Housing Update: When God Answers

It's been six weeks since I've given you a housing update and it's not because I didn't want to share. I did. But the things I would have written would have been speculation and hope and a whirlwind of emotions, not a sure thing. Until today. Now I know what to say.

Back in March, our lottery number was drawn for a brand new condo I mentioned here. It was drawn! Out of hundreds of numbers, ours was picked! There were 11 total units and ours was the third one. We were stoked and a little bit scared. This was a huge answer to our prayers! And then all the "buts" and "what ifs" started. And the lack of understanding the process would hit us day after day.

Even though we were third on the list, there were several other applicants ahead of us due to a couple of laws in our city government. Those that live in the same neighborhood as the available condo are given first priority and those that were evicted under the Ellis Act are also given priority. And then us -- the ones who just want to stay in the city. So after weeks of waiting for it to be "our turn" and doubting that there would be a 2-bedroom even available we continued trusting (and trying to wait) that God would indeed work this whole thing out.

And the waiting was a blessing too. In that six weeks, Chris went to several interviews (remember his employer ran out of funding? So we've been living on savings since February) and today he starts a new job! We couldn't very well get a mortgage if we didn't have an income. This is another answer to our prayers! But let me back up.

"Our turn" came up last Thursday. We received an email that our application was approved and we could move forward with the process. The process being, viewing and selecting our condo out of the available units and then working with our bank to get our loan. There were four 2-bedrooms available when we went to the viewing on Sunday afternoon. Another answer to prayer! After looking at them (some more than once) we made our selection and drove home, not at all excited. What?!

You read that right. We just didn't feel comfortable with the space. It is a brand new condo in a really great neighborhood with beautiful parks and a library all in walking distance. But that two bedroom, two bathroom condo felt so tiny. The bathrooms and designer kitchen were stunning and made me a little giddy, there was even a fitness center on site. And having in-unit washer/dryer and garage parking were things I've had high on my priority list for years. But the bedrooms were tiny and picturing our two boys sharing one tiny room (where two twin beds may or may not even fit) was just depressing. And the living room/dining room was fairly small too. There wouldn't have been space for a couch and a dining room table. Hosting has been something Chris and I love doing and the thought of having to get a small table for the four of us in order to have space for a couch was hard to consider. None of our current furniture would fit well here. And where would the toys go?

We currently live in 600 square feet and we have a lot of open floor space for the boys to play. We wouldn't have any floor space in this new home even if it was 850 square feet. The layout left us wanting more. We can get rid of a lot of stuff and go all-out-minimalist and even go broke buying fancy "tiny-house" friendly furniture . . . I've come up with a few ideas so far.

Was it worth going into debt to live in a space we would most likely outgrow in a few years? (Even with the below-market rate price it is still expensive.) And then there is the HOA which just sounded snooty. I understand they want the building to look and stay a certain way but telling me which curtains I can hang made me want to scream.

The weight of this decision sucked the air out of me and left me even more sleepless than the previous weeks of insomnia I've suffered. Chris and I talked it out over and over and kept coming to the same conclusion. It just isn't for us. And that stinks. We've seen God answer all of these prayer requests in the past six weeks and then to come to this conclusion? Are we crazy? Can beggars be choosers? Shouldn't we be grateful for this opportunity and just take it?

Over and over again we said "no." We don't have to take this. God is still in control and can still provide for our needs. And wouldn't you know it! There is an older 3 bedroom/2 bath below-market-rate condo available for resale. The lottery for this unit (there is only one) is next month. Please pray that somehow our number be drawn again! 

It's been six weeks since I've given you a housing update and it's not because I didn't want to share. I did. But the things I would have written would have been speculation and hope and a whirlwind of emotions, not a sure thing. Until today. Now I know what to say.

Back in March, our lottery number was drawn for a brand new condo I mentioned here. It was drawn! Out of hundreds of numbers, ours was picked! There were 11 total units and ours was the third one. We were stoked and a little bit scared. This was a huge answer to our prayers! And then all the "buts" and "what ifs" started. And the lack of understanding the process would hit us day after day.

Even though we were third on the list, there were several other applicants ahead of us due to a couple of laws in our city government. Those that live in the same neighborhood as the available condo are given first priority and those that were evicted under the Ellis Act are also given priority. And then us -- the ones who just want to stay in the city. So after weeks of waiting for it to be "our turn" and doubting that there would be a 2-bedroom even available we continued trusting (and trying to wait) that God would indeed work this whole thing out.

And the waiting was a blessing too. In that six weeks, Chris went to several interviews (remember his employer ran out of funding? So we've been living on savings since February) and today he starts a new job! We couldn't very well get a mortgage if we didn't have an income. This is another answer to our prayers! But let me back up.

