AND SO THE PLAN BEGINS:

          So we had several things that we wanted in our plans for this house but weren't sure whether they were even possible.  This home when it was owned by a person instead of the bank had been added onto 3 times.  We went to the city and got copies of all the plans that had been submitted to the planning commission so we could see what had been done to it.  (Side note:  the plans submitted to the city were pen drawings of walls, no other details.) When that owner decided to move away he turned it into 3? separate apartments.  We have 8 exterior doors, 4 sets of washer dryer hook-ups (one hidden in a wall), possibly 3 kitchens, a weird little exposed gap between the bedroom and the hall, two interior walls that are double framed 2x6 and a myriad of other odd things.  
       As part of our plans we wanted to open part of the wall between the two family rooms and expand the bedroom and en suite for a master suite.  The ceiling in those two rooms is vaulted but the wall between was not right on the peak it was off-centered.  We thought it odd that it was off centered. We knew that to open it up would probably require an engineered beam.  $$$$
       Perry wanted an auto lift in the shop and needed 220 volt power.  We didn't see any existing and there was a lot of concrete sidewalks and porches between the house and shop.  $$$$ but we budgeted them in and went on.
        We went to the house to set up our city bills and do more investigation a couple of days after the sale was final.   We were told by the city water guy that we had a leak between the water meter and the house that needed the line to be replaced to fix it.  He gave us a number for a local plumbing guy who could fix it.  $$$  We went to the house to do more investigation.  Perry cut a hole in the sheet rock so he could see into the ceiling above the vaulted part.  Guess what??  They were scissor trusses which bear their own weight.  No beam needed.  More investigation into the shop discovered that there was 220 v power already out there!!!  Oh Happy Day!!! 
       Now we just needed the water line replaced.  I called the plumber several days later and he said he would call me back after the weekend and we would set up a time that I could meet him there so he could check it out.  We had plans to go back on Saturday to start tearing a few things apart and make a run to the dump.  On Friday night I woke up in the middle of the night with the thought to take the shovel with us.  Why???  I had no plans to do anything outside.  I had no need for a shovel.  Then I remembered a wet spot in the grass in the backyard that we had seen earlier in the week.  We had attributed it to a low spot in the yard where the recent rain had pooled.  The thought came to me that this was where our water leak was.  When we left Saturday I put a shovel in the truck.  When we got there I got the shovel and asked Perry to come take a look.  There in the weeds was an outdoor faucet and sprinkler head we hadn't noticed before.  (weeds were too tall)  It was still wet.  Perry started digging down and found that the pipe was broke and leaking.  He capped it for now.  I called the city water guy, told him what we had found and asked if he would check our meter a couple of times over the next few days to see if it was still using water.  (The water inside the house was turned off.)  He called a few days later to say the meter hadn't changed.   Another happy day.   We have found several more minor things that have run in our favor as we have begun our renovation.  We have felt blessed and grateful.
       So here are the existing floor plan and our plan for renovation.  These do not include the upstairs floor above the home teacher room, office and kitchen.  That area is another 2 bedrooms, bath and playroom.  
                                                                             

Existing plan

Future Plan

We think it will be amazing!!

Next Demolition!!!

 AND THE STORY CONTINUES ......

