Salem Update

April 7th is not coming fast enough. I am sooooooo looking forward to seeing the family again. It seems so close, yet so far away! So, Stacey and I made an offer on a house that is right next door to the house that we made an offer on a few weeks ago, and someone came in and swooped it away from us. If we get this house, we feel like we will hold no grudges against our neighbors. This house is a little pricier then the other house and fits us a little better, though it has one less bedroom - but it does have a den. You can see some video I took of the houses at www.horsecloverhouse.blogspot.com. The first 6 videos on the website are of the house we are looking at now, and the other videos are from the previous house we lost out on. Anyway, we made an offer and the bank countered on Friday. We decided to counter back, but because the bank was not willing to drop very far on their price, we are not certain if they will come down very much further. We hope so. We hope to find out on Wednesday May 31, if they will meet us.

On a somewhat related story, I went to the temple yesterday. It is nice to be able to do that on a Saturday morning. Of course, I have had a lot on my mind concerning the house and getting the family out here, and some of you may know that I am a planner and worry about the future, or try to plan around various scenarios that frequently include the worst-case scenario. Anway, I opened the Book of Mormon in the temple yesterday (normally I read Isaiah in the temple because I love the allegories of the temple in his writings - so this is something I have not done in a long, long time) and read Chapter 12 and 13 of 3rd Nephi for no particular reason but the fact that the book opened to those pages. After that I went through the session and then sat in the Celestial room for quite some time. I was just about to leave when the thought came to me to re-read Chapter 13, so grabbed a BoM sitting on the table next to me and re-read the chapter. The last 5 versus struck me so very hard, especially to the 'planning-brain' side of me. The versus are below:


30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, even so will he clothe you, if ye are not of little faith.
31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
32 For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.
34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself.

This may not mean much to you, but to me it hit so hard - I have little faith. I should not be planning for worst-case scenarios, but I need to be planning how to help my family and I be more spiritual. As long as I (and my family) am keeping the covenants I have made with the Lord, and putting my faith in his hands, then he will provide. So, if I am worried about providing for my family, then I need to rely more on the Lord and seek the "kingdom of God." With everything in the world and the economy in such a flux, now is the time more than ever to hold fast to the covenants we have made with the Lord. As I do keep the commandments, covenants, and grow closer to him, then he will bless us and make sure we have food, clothing, and a roof over our heads.

I am grateful for how the Lord answers the prayers of our hearts - sometimes, when you are as pig-headed and prideful as me, it takes some extra prodding.

Salem Update

So, it has been a little while since I have posted. Stacey and I terminated the contract on the Arroyo RIdge house due to the third flood that took place - and no rainbow. We moved on to our next favorite house, and found out today that someone came in and swooped it away from us. Now we are back to square one. However, we are going to take a break from active looking for houses and just get an apartment. I am going to Utah to pick up the family on April 8th and we will finally be together!! Yipee! I am going to leave the house looking up to Stacey....

Are you kidding me?

Did someone once say that floods come in 3's? Well, we walked into the house today to find a third flood. This was the last straw. I think it is time to give up and move on. I had someone come over to the house today from a restoration company and they dug deep into the issue and found that there is 20K to 30K worth of damage done to the house due to three floods. This was a conservative bid and did not include the full cost of replacing the cabinets. Anyway, two partners of my firm helped write an addendum to the bank -- basically a letter stating that we are tired of all your crap and this is how things are going to be done, if not then we are walking. I have attached pictures just for fun...

Quick Update

So, here is what is happening with the house: we were supposed to close on the house last Wednesday, but we ran into a few problems. 1) The seller's bank only fixed the leaking pipe in the kitchen. There is also a leaking pipe in the garage leading to an outside faucet. 2) The bank did not give us any money for the floods they caused. 3) Our bank forgot to put Stacey on the loan documentation. So, after all that we submitted an addendum to close this Friday - March 5th. Do you think that is going to happen? Of course not. Our bank has completely disappeared and we have no idea what is going on with our loan. The seller's bank has still not fixed the leak, nor have they signed any paperwork saying they will either give us money to fix things or they will fix things. Let me just say that Stacey and I have been completely baffled by this whole situation and we have let our frustrations loose on more then a few individuals. We will have no friends and a reputation of being ANGRY and MEAN when this is all said and done. We submitted a new addendum tonight that states we will close on March 17th. This is the 5th time we will have a closing date on this house. Is it worth it, you ask? Is it illegal to walk across the state line in Minnesota with a duck on your head? The answer is yes - you can look it up. Well, we actually hope it will all be worth it. At this point we are about ready to get a tent and live in a KOA as long as we are together as a family. This has been too long and too frustrating a process - if it goes too much longer then I am going to completely lose it and will probably be crossing the state line of Minnesota with a duck on my head...

Baseball Spouse's Survival Guide

Spring Training games begin tomorrow and by the end of the month of March, baseball's regular season will begin. I wrote down a few steps in helping families of baseball fans cope with the oncoming baseball season:

1. Step 1
Women need to understand that being a baseball fan is like a full-time job, so imagine what it can do to your relationship. Baseball has one of the longest seasons in sports. With a season that lasts from April to October and 162 regular season games.

2. Step 2
Women who lose their husbands to baseball complain that their lives have been turned upside down. Make it easier on you and the family by investing in a smartphone and implementing web access during the baseball season. He'll be able to check stats on his phone discreetly and even in church on Sunday.

3. Step 3
Men - You don't have to give up your love of the game for your relationship. You just need to be aware of your schedule. Plan dates around your baseball watching. Chances are you don't hang out every night, even if married, so schedule couple time on off-nights. Schedule a date night once a week, so she knows that she ranks right up there with baseball. HINT: You can always take your iTouch or iPhone and sneak away for a few minutes to catch a portion or a game or take her out to eat where games are being televised.

4. Step 4
Baseball is available virtually every single night during the regular season and for most couples, weekday games don't cause too much of a problem. For most couples, weekend baseball is a point of contention. Weekends are often the only time couples have together, so playing second fiddle to a TV can get old for the wife. Brunch dates, walks in the park or day trips to the beach have to be rescheduled if they conflict with a true fan's baseball watching unless you plan accordingly. Get your wife a spa package or massage, so you can live guilt-free in front of the TV. Offer to watch the kids while she has some ‘free time’ shopping or relaxing. Chances are that your kids will be fine for 3 hours relatively unsupervised – hopefully, you have a child old enough to recognize when another child may need to go to the hospital.

5. Step 5
The bottom line is that woman aren't expecting you to change. You're not a fair weather fan and wives respect you're unwavering commitment. If there is still an issue, then have 3 or 4 children to keep her busy. She'll always have the children to keep her company.