"Our turn" came up last Thursday. We received an email that our application was approved and we could move forward with the process. The process being, viewing and selecting our condo out of the available units and then working with our bank to get our loan. There were four 2-bedrooms available when we went to the viewing on Sunday afternoon. Another answer to prayer! After looking at them (some more than once) we made our selection and drove home, not at all excited. What?!

You read that right. We just didn't feel comfortable with the space. It is a brand new condo in a really great neighborhood with beautiful parks and a library all in walking distance. But that two bedroom, two bathroom condo felt so tiny. The bathrooms and designer kitchen were stunning and made me a little giddy, there was even a fitness center on site. And having in-unit washer/dryer and garage parking were things I've had high on my priority list for years. But the bedrooms were tiny and picturing our two boys sharing one tiny room (where two twin beds may or may not even fit) was just depressing. And the living room/dining room was fairly small too. There wouldn't have been space for a couch and a dining room table. Hosting has been something Chris and I love doing and the thought of having to get a small table for the four of us in order to have space for a couch was hard to consider. None of our current furniture would fit well here. And where would the toys go?

We currently live in 600 square feet and we have a lot of open floor space for the boys to play. We wouldn't have any floor space in this new home even if it was 850 square feet. The layout left us wanting more. We can get rid of a lot of stuff and go all-out-minimalist and even go broke buying fancy "tiny-house" friendly furniture . . . I've come up with a few ideas so far.

Was it worth going into debt to live in a space we would most likely outgrow in a few years? (Even with the below-market rate price it is still expensive.) And then there is the HOA which just sounded snooty. I understand they want the building to look and stay a certain way but telling me which curtains I can hang made me want to scream.

The weight of this decision sucked the air out of me and left me even more sleepless than the previous weeks of insomnia I've suffered. Chris and I talked it out over and over and kept coming to the same conclusion. It just isn't for us. And that stinks. We've seen God answer all of these prayer requests in the past six weeks and then to come to this conclusion? Are we crazy? Can beggars be choosers? Shouldn't we be grateful for this opportunity and just take it?

Over and over again we said "no." We don't have to take this. God is still in control and can still provide for our needs. And wouldn't you know it! There is an older 3 bedroom/2 bath below-market-rate condo available for resale. The lottery for this unit (there is only one) is next month. Please pray that somehow our number be drawn again! 

Clutterfree with Kids

Did you grow up hearing "Put that back where it belongs." Or have the idea that everything you owned should have a place it belonged when not in use? I did, but totally failed to follow through. My room was always a disaster. Even after it was clean!

I don't know about you, but often times I look at my apartment and think "What am I supposed to do with this stuff?" I can't call it junk, but most of it isn't essential or even used on a regular bases. My problem is that I can't put it away because it just doesn't have a place to belong. My dining room table gets to act as table, office, landing pad, and sometimes even kitchen counter. I have too much stuff. And I honestly don't know how to not have it.

I picked up this book as part of a bundled online ebook sale and it came at just the right time. With our never ending hopes of moving (more on that later!!) and the cumulation of toys for two boys (and their clothes) I needed help!

Clutterfree with Kids is written by Joshua Becker who is known for his minimalist approach to life and happiness. He has written several books on the topic and speaks on it often. How do you make a living by not collecting stuff -- this is how I guess!

I liked his style. He opened the book with the theory and reasons behind his choice for not giving in to materialism and filling his home with possessions. This helped get me excited for actually getting rid of stuff. One main point I want to share is that when you buy something, it costs more than just the price you paid. It requires maintenance, organization, your time and energy to keep it in nice condition - that goes for so many things - clothes came to mind first! So much laundry and my closet looks terrible so I organize it at least 3 times a year. If I had less, I'd spend less time organizing and could spend more time doing something fun. This goes for so much more too.

The second half of the book (which is not even 200 pages) is practical steps you can take to declutter your spaces and how to get your kids involved and how to teach them to have healthy boundaries with stuff. I liked the section on photographs because at this same time, our backup hard drive crashed and the normal hard drive stopped working properly. Thankfully nothing was lost, but it gave me reason to pause and look at how I'm storing my photos (I don't delete any of them... and that makes photo editing take forever and finding one particular photo nearly impossible!).

If you want to understand this mentality of living with less, give this book a go. You don't even need to have kids for it to make an impact. And if you need motivation to do some spring summer cleaning, I bet this would do it!

**I'm not getting paid to write this review, but I think many people could benefit like I did (or hope to!)

Did you grow up hearing "Put that back where it belongs." Or have the idea that everything you owned should have a place it belonged when not in use? I did, but totally failed to follow through. My room was always a disaster. Even after it was clean!