      I was looking again on August 2nd and IT WAS BACK ON THE LISTING.  I ran to tell Perry.  He asked if I was serious about it and I said that I thought so.  I asked if he was serious and he said ya I think so.  But how do you buy a house without the income from the sale of another?  And without another mortgage?  Back to day dreaming!
      The next morning Perry said I think I know how to finance that house without taking another mortgage.  We talked about it and I said, "We can ask Doug (a guy in our ward).  He does a lot with real estate and financing.  And maybe he can find out why the sale failed."  (couldn't get financing)  We had tried to get information from the real estate agent and could get no one to return our calls.
      I headed out the door to go do my daily walking and during my walk I ran across guess who?   Doug!!  I have never seen him during my walks.  (Or since either.)  I stopped him, told him what we were thinking and asked if he could get some information on the house for us!!  He was really excited because he has wanted to redo an old house himself.  He said he would check it out that afternoon and get back to us.
     About an hour after I got back, Doug called and said he had talked to the real estate agent.  He gave us some info. and said if we were really interested he could put in a provisional offer today.  A provisional offer if accepted is good for 3 weeks during which time you can check it out, get a home inspection, etc.  At the end of the 3 weeks you can proceed with the sale or you can take your earnest money and walk away.   I said let me talk to Perry and I'll call you back.  5 minutes later I called him back and said let's do it.  So the offer went in, they countered, we accepted the counter and we were on our way!!!
      We immediately went down to the house and started REALLY poking into every corner nook and cranny of the house.  The front part of the house is the original 1914 home and the back is the 1990+ additions.  Upstairs the original house has 2 bedrooms, a full bath and a funny little room that we called the playroom (for grandchildren) that had been made out of the back attic over the kitchen.
(Disclaimer:  pictures are not the best and you really need a wide angle lens to get the full room, you can't see anywhere near all the intricacies of the rooms.  And i haven't used this program in a really long time.  Hopefully I will get better.  We will gladly give tours or share our hundreds of pictures. : )
     Bedroom 1   Bedroom 2 with door                                                                                                                                   to balcony
                                        
     Bathroom     Playroom
                                                                                              w/washer dryer hookups

 Downstairs in the original house is two rooms (We call the one directly off the front door the home teacher room and the one to the west, the office).  It also has a kitchen with a 3/4 bath off it and a kitchenette.  The addition contained a family room off the kitchen, a second family room off the kitchenette, a bedroom with an en suite and two more bedrooms.

   home teacher room          office
      bathroom off kitchen
                                                     


 



Kitchen and family room



                                   

    Kitchenette


             


               second family room

 It also has an attached two car garage and a small laundry room built off the front of the kitchen.  The house has been divided into 3 apartments so it has 6 exterior doors, 3  washer dryer hookups(later we found a fourth inside a wall), 2 furnaces and a cold storage room under the kitchen with an old fashioned floor hatch and wood ladder to get into it. There was a free standing gazebo outside one of the doors and a wood deck built onto the back porch which contained a hot tub.  It is a hodge podge of places and spaces.

 free standing gazebo to the right                 attached garage


               hot tub
\
      The original house has some structural problems.  Cracks in the brick mortar, a cement pillar poured on the exterior to shore up the walls,  a crack or two in the inside walls, bolts ran through the second story floor to shore it up.  So we called an inspector.  The next week he went and inspected it for us.  The report was very long but his overall conclusion was that it was full of little problems but nothing major.  I really couldn't see anything that did not need something done to it, inside or out but we loved it.   I asked Perry over and over if he was sure he wanted to tackle this project.  It is a lot of work and he has to do most of it.  He told me he had done some research on the computer on old house structural problems and how to fix them.  He said worse case scenario the front corner collapses and we rebuild it.  He said he was sure.  We fasted, we prayed, we researched.  We spent sleepless nights.  No not worrying - designing, tearing apart, rebuilding, decorating, etc.  So we moved forward with the purchase.
    HOLY PAPERWORK!!!!!!!   Between the financing we needed to complete the sale paperwork, the actual cash sale paperwork, the home inspection and final closing, it was something every day for a month.  Almost everything is done by emailing or attaching files to online secure websites.  We even closed on the house on line!!

    But finally we were the owners . . . . 
      of a bright yellow house with a little picket fence!!!
Stay tuned as the demolition begins!!!
   

Our Old House - Acquisition Part 1

Sorry this may get long.  But this is for my own journal as well.

