Random Snapshots From A Moving Train

Home Invasion

Our house is back on the market again for the second time and we've had a few occasional viewing mostly on weekends which is particularly rough on Kenny since he prefers to sleep in on his days off but has to wake up earlier so we can get the house ready and vacate it before the realtors and their clients arrive. We try not to be present when potential buyers are scrutinizing our home as we realized it could be an awkward situation for everybody. We once viewed somebody's residence and came upon the homeowner still eating lunch with his shirt off despite being notified ahead of time. We can't also help but marvel at how people can allow strangers to see so much clutter in their abode. Although it can get wearisome at times, we try to keep our dwelling in tiptop shape and decorated it very minimally, not kitschy. A few of the houses we've looked up so far have so much tschotschkes in every nook and cranny that it can somehow detract from the potential of the house. Let's not even mention some of the most dated or hideous decor we've ever encountered. I know we have different tastes and sense of style (nothing wrong with that) but I guess we've seen enough TV shows on TLC or HGTV to realize the importance of first impressions when it comes to selling real estate. At least we think so.

Last Tuesday, Kenny told me that we had a viewing while I was sleeping . He apparently received an urgent call from our realtor about a request to show the house that evening. He agreed on the condition that the master bedroom will be an exception. He didn't want to wake me up since I have to work that night . He rushed home from work to tidy up and while he was at the basement, he heard voices speaking a foreign language. He came up to the first floor to find three Filipinas with their realtor (also a Filipino). Despite being caught by surprise (they came earlier than arranged), Kenny managed to welcome them and reminded the realtor that the master bedroom was off limits for the time being. They seemed to have no problem with that and went around inspecting the house.

Kenny thought they appeared to be really interested on the number of bedrooms and were focused on how they can potentially add another bedroom in the basement . He suspects they might be a bunch of friends or relatives who'd be sharing in the purchase. They expressed their compliments over the paint color choices on the walls and seemed wowed by the decorating style and layout. Overall, the comments were positive and encouraging but we've heard them many times in the past when we first placed the house on the market last August. We still haven't received a reasonable offer so we try not to get too excited anymore. We've been down this road before and we are aware that it's a "buyer's market" out there right now.

I do love our house since it's our first one and we've put so much work on it to suit our needs and taste. We've shelled out considerable amount of money on some pricey upgrades so we were fairly confident that it will get sold quickly. Alas! The real estate market deteriorated right around that time and with winter came even less chance of people being interested in purchasing and moving. Our one attempt at an open house was unsuccessful so we're not considering it again. We also had our share of no-shows which was certainly annoying. Now that it's spring, we are hoping that we'll be able to beat the odds. Otherwise, we'll have to consider selling the house on our own, without using a realtor, which can be difficult and inconvenient to say the least.

Although buying a house was nerve-wracking the first time around, it was easier and more enjoyable than selling one. When Kenny and I get into a bellyaching session on how exasperating it is becoming, I can't help but ruminate about how it wouldn't be a huge problem for me back in the Philippines if I need or want a place of my own. Modesty aside, my family have inherited substantial land and property and as long as I don't mind living in a rural area, I can have a picking of a plot of land to build a house or a hut on, with a big backyard to boot. It's far from being grand but it would be all mine. I wouldn't have to go through a credit check, save for a down payment, apply for financing and anxiously wait for approval. I also would not have the monthly mortgage payments we're paying right now. If we save or add up two years' worth of our mortgage, we could possibly own a blinged out mansion in the Philippines. In contrast, it might take as long as 30 years to pay off a house in the US.

Even if we eventually get our house sold, we are faced with the possibility of buying a substandard property (and still expensive) for the sake of location. The one thing I have learned from our home buying and selling process is the first rule of real estate: "location, location, location". When I first came to the US, I was amazed at how much emphasis is placed on the location of one's residence. Not all towns or cities in the US are ideal places to live in. Safe and affluent neighborhoods with commendable school systems are just some of the factors that make an area with high property resale values. In order to get into one of these sought after locales, one might end up biting too much house. That is, a too-big house payment which can, at the very least, leave you with too little money for other goals: retirement, vacations, college funds for the kids. At worst, it can leave you vulnerable to foreclosure and bankruptcy. We certainly don't want that.

