The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

It's been nine months since we moved into the house and eight months since we've posted anything. For those who don't know what's been happening, here's the "Reader's Digest" version:

THE BAD:

March 17 - This was the last day our contractor worked on site...not because he finished, but because he skipped town with 95% of the loan money without finishing 95% of the job. He hadn't paid at least 5 sub contractors which resulted in 5 liens against the house.

March to October - We worked on trying to finish the house and paid off 3 of the lines. We hired workers as we could and did lots of work on our own - often with the help of wonderful friends and family. (THANKS EVERYONE!) Countrywide (our lender) was NOT helpful and (according to our lawyer) not responsible for releasing money to the contractor for work he had not completed. We wondered if we'd have to declare bankruptcy and walk away from the house.

THE UGLY:

June 21 - Steve was in a terrible head-on car crash. He had cracked ribs and sternum, broken toes, and a severely broken wrist that required two surgeries. He was off work for 12 weeks and is still going to physical therapy. It was a long, difficult summer for us both, but we're SO grateful that it wasn't worse! If you dare, here's a photo of the 2005 Saturn VUE that kept Steve alive:

THE GOOD!!!

October 30 - We passed final inspection with the county. Thanks to our lawyer, Countrywide agreed to pay off the last 2 liens and release the remaining money (chump change) to us. In short, we get to stay in the house (though bankruptcy is still a possibility.)

So, here we are, five days from Thanksgiving, feeling VERY blessed and grateful that God has worked this all out! And now, what you've really been waiting for...pictures:

Our best friend, John, made us these awesome green house numbers. When we knew were staying in the house, we put them on the log and set the log in concrete! We've got LOTS of rocks at our place, so they're a huge part of our "landscape."

Here's the view of the front of the house. We're so excited to have an asphalt driveway! The rocky, dusty/muddy driveway was NOT fun!

Here's the back of the house. You may notice at the bottom of the photo that we have window wells on the basement windows. It lets in a lot more light than regular windows. Truthfully, we had to install them in order to get the correct "grade" of fill dirt from the garage pad to the house.

We had a contractor come pour concrete for the walkway up to the house as well as this concrete patio under the deck that leads to the basement door. (This is where you'll you'll unload all your stuff into the basement guest rooms when you come to visit us!)

The guys that poured our concrete used the rock around our place to build these cool rock stairs!

Our "rock artists" also built this small retaining wall along the walkway to the front stairs. (You'll notice Steve's new truck up on the garage pad at the top of the photo.)

We hope to see you coming up our front stairs sometime soon! We wish you all a Thanksgiving full of blessings!