticket is only going to be $17.00!!!! Mark's ticket of course was a little more, he got a round trip because he will have to return for work. I budged about $800.00. His ticket is $500.00! 
Now that the biggest, most expensive & stressful part is over I feel a great draining of anxiety. There is still a ton of stuff to be done but we are finely over the hump! The rest is down hill as we concentrate on the move. We will miss Alaska, it has been a great adventure that we will cherish forever! But for many reasons Washington is calling us back. I'm actually kind of glad we will be coming in at night, there is nothing like the Seattle night lights to welcome you home! 

           

Packing

No news yet, email & both phones remain quiet... to quiet!
In the mean time I continue to pack. I am making progress! I have been real worried about having enough room for everything. I taped of the area of space we will have in the trailer & the U-haul tote box, then started moving the boxes around to make everything fit. 

This is the tote space. It is actually taller than the cabin ceiling so there will be room for 1 more row of boxes on the top. The blankets & stuff in the corner will be used to stuff the nooks & crannies so there is room for a couple more boxes there. The row of boxes on the far left will be the ones we can mail or UPS if we have to. However it looks like there should be room for them. There really is not a lot left in the house & there is still the truck canape. 
The picture below is the trailer space. The lager area in front is where the mini & bed will go. They will take up almost all of the floor up to 4 foot. The trailer is also taller than the cabin ceiling, a little over 7 foot. So we will have that whole trailer length times 3 foot high. The space in the back is from the floor up to 7 foot high. I am hoping to get the tall cabinet thing Mark is using for his clothes & the wood dresser in this space. And there should be more room for boxes here too.

Tomorrow I start on the main stuff in the house. I have a little bit more to do in the office (including the desk) It will be taken apart & packed in a mirror box. The file boxes are almost empty & I will pack as much of the office stuff as I can in the drawers. 
I noticed last night while I was eating dinner & watching TV that there was an echo in the room. A sure sign of the "in between" stage. 

We have sold a lot of stuff but there will be much more we will leave behind. This next photo is step 1 going to the thrift store. There will be at least this much if not more inside the house, but I think most of that is going to a friend & her kids. 

I hope we will get the news soon, this week would be nice so we can get the actual moving & travel arrangements made. Oh well, maybe tomorrow....         

See you all soon!

Taking a break from house & moving stuff

Now that the closing paperwork drama is over we are taking a little break to let our nerves recover before the mad dash next month. I was taking some pic of the curtains I made & happened to catch these 2 pics as I turned around. Rowdy can be intimidating when he needs to be but mostly he's just a big goof ball!

Where's the Bacon!? 

Tonight we are going to see Harry Potter in 3D! And we will be taking the mini drifter down the upper Kenai Sunday. We will of course be fishing but it is mostly a scenic trip so LOTS of cool Alaskan pics coming soon!   

Interesting Raymond area information

I was wondering how the Raymond weather was going to be in relation to Aberdeen. First I found out that Raymond is in the Pacific County not Grays Harbor! I don't know for a fact but I believe that Grays Harbor is probably the rainiest area in all of Washington so it is nice that we will be out of that zone. However, Raymond is close enough that the weather wont be that much different as you can see from these graphs. But that is OK, at least everything stays green! I like the snow, but living in a black & white world for 9 months can sometimes be challenging! 

Speaking of snow  =) This next photo is a topo of the area where the house is. Looks like the highest point on the ridge the house sits on is 400 ft above sea level. This will give us a little better shot at getting a Christmas snow! =) Not to mention NO chance of flooding! Also you can see that there is a small creek on both sides of the ridge that should be with in walking distance. The google map shows a path down to some small ponds or wide spots in the creek. Keep in mind though that the google maps are sometimes about as accurate as the weather maps! We were hoping that these creek/ponds would be accessible, but this topo map shows it to be pretty steep! It will be fun to explore the area!

Well I should get busy packing!  =) Moving day is just around the corner!   

Finally, Back on track!

Raymond House Up Date: Just got the news this afternoon, the inspector finally made it back out to the house. She turned on the water in all the sinks & flushed the toilets and everything worked!! She got her paperwork turned in today & we are back on track. That was the last hurtle, all that is left now is for the bank & HUD to do their thing and we should close sometime in the second week of August!! That should still give us time to make the travel arrangements for August 29/30th. 

Alaska House Up Date: We signed the contract for the rental of this house until it sells, made arrangements to get it cleaned after we are out. All the details are done on this house here so no more worries on that!

Moving Up Date: Really good news! Looks like we can apply for a credit kinda thing for the barge! Considering that is the bulk of our moving expenses it would be fantastic if we can make payments on it!!! I will be making the 2nd payment on the trailer this week. I will also take a bunch of photos & measurements so I can get the supplies ready for weatherizing it for the trip. Oh and I don't think I have mentioned that we will also be using a couple of U-Haul Tote Boxes for stuff we can't fit in the trailer. (even with that we are still saving money) Mark made arrangements today to have a kayak rack built for the truck to haul the boats. That will get installed a day or 2 after he comes home next rotation. 