I don't know about you, but often times I look at my apartment and think "What am I supposed to do with this stuff?" I can't call it junk, but most of it isn't essential or even used on a regular bases. My problem is that I can't put it away because it just doesn't have a place to belong. My dining room table gets to act as table, office, landing pad, and sometimes even kitchen counter. I have too much stuff. And I honestly don't know how to not have it.

I picked up this book as part of a bundled online ebook sale and it came at just the right time. With our never ending hopes of moving (more on that later!!) and the cumulation of toys for two boys (and their clothes) I needed help!

Clutterfree with Kids is written by Joshua Becker who is known for his minimalist approach to life and happiness. He has written several books on the topic and speaks on it often. How do you make a living by not collecting stuff -- this is how I guess!

I liked his style. He opened the book with the theory and reasons behind his choice for not giving in to materialism and filling his home with possessions. This helped get me excited for actually getting rid of stuff. One main point I want to share is that when you buy something, it costs more than just the price you paid. It requires maintenance, organization, your time and energy to keep it in nice condition - that goes for so many things - clothes came to mind first! So much laundry and my closet looks terrible so I organize it at least 3 times a year. If I had less, I'd spend less time organizing and could spend more time doing something fun. This goes for so much more too.

The second half of the book (which is not even 200 pages) is practical steps you can take to declutter your spaces and how to get your kids involved and how to teach them to have healthy boundaries with stuff. I liked the section on photographs because at this same time, our backup hard drive crashed and the normal hard drive stopped working properly. Thankfully nothing was lost, but it gave me reason to pause and look at how I'm storing my photos (I don't delete any of them... and that makes photo editing take forever and finding one particular photo nearly impossible!).

If you want to understand this mentality of living with less, give this book a go. You don't even need to have kids for it to make an impact. And if you need motivation to do some spring summer cleaning, I bet this would do it!

**I'm not getting paid to write this review, but I think many people could benefit like I did (or hope to!)

Book Club: 1906

The ladies in the book club chose to go with my recommendation this month and read 1906 by James Dalessandro. A friend of mine had recommended it to me and I couldn't pass it up. The novel is a fictional account of the 1906 earthquake that happened in San Francisco (and up and down the California coast).

I was surprised to find that the first half of the book took place three days before the earthquake; the story built up around the mysterious murder of a police detective who was about to put an end to the corruption of a handful of men who seemed to own the city -- elected officials included. I found all of this really fascinating, especially since most of the story was based on actual people. Then the earthquake hits and everything is a disaster. The way the author describes the earthquake's movements and the fire that followed are very accurate to the actual event. I was so intrigued I wanted to learn more! And for about a week I looked up and read so many articles about it, but this book was by far the most interesting read.

There was of course a romance that probably didn't need to be there, but it added another storyline and gave more attachment to the characters. There were a lot of characters in this novel, sometimes I found it hard to keep track of who was who and questioned why someone was mentioned at all, but over all it was an excellent read.

It was interesting to read a historical fiction piece about a place I currently live and find that other than newer buildings and more people, it is very much the same city it was over 100 years ago. There is still corruption, still human trafficking (yep, that started long ago too) and greed. Our city so very badly needs influential people to step up and care for humans. If people in control back then had done so, I'm fairly certain lives would have been spared. There is always a need to fight for justice.

Read it if you are at all interested in SF, earthquakes or just want to read a good mystery with lots of characters.

The ladies in the book club chose to go with my recommendation this month and read 1906 by James Dalessandro. A friend of mine had recommended it to me and I couldn't pass it up. The novel is a fictional account of the 1906 earthquake that happened in San Francisco (and up and down the California coast).

I was surprised to find that the first half of the book took place three days before the earthquake; the story built up around the mysterious murder of a police detective who was about to put an end to the corruption of a handful of men who seemed to own the city -- elected officials included. I found all of this really fascinating, especially since most of the story was based on actual people. Then the earthquake hits and everything is a disaster. The way the author describes the earthquake's movements and the fire that followed are very accurate to the actual event. I was so intrigued I wanted to learn more! And for about a week I looked up and read so many articles about it, but this book was by far the most interesting read.

There was of course a romance that probably didn't need to be there, but it added another storyline and gave more attachment to the characters. There were a lot of characters in this novel, sometimes I found it hard to keep track of who was who and questioned why someone was mentioned at all, but over all it was an excellent read.

It was interesting to read a historical fiction piece about a place I currently live and find that other than newer buildings and more people, it is very much the same city it was over 100 years ago. There is still corruption, still human trafficking (yep, that started long ago too) and greed. Our city so very badly needs influential people to step up and care for humans. If people in control back then had done so, I'm fairly certain lives would have been spared. There is always a need to fight for justice.

Read it if you are at all interested in SF, earthquakes or just want to read a good mystery with lots of characters.