Years ago, I never would have thought I'll be dealing with matters like real estate, taxes, financing, mortgages, etc. I usually wouldn't pay any attention to any subject using jargon that my brain finds too intricate to fathom. For me, those kind of stuff are for my parents to handle . I guess I have to accept the fact that I'm clearly an adult now and have to make an effort in comprehending all these business and financial verbiage . With the help of the Internet and a lot of research, Kenny and I have been able to wade through all the information and weed out the faulty ones. We just hope that we are better armed to make an intelligent decision once we find ourselves in the home buying market again.

Will somebody please buy our house already!

Demolition Haven

We're finally getting new hardwood floors and Kenny is in Demolition Haven.

The Family Trees

I stayed up late last Friday but Kenny went to bed early as he had a hard day's work planned out for Saturday. Apparently, he also decided to make an early start at planting the trees. By noon, he has initially dug two holes at the backyard with the hole digger he rented the night before. Then, what a pleasant surprise! Luke arrived with Ted and Tif in tow. Kenny didn't ask for their help but they came on their own. They were supposed to go camping for the weekend in Wisconsin but the plan fell through. Anyway, we were just glad and grateful for the additional help. Unfortunately, I'm on a long term "injured list" so I became the only member in the refreshment and hydration committee. The four worked furiously for the next five hours or so and took short breaks in between.

It would have been a very slow and painful process without the extra pair of hands. By the time the last tree was planted, they looked like they're spent and had no ounce of energy left. We got burgers from Culver's and ordered ribs from Rosati's for dinner. It was awesome just to hang out at the patio and marveled at how much of a difference the trees made. We extend our deepest gratitude to Tif, Ted and Luke for making this happen.

We later made plans to hook up at Tif and Ted's place. We also invited Tom and Mariah over. We saw (through our hands) "The Grudge" and then The Kung Fu Hustle. By the end of the movie, we were all lethargic and practically crawled out of there. It has been a long and well-spent day.

Here's the photo montage of The Tale of Trees.

Trees R' Us

I rushed home today from work to make it in time for the delivery of our trees. I called Fields Nursery and was informed that they are in the process of loading up three trees. Less than an hour later, the pear trees were at our backyard. I felt bad for the two men who struggled to roll the trolley with a tree on it down the slope. It didn't look easy to me and I shudder to think that Kenny will be wrestling with it to plant it on the ground. I don't think he asked for his brother's assistance yet. Well, we can always decide to get the work done for us by the nursery staff later, to the tune of $500.00 plus for about four hours of work. The two other remaining cimmaron ash trees were delivered about half an hour later. I was beginning to get excited to see them planted but I realized Kenny can probably plant two trees at the most each weekend.

   

     

When Kenny got home, he started digging  one hole and was making a slow progress with the shovel until he hit hard clay soil.  He said the shovel got bent so he had to stop and will have to rent a hole digger before he could resume the excavation. I'm fine with that as long as it will make the job much easier for him.

We got another delivery today. Kenny ordered a few computer parts a few days ago to upgrade my computer. I've been doing a lot more projects on the computer but it's too slow at times. I'm not so computer literate but I noticed the big difference right away after he installed the parts and programs. He also got me a new CD writer/burner so I don't have to use his computer down at the basement. What a gem of a husband, huh? He's my help desk and my own Geek Squad. ( joke, joke, joke

I felt like de-stressing a little bit so I asked Kenny if we could see a movie tonight. I first decided to go see The Great Raid but felt it might be too serious and depressing so we went for Sky High     instead. I'm surprised it didn't do so well at the box office as I thought it was a very enjoyable, refreshing and well made movie. Maybe the studios didn't invest a lot of money on marketing and publicity. Just looking at The Dukes of Hazzard trailer and I know it's a trash of a movie but so much press was showered on Jessica Simpson's butt and supposed marriage woes. That's just another day in Hollywood, folks.