Packing: I haven't done much in the way of packing the last week or so, I have been really stressed out over all the other stuff. But now that everything is a go again AND the hard part (the cabin) is done, the rest will go fast! Deciding on the tote boxes has helped as well. 

New Photos!! I got some new photos from the home inspection that was done. They are terrible, poor quality, grainy black & white, and hard to see, but they are views we don't have yet, so for us they are exciting!

This is probably the most exciting on we got! As you can see it shows the footage of all the buildings. Considering Mark just found out about the shop & the color pics we have doesn't really show much, he was REALLY excited to see how big it really is! For those of you who have been to our place here in AK. compare these out buildings with our cabin. The cabin is 450sqft. The shop is over twice the size of the cabin! The garage & barn are just a bit smaller! NOW Mark is more excited than I am! hahaha Oh BTW the buildings are not located on the property in this way, you can see the layout on one of the google maps in an earlier post. 

We have a color pic similar to this one but I wanted to post this on 'cause it shows the relation of the house & garage a little better. 

This is a better pic of the garage. I'm pretty sure the garage door will be to small for the truck so it will most likely be the first major remodeling job we do. 
(after we fix the well that is)

Here is a good side view of the shop. Mark is already making plans to put in a nice possessing station in the back part, complete with game hangers, running water and freezers!

You can't see this one very good but it is a view of the road. Looks like at the driveway. It looks like asphalt from this pic but I was told it is gravel. It's kinda funny, Travis told us about this road being gravel as "Bad News"! hahaha! It's in way better shape than our roads here!

Have you ever known you were getting a supper Christmas present, something that you have begged your parents & Santa for? But you couldn't open it till Christmas which is months away? For those of you who know me, do I need to say more!

I am going crazy with anticipation to "OPEN" this one!

This was a nice surprise. I knew there was some kind of entry but I couldn't quite figure it out. I love it!!  =)

 We have a color pic of the dining room but this shows the hallway to the other 2 bedrooms & main bathroom. The door on the right is the kitchen, the door on the left is the master bedroom. I absolutely LOVE that the main bathroom is away from the main part of the house & kitchen!!!! That is one of my BIGGEST pet peeves yet most houses are designed that way. 

This is the view from the front windows. The house sits kinda close to the road but there should be very little traffic on it. You can not see ANY neighbors from ANY of the windows in the house! In fact it doesn't look like you can see neighbors form anywhere on the property!

Another view of the living room. It is laid out like the one we have here but bigger. The window on the end looks out over the barn & pasture! =)

This was another nice surprise. The master bath tub. You can't really tell from this pic but I have seen so many of these the last few months that I am pretty sure it is a large garden tub. That in it's self is not a big deal BUT the space is big enough that we can replace it with a jetted tub! (That is if we don't get a regular size hot tub on the patio   ; )

I wasn't even expecting this! Master bedroom His & Her closets! They even look like they could be walk in too!

I don't think there is anything about this place we don't like or wish was a little different! because of the lay out of the property & the buildings on the property, what isn't already here we can add to. Because the payments will be low we will have the funds to make any changes we want to make it OUR HOME!      

Raymond House Set Back- part 3

Where to begin! OK, as of my last post Friday the drilling company replaced the well pump and did get the water running. However the well is very slow to recover which really isn't a big deal but will require a holding tank. The realtor thought there is one there & by his description it sounds like there is a small one in place but I am curious why the home inspector, the plumber AND the well guy all missed it? AND why wasn't the water going to it? Hopefully as it is now will be enough to satisfy the bank & HUD that there is water & that it is hooked to the house! AND the fact that we just spent $1500.00 on a house that isn't even officially ours yet will show our devotion to get this done! 

So where we are now is that the water thing has created a hold up in the paperwork. Because everything has to go though all the channels & the red tape involved the inspector/appraiser STILL has not made it back out there. On top of that the bank did not understand that they needed to get all their paperwork closed & sent to HUD 10 business days BEFORE the HUD closing date which is Aug. 7th. If you do the math, we are past that deadline. AND we got an email from the realtor that HUD can just cancel the whole thing if the paperwork is not there on time! Oh and BTW, that $1500.00 we just spent? We don't get it back. SO, needless to say my stress-o-meter was off the chart today! 

HOWEVER after all the drama our realtor saved the day yet again!!!!! He got a HUD closing extension filled out & we got it sent off today, that will give us an extra 15 days to get this done. It wont take that long and if all goes well we should still be able to move late August or early September. 

On the lighter side, I have some new photos & cool new information about the house & property  =) I will post them probably tomorrow. The more we find out about this place the more we love it!!!!      