THE LONG AND SHORT OF HOW WE BOUGHT A HOUSE -

          It has always been a dream of Perry and I's to move out of the hubbub of the big city.  As Perry's job has always required him to be near the city, we figured it would be something we would do when he retired.  We have had places that we loved and that we thought we would look at then. 
         I have always had a hobby of looking at MLS home listings to see what was for sale.  I like to look and dream and see what is out there and what the possibilities are.  It is a fun hobby!!
         Perry about two years ago asked at work what the company policy was on telecommuting.  His boss said they didn't have one and if he wanted to try 2 days a week they would see how it went.  The group he works with works out of a couple of different offices across the US and they communicate 95% of everything through emails, conference calls and skype type meetings.  So he started at two days a week which soon turned into 3 which soon turned into 5.  Nobody even knew.   They now have several guys who don't even live in a city with an office.  As long as he has an internet connection, he can work from anywhere.
          So with that event and the fact that our youngest will graduate from high school in the spring and then leave on a mission, we decided to start thinking about moving sooner.  We started considering several areas and I started doing more of my hobby.  We figured we would get serious next spring.
        Our favorite area was out pricing our budget and headed for a major influx of people so we decided that maybe we would consider Sanpete County as it would be closer to my mom, it is reasonably priced, still fairly close to the Wasatch front and not too far from the grandkids.  And best of all RURAL!!!!    I started perusing the Sanpete County MLS listings for fun.  After all I had a whole year or so before we would be really looking.   Who knew?  I found some fun houses and enjoyed looking.
         In June we decided to go "WANDERING" one weekend for our anniversary (definition of "WANDERING":  to travel in the car with no real plan, maybe a destination and maybe not.  No reservations, Just drive and see where one ends up, may be for  n hour, may be for days.)   We did have a destination in mind though.  We though we would wander through Sanpete County and see if any one town seemed like a likely place to land some day.  I had found several houses that were listed for sale in different places through out the county that we thought we would just drive by and see what they looked like.  None of them were "the house"  just a random assortment of possibilities.
        Now, just as a side note,  we had a few ideas of things we really wanted to have in our next home.  Big gathering area for family dinners, shop for Perry or place to put one, a little space between us and the neighbors,  still enough bedrooms for family when they come home, along with not going into debt for it.
        So anyway, we headed off with our list of houses and blankets and pillows in case we had to sleep in the car.  The first place we stopped in Sanpete County was a little town called Fountain Green.  Population 1100, one gas station, one grill/grocery store,  Quaint, quiet, pretty.  The house we wanted to drive by was a 1914 Victorian with an addition and a separate shop sitting on a little over one acre.

 It was a foreclosure and gov't owned.  (FannieMae/Freddie Mac).  As we drove by I said to Perry, "It's empty lets go look in the windows."  So we did and lo and behold a door was open in the garage!!!  So in we went. Shhh don't tell!!!!!!  We loved it and could see so much potential.  We spent over an hour looking and discussing the possibilities.  We left and wandered on to the next town and listing.  We looked at quite a few more little towns and several listings.  We eventually stopped in Fairview, ate dinner at a local restaurant and booked a hotel room.
       Perry said, "I wish we had a tape measure."  "Why?" I replied.  "So we could go back and and measure rooms."   "The grocery store will have one."   So we went to the grocery store, bought a tape measure and went back.  We spent another hour measuring and sketching a floor plan.  We left and spent the evening planning and plotting.  Now mind you this was all very hypothetical.  We had a house and 9 months before our son graduated.  But it was so much fun to imagine!!!
       We finished the weekend with more little towns and more house drive-bys.  It was a great weekend.   We returned home with only two houses that we would even consider IF we were looking for real.  One that was overpriced for our budget and the little yellow victorian.  Neither of which would still be on the market by the time we were really ready to move!!
        A few weeks later, the victorian went off the market as an offer had been put on it.  I was kinda bummed.  That was our house.  I looked at other listings online but nothing had the character or potential that it had.  Oh well such is life and it was all just a fun day dream anyway.  Or was it?
      Watch for the next installment coming soon!