Tale of Trees

Last Saturday, Kenny and I woke up earlier than normal as we planned on going to the plant and tree nursery 5 minutes away from us. He has been talking about getting trees to plant at our backyard before people move into the town homes behind our house. He admits it doesn't bother him as much but he still want the coverage the trees will provide. It will be like a natural screen or something to that effect. We also think it's a good investment and will add to the value of the property in a few years.

It was a very hot day to be shopping for trees, mind you. It was also a new experience to me since I never thought I'll be buying trees ever. Back home, my family had enough trees to build a house. We drove around in a golf cart and looked at trees that Michael, the nursery staff, recommended based on our requirements. After much deliberation, we agreed we needed five trees and we picked three Cleveland Pear trees and two Cimmaron Ash trees. They will be delivered on Wednesday morning. We originally thought about getting only three trees so we've gone over our budget by getting five. Kenny decided to plant the trees himself and will ask his brother Luke to help. Yikes!!! It will certainly be a huge feat to dig out the soil and plant those trees. We're talking 250 to 300 lbs per tree here. Kenny just couldn't bring himself to pay the extra $500.00 for them to be planted for us. We'll see what happens. Anyway, I'm quite excited about the selection that we made. I look forward to seeing those trees come fall and next spring as their foliage is supposed to be really pretty.

   

Guest Who?

We waited for about two days before putting things back together in the guest bedroom. Kenny did a few touch-ups, re-installed the outlet plates, hang the blinds and vacuumed the carpet floor. Then the bed and the rest of the knick-knacks followed. We both conceded it will be unwise to buy new accessories for the room as we have some stuff we could reuse. We also don't want to clutter it up too much. I do want to reserve a couple of walls for something I might like later so they will have to remain empty for now.

I think the room turned out great. I teased Kenny I'm moving in to this room tonight. After all, blue is a favorite color of mine. It just feels so airy and tranquil, evoking memories of a seaside vacation somewhere far away. 

                     

    Well, that's what we're trying to do anyway. I hope our guest/s will feel that way too. To all our friends, you are always welcome in our humble abode. No reservations needed.

Paint Me Blue

As I had previously posted, Kenny and I planned on decorating the guest bedroom soon. After I got his nod of approval on the bedding set and color schemes, we picked up a can of paint from Home Depot and started painting the room tonight. It's astonishing to me that we haven't had a major discord on choosing paint colors ever since we started painting our house. When I thought about the antipathy in our decorating tastes when we first lived together, I remembered a lot of dissension . Over the years, we placated the situation through compromise. We watched a good amount of home improvement and decorating TV shows back then and gained a lot of ideas. By the time we moved into our new home, we had a resulting mix of decorating styles that we call the global eclectic. I can truly say that our house reflects both our tastes and personalities.

For the guest bedroom, we want it to be a private, personal retreat for our guests where they can shut the door on the world and be themselves. When planning for the color schemes for this space, we aimed to create a warm, mood-enhancing look that whispers relax, take it easy, wind down. We chose the paint color from Behr called silver strand. It is a cool color of a lighter shade of blue. Painting with cool colors (especially the lighter values) can make smaller rooms appear slightly larger. Cool colors appear to recede visually making rooms painted in these hues seem more spacious and airy. Psychologically, these colors are calming, evoking deep-seated feelings of peace and tranquility.

Kenny and I had developed a working system when we started painting the rooms in our house. It made us organized and kept mistakes to a minimum. Some people I know would balk at the idea of doing the job themselves and spent a good fortune on hiring professionals. I concur it's a back breaking work but it can be a lot of fun and a learning experience as well. When the paint cans were emptied and the roller brushes were laid down, we looked at our "masterpieces" and say, "Wow! We did that." Okay, it might not be professional quality to a very discerning eye but we sure fooled a lot of friends. Kenny can be very meticulous with the details and disliked sloppiness. No shortcuts nor cutting corners for this guy, I tell ya.

Anyway, for those who are beginners at this, here's a helpful link on painting interior spaces. Once you get the hang of it, you'll be moving on to the next room or space to paint or repaint.