Raymond House Set Back

Friday, 9:30 am

Good News! The drilling company was able to make it out today after all! Turns out the pump is bad, but he is replacing it. If he can get everything working by this afternoon there might still be time to get the appraiser back out and all the paperwork turned in today. So it looks like closing might be early next week after all! Moving plans will continue & be on schedule!      

Raymond House Set Back. 1:00 pm Alaskan time

The bank appraisal went real well! The appraiser said there was no problem in the value of the property as far as the loan is concerned. In fact the appraiser really liked the house! However they could not get the water pump in the well to work. Both the bank & HUD will not close until there is running water! So we all have been scrambling the last 3 days trying to get a plumber out to try & get it going. 

There was running water when HUD took over the property and in their assessment at the time no repairs were needed. So we figured maybe something didn't get turned on or maybe it needed primed. We were able to get a plumber out early today and turns out the pump is a submersible so priming was not the problem. They verified there is water in the well (that is really good news!) But he couldn't get the pump to work either. He said that sometimes when the pumps sit for a long time they can freeze up. He is going to pull the pump up out of the well & see if he can get it going, at least long enough for the appraiser to come back out & sign it off. If not it will have to be replaced. 

I should mention that the house that is on the property now is only 4 years old but there was an old mobile home on there before. I'm assuming that the pump is probably as old as the well, so it really would not surprise me if it needs replaced. We should hear back from the plumber later today. Hopefully he can do whatever needs to be done today so we can get this done & move on. I will post again later after talking to the plumber.

4:00 pm Alaskan time

The Plumber called back. He can't get to the pump because it is to deep & he doesn't have the equipment to pull it up. We called the drilling outfit he recommended, they can do it but not until Monday. We gave them all the info about the pump so that IF it does have to be replaced they will have the parts on hand. 

So the bad news is that it will be expensive and the funds will have to come out of the back-up moving/appliance & furniture money. But at least the funds ARE available & we can just get it done!

The good news is that if the pump thing can get done early Monday there still might be time to get the appraisal done & still close on time. If not we actually have a few days of lea way before we HAVE to make the travel arrangements in time to move by the end of August. Worse case we might have to spend a little more for airfare. As far as the appliances & furniture are concerned we have options there as well so we should still be OK. 

We will spend the next few days concentrating on fishing. The reds are running stronger than they have in years! This will be our last chance, there are some red salmon in Washington but no where close to the numbers here.

I will post again Monday after I here back from the drillers, or if we hook up good with the fishing!   

        

They say "No News is Good News" Still Waiting

We really shouldn't be so impatient, after all things are really moving at an incredible pace all in all. As of the 13th it has only been 1 month since Mark first saw the listing on the Raymond house and already closing could be any day now. In the mean time, there is still a lot of stuff to do! It doesn't look like it from the photos but the cabin is nearly done. We will be having another moving sale the end of this week and whatever is left will either be donated or dumped.

I have been going crazy trying to figure out how we got all this stuff up here and why I can't get it to all fit in the trailer? The stock trailer is a little skinner but a bit taller than the 17' Uhaul trailer but it is the same cubit foot? We had 3 times this many boxes PLUS a washer, 2 recliners, a small sofa, the mini drifter boat, the waterbed and soooo much more! I have sold ALL the furniture, (except the waterbed) and repacked the boxes into these few and there is still no way it will all fit! 

Well I was ummm... *voicing* my concerns to Mark, his return comment, (after I got through with my rantings) "Darlin, the uhaul truck we came up with was 27'!" Me, "Duh! so that's where all the space went to!" Well now I can understand why I can't get it all to fit but it doesn't get me any more room! 

Sadly all this holiday stuff will have to stay behind. That really is OK though because most of this can be replaced for way less than the cost to ship it. The new house will require different decorations anyway  =) 

I am just getting started packing the house. There will be many more boxes but we will get it down to the necessities. We will have to mail a bunch of stuff. But considering we saved about $5000.00 by getting the stock trailer, barging everything & us flying I think we can afford to mail some boxes. Even if it ended up costing an extra $1000.00 we will still be ahead! =)

Oh before closing this post I have a funny to share. Mark & I were having dinner at the Duck last night. We were talking about the house and some how got into a debate about who was going to get what space, Mark had mentioned setting up a small space in the garage for my painting & crafts. I said no need for that I should have more than enough space in one of the bedrooms for the office & my crafts. I think he was actually thinking how he was going to get everything he wanted into that small garage, being the unselfish man that he is, he offered some of his (what he thought) limited space!  ;)  He asked if there was enough room next to the garage to park a boat and maybe add a cover for it. I said yea but why not just put it in the shop, it has the big door & there should be lots of space for everything? And Mark says, "What shop?" LOL All this time he didn't know! NOW he is really excited!!

 By this time next month I will have the trailer home getting it ready for the long haul! By the time Mark gets home from the next rotation (August 15th) we will have a week to get it loaded, then be in Seattle on the 29th! 

Oh and BTW, even though we are leaving a lot behind, here is a small sample of the replacements!