     

Please refer to my children's blogs to see what fun we've been having!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(They do such a good job at posting all our family fun!! And they can do it faster than me!)

Yes, Again!!!

So . . . 29 years ago on Feb. 8, my sweet husband proposed to me. He didn't want to do it on the cliche' Valentines Day so he did it earlier. Every year we celebrate on the 8th instead of the 14th.(Crowds are definitely littler.) We went to dinner and tried to get a hotel room in the "Hamptons" (no not the ones in N.Y., the Hampton Inn. It makes it sound like you went somewhere spectacular to say you spent the night in the Hamptons.) Anyway it was full as was every other hotel within miles. This was on Friday night. On Monday, the actual anniversary of our engagement, he sent me these flowers at work!! The ladies were so impressed with how sweet he is. The net is an actual fly fishing net I have been wanting that he took to the florist and had them make me an arrangement in it. The card said, "Still the best catch of my life." Isn't he a great husband? I'd still say yes to that proposal 29 years ago!!!

Christmas 2009

Wow, what a lot of fun!! We had a houseful with lots of fun, food, family and presents. We had all the kids home with their families and also Perry's parents. We had Perry's sister, Vicky and her daughter, Pamela; and daughter and son-in-law Christina and David with their two children here for Christmas Eve day, also. We spent Christmas Eve having our traditional ham buffet with all the goodies and played games all day. A good time was had by all (24 of us).


A quick but rowsing game of Wacky Six.


Kamri, Kylee and Laryssa in their Christmas Pajamas!!

Christmas morning we discovered that the jolly old fat man had indeed found us and we opened presents and then spent another great day playing games and eating more yummy food.




Chanse and Kylee looking over a present Chanse got.

It was a great Christmas!! I enjoyed every minute.

December 23, 2009 Boom goes the trailer!!!

Ok, I'm back up and running. I don't have much incentive to blog when my kids beat me to it. Hence, no Aruba blog. Then my camera quit and I just got a new one. All my pictures until now were hand me arounds from my kids so they already had them on their blogs. Anyway ....

December ... ok, let's start with the 23rd.

All the kids plus Perry's parents were coming for Christmas. So we decided that rather than using the air mattress - which no one likes to sleep on - we would just put a couple out in our 5th wheel. It has a queen size regular mattress and it has a great heater. So we gave it a test run the night before where we lit the heater to make sure it would get warm enough in there. This is the coldest winter we have had in 5 years (according to the weather man). It was plenty warm out there so we were ready to go. On the 23rd, I went out to start the heater as we needed it that night. As I opened the door, it reeked of propane. I closed the door and decided to let Perry check it out when he got home. Perry came home and I told him about it. He went out to see about it. About 5 minutes later, I heard what sounded like a sonic boom and the whole house shook. I knew it was Perry in the trailer and that it had exploded. I was sure he was dead. We all ran to the trailer. J'see and Charlie found Perry outside the trailer door applying snow to his burn face and hair. He had cleared the propane and then started the heater. When it flashed, it dived out the open door. He has some minor burns on his face and hands, a lot of singed hair and no eyebrows or eyelashes. He was one lucky man. I was a basket case all night. We brought him inside to check him out and thought we needed to put some aloe vera on his burns, which was in the trailer. He went out to the trailer to get it and discovered the bathroom cupboard on fire. I called the fire department because I wanted to make sure that if the fire got out of hand, my house which is 5 feet away from the trailer didn't go up too!! We got the fire put out before the fire department got here. They put out a smoldering roll of toilet paper and checked Perry's burns out. Anyway, all's well that ends well. I have a husband still!!! The trailer is pretty much totalled as you can kind of see by the following pictures.

All of the exterior walls were bowed out about 5 inches from the blast, all of the window frames were pushed out and bent, the screens were pushed out the window openings and the curtains farthest from the heater were melted. You can see gaps between all of the cupboards and the exterior walls because of the bowing of the walls. I don't know what it would have looked like if the door hadn't been open to vent some of the blast.