Home Safe Home

I recently entered in my blog that we decided not to sell our house and move. I did think so but when the weekend came around, it was mostly spent looking at houses. Last Saturday, we drove around Bolingbrook with a realtor and looked up four houses on the market. One house stood out due to its layout, patio deck and sizable backyard. We started to feel optimistic about the whole idea of moving again.  On Sunday afternoon, after Monica’s bridal shower, we went to a new home builder’s office and checked out their model homes and possible sites. We got even more thrilled as we found a close match to what we have in mind. Then, came the excruciating part of dealing with the sales people. After all the excitement I felt, I suddenly had reservations on closing the deal on the spot. I felt that we had not really thought things through so I balked at the idea of being too hasty. We left the office so beleaguered and feeling overwhelmed.

After almost two days of being indecisive and much deliberation, we decided to stick with the plan of staying on for a few years. It was tough to let go of a dream but once our minds were made up, we started talking about the many improvements we want to do for our house. We became a lot more enthusiastic on upgrading it for our enjoyment as well as for its resale value. We still do have the guest bedroom to work on and my head was already spinning with ideas on themes, accessories and color schemes. We also want hardwood floors on the entire first floor and tile floors on both bathrooms on the second floor. As for our backyard, we are hoping that planting trees there will alleviate some of the angst we feel about the town homes.

We'll just have to work with what we have and just be thankful that we do have a home to call our own. Other people are not so lucky to be able to say that. One day, while driving home from work, I saw a homeless person cross the street pushing a cart full of his precious belongings. He then stopped at the garbage bin at the corner of the street and rummaged through for whatever treasure he might find. I can’t help but feel humbled by this. Sometimes, we get carried away by greed and ambition that we forget the more important and basic things in life.

News from the Home Front

After much consideration and discussion, Kenny and I agreed that it's against our best interest at this time to sell our house and move. We do love the house and the backyard view or lack thereof is not really a substantial reason to go through all the trouble. I guess we're here to stay for the next few years. I'm happy with the decision and looking forward to raising our family and creating more memories in our first home.

It rained pretty hard today and it was a good thing. Our grass and plants really needed a good soaking. It also gave us a reprieve from the very oppressive heat over the weekend. The one thing that really amused us was our lone rose bush. It's amazing how much it has grown since we planted it last spring. It has a few more blooms again. I wish we planted more so our front yard garden will be even prettier during the summer. That just reminded me that I plan on going to the Chicago Botanic Garden again to see the Rose Garden. I just adore the plethora of rose varieties and colors and I'd like to find more ideas on landscaping and gardening so we can improve on our house's "curb appeal" next year.

Meanwhile, things are not looking up so good with my sister Emily. She text messaged me at around 4 in the morning yesterday, asking me to give her a call.   It was with some trepidation when I dialed her number as I didn't know what to expect. My heart skipped a beat when I heard her sobbing on the other line. A multitude of morbid thoughts flashed through my mind as I was trying to figure out what happened. She was sobbing her heart out while trying to profusely apologize for the fact that she missed taking the CGFNS exam last July 13. She apparently found out too late that she was on schedule since she was unable to obtain that information while waiting for the approval of her application.   It was an oversight on her part and I'm sure she felt very mortified that she might have missed her one chance at it. I know she feared my response to this bad news. I wasn't livid but was admittedly disappointed about the time and money wasted. I seriously doubt any refund or her being rescheduled without paying all over again. Anyway, I was probably more relieved that she wasn't calling about any of those dreaded scenarios that I dare not even mention . Anyhow, I reassured her that we'll try to inquire into her application and see if there's a silver lining in all of this. I do feel regret about this unfortunate turn of events. Although I sent her through college, she made huge sacrifices in the hopes of providing her family a better future. Being a mother, a wife and a daughter were just the primary roles that she had been juggling for sometime. Then, add to that being a student who really excelled in her nursing studies despite the odds. I am truly proud of my sister and although I'm not too happy about this current setback, I know that I can never forsake her and her dreams. I just know that this is what my father would have liked me to do.    So, we just move on to the next challenge...

