Salem House

So, Stacey and I put an offer on a house on December 20th and the broker counter offered on the 23rd. The broker said that an offer was coming the next day, so their counter offer was for the original price of the house. Stacey and I felt like we were getting such a great deal on the house that after much deliberation we decided to accept the offer at about 9 pm that night. They accepted our offer and the next day someone did submit an offer for the original price of the house that would have forced us into a bidding war. But the house was ours pending inspection. Today, was the inspection. Upon walking into the house, we found water seeping through the ceiling due to a busted pipe in the bathroom upstairs. Apparently, the people managing the house winterized the pipes, left water in the pipes and left the heat off. Not a good mixture - thus, resulting in a busted pipe and flooded kitchen. The video shows a little of the water, but it was all over the floor, the countertops, on the carpet in the master bedroom, seeping into the walls, and most likely underneath the linoleum in the bathroom. Anyway, I have attached a video of the mess as well as a picture of the outside of the house. This is what we are facing at the moment and unsure as to what will happen next...

Christmas eve travel

This is a first for me in several ways. First, I am traveling on Christmas eve by plane and alone. I don't think that I have ever done that before. Second, I am blogging from my iPhone while sitting in the Spokane airport (maybe if Cari and Scott had planned better they could have met me here instead of spending Christmas in Idaho - geesh!). Due to work and price of flights, I am traveling on Christmas eve. But I am so excited to see my family - I wonder if Sami will even recognize me? As you can imagine things have been a little busy in our family. Our family has been spread across 4 different states this past week. Stacey was in Denver overseeing the final moving of our house - Hunter and Ryan were in Idaho with Tim & Misty - Sami was in Utah with Grandma McClanahan. Crazy to think about. We are just hoping that no bad weather gets in the way. Well, I hope that everyone has a wonderful Christmas holiday! I love you all! Merry Christmas.

Salem

Things are starting to feel more settled in right now in salem, so I am going to try and start posting a little more. I miss my family tremendously. That has been hard. I learned that I don't have much of a life without them. I am working 11 to 12 hour days...mainly, because I don't want to go home to THE SHED. When I get home, I find I have no energy to do anything. In Denver, I would come home and my boys or my little girl would want to play with me so I could find the energy to do things. Here my brain is so fried from training all day long that I come home, play on the guitar for a while, then lay on my inflatable bed and watch LOST (you see, all the seasons are on abc.com and I have not watched the show since season 1). I am currently on the start of Season 3. I had all these aspirations about doing all these things with my free time, but I think it just depresses me to come back to THE SHED. Anyway, I am looking forward to seeing the family in 4 days - I can't wait!!

So, I thought that I would attach a couple of pictures of some of the highlights at the firm...

Yes - that is a soda fountain and juice bar with full access each and every day!!