A House With No View

Kenny and I never thought we would be faced with this dilemma so early on in our home ownership. We moved into this house about 14 months ago and we had done a lot of work with it since. We finally felt settled and enjoying the experience. Then... wham!

 

Last night, Kenny admitted that his satisfaction with our house has greatly diminished since knowing that town homes instead of houses were being built right behind us. As the construction progressed, our mortification increased as we realized that our view would be severely obstructed and that the plan to expand our patio deck is going down the drain.   The distance between the structures is just way too close for comfort and this was not we bargained for when we bought the house. It's almost like living in an apartment all over again. One concession that the builders did for us was to provide a fence in between the properties but it didn't really make much of a difference.   Furthermore, Kenny and I were upset about a situation yesterday morning. I caught the fencing crew pilfering our water supply for the use of filling the posts with concrete. It would not have mattered so much if we were informed beforehand and permission was asked.   It was tantamount to stealing and expecting us to foot the bill. Secondly, there is a drought going on and we received a town memo to use water sparingly especially when watering lawns and plants or else be fined if caught doing so. I'm sure the company could have brought their own water supply. My husband called the contact person at the builders and laid on him his disappointment and complaints. The guy called back and left a message with apologies and excuses. It's a bunch of bull crap, really!

This situation triggered a late night discussion between me and Kenny. He strongly felt that we could do better and should look for another house that might be more to our specifications. As much as I am intimidated at the thought of the inconveniences of relocating again,   I agree that we should weigh our options. We looked the Internet up for house listings in the area and even drove over to a nearby town that Kenny seems to think might be a possibility. I'm still not sure at this point whether it's a smart idea but I admit that I might be easily persuaded if we happen to see a house that might be good enough than the one we have. It remains to be seen as we still have to check on the ramifications of putting up our house on the market. As it is, it makes me a little sad as I am growing attached to this house. I thought we will be raising our family here for at least 5 years until we can afford our dream house.    Oh, well. Life does throw a lot of curve balls and it's up to us to dodge it or get hit.

Backyard Angst

Aside from the ongoing construction behind our house, something else is bugging the heck out of us. Kenny and I were out on the patio today and found a lot of weeds growing on our backyard. We had this problem last year too and we pretty much hurt our backs pulling out weeds for almost a week. This time is even worse as the weeds are already taking over our yard. If we even manage to pull out a few, we're going to end up pulling out the grass too. We saw this coming two weeks ago. This is a direct consequence of our neighbor's negligence in taking care of their own property. They still have not done anything with their yard and now the seeds from the weeds from their side were blown into our section and have taken residence on our own yard during the past week or so. We were just baffled out of our brains why they even bother to own a house when they can't or won't do the normal upkeep that comes with it. Grrrrr!!! Of all the neighbors to have, why did we end up right next to these people??? The thing is we just couldn't go up to them and tell them what we think they should do. It's too close for comfort and complaining is not going to improve relationships with them. We'll just have to deal with this issue the best way for us... and that means putting up fences. We might even have to plan on getting the fence sooner than we thought and that just even put us in a fouler mood.

Here's a photo update on the backyard scenario:

       

Treasure Bucket

Over the past few months since last Christmas, Kenny and I had been saving our coins or loose change in an antique Chinese bucket.  As the bucket starts to fill up, we speculated as to how much the coins will amount to. Since we are leaving for the Philippines next week, Kenny thought it's about time that we get our coins traded into paper money. This has become our tradition for almost 2 years now. We collect our loose change or coins in a designated container for a period of time until we need the extra cash for a special occasion, such as Christmas, or for a vacation. We usually get about $100.00 or more but this time, we've been saving for almost 6 months. I went to the bank today and got a really nice surprise. All the coins amounted to $253.40. I called Kenny at work and broke the good news. He joked that the money should be enough for a few nice dinners during the trip. I couldn't agree more.

I am really getting excited about the vacation. This will be the first time that Kenny and I actually get to travel together to the Phils. The big bonus is that we are also traveling with another couple who are good friends of ours. It will be a more interesting and enjoyable journey despite being a very long one. Both Tom and Mariah are also very psyched about it. We've been doing our daily countdown for almost a month now, I think ;-)

Rose Bloom

We noticed the first bud from our one and only rose bush at the front yard. We were pretty excited and I'm sure we looked like idiots to the neighbors the way we paid attention to a single bud. I love roses and I'd like to visit the Chicago Botanical Garden when the Rose Garden will be in full bloom. The profusion of colors and the sweet scent just gets to me. Next to tulips, roses are one of my favorite flowers and that has nothing to do with my name ;-) Maybe next year, we'll plant more rose bushes with a variety of colors.  

LEGO House

I just got home and checked out the activity at our backyard and had quite a surprise again. Man! Those construction guys mean business. The foundation of the townhouses was already laid. So much was done since the last time I took the first pictures of the ongoing construction. It's not much of a pleasant view but still quite an interesting thing to observe for me. Here's an update in photos:

     

 

Home To-Go

Kenny and I woke up yesterday to so much noise right by our bedroom window. We looked out and found a beginning of a construction right behind our house.    We just learned that instead of single-family homes, the builders are building townhomes. Our problem with that is that they are being built really close to our house. We would have preferred for them to be houses so they will also have a reasonable backyard space from us. We are now considering building a fence once residents of the townhomes start moving in. I wasn't so much in favor of it then but I suppose it might be needed eventually. The builders are working so fast that I won't be surprised if a resemblance of a townhouse will be built in a week or so. It is quite interesting to me to note that building a house back home could take months to years. My parents' home is still pretty much unfinished but I plan on getting it renovated or redesigned once we have the funds to proceed.

Our own house took only about 6 months to build during the winter (2003) and early spring (2004). Here are some photos taken during the construction:

 

and the most recent outside photos:

    Before we decided on getting a new house built, we thought about buying used homes in the neighborhoods we liked but it was very tough to find one that has all the features we want and need. If ever there were, the prices were too much for us. We ruled out any fixer-uppers as we didn't want to contend with the problems of repairs and replacements and that could drain our finances early on in our home ownership. For now, this house is more than we could hope for and we're happy with our decision.

Blooms and Weeds

My husband and I were out at the deck today and marvelled at how our backyard seems to be looking better. The grass is green and growing and there were only a few bald patches where we've sown more grass seeds on. We don't have much of a backyard space so we were discussing about the possibility of extending the patio deck once we have some extra money to spend. It would be just cool to be able to host barbeque parties for friends out there. Then, we looked over to our neighbor's backyard and were dismayed at how unkempt it is . You practically can't tell the grass from the weeds and it's obvious they haven't been trimmed or mowed for a long time. This was about the same issue we had last year and there's no telling as to when the neighbors will deem it necessary to do something about it. Meanwhile, it's an eyesore and there's not much we can do about it. On the other hand, Kenny and I planted more flowers at the frontyard . I don't know what their names are yet but I'm quite excited to see them in full bloom soon . 

 

Superior Court House

It's quite amazing how we've evolved into typical suburbanites and homeowners after just one year of living in our first and new home. Over the past year, we've painted all the rooms except one (guest bedroom), sewn curtains, built shelves, bought furnitures & appliances and arranged all the accessories. Looking at all that we've accomplished, I feel we've done more in a year than what some people would take years to do. I guess we just want our house to feel more like the home we want it to be . Now that the weather is nicer and warmer, we've been spending the weekends working on the frontyard and backyard. We've splurged quite a bit on shrubs, soil, fertilizer, lawnmower, grass seeds, etc to make the exterior of the house look less impersonal and generic. Through all this, we've taken pride of the fact that we're doing it by ourselves and we're getting better at it too . We've become HGTV experts ourselves For myself, my shopping interests had shifted from clothes, shoes and purses to home accessories and furniture. I get more excited going to Home Depot to choose paint colors or to plant nurseries to pick shrubs and flowers   . My husband also buys more stuff at home improvement stores than at Best Buy All in all, it's been a great first year and we're looking forward to living here for a few more years. It's home sweet home, at last... or for now... Here are some photos of the interior of our humble abode ;-)