This is a collection of stories and photographs to chronical the Fowler family's adventures as we grow.

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Fowler Fam Update

Well, life has been pretty overwhelming this last month. Drake headed to Denver right after thanksgiving making me a single mom for awhile. Being alone while working, taking care of Olivia and keeping the house in perfect order for showings has made for a dizzying time. Olivia and I went out to Denver last weekend to to look at rentals and to see Drake. Olivia was SO HAPPY to see her Daddy. She lit up like I hadn't seen in weeks and she was so content and happy to have us all together.

I actually have no pictures from our trip. It was so busy that there wasn't time for much fun. We spent three solid days in the car driving around that city looking at rentals. The first day we looked at homes that I probably wouldn't let my dog live in. In neighborhoods that I would not want to go out in at night. As you can imagine I was ready to pack it up and go home. We went up in price and found nice homes but still in neighborhhods I wouldn't want to go out in at night. Then we went up (again) in our price range (over our price range) and found some great neighborhoods and livable homes. If we wanted to pay about $1600 a month we could have found a nice home in good condition in these neighborhoods. However, that is not possible for us so we decided that a good nieghborhood was important and we could make do with the home. These are very small houses we are talking about here- 800-900 sq ft. Difficult after living in a "mansion like" 1500 sq ft home right now.

We actually found a good deal in a great area. It is hard for me to be excited about it right now as reality is hitting home and I am realizing that this is really happening and it is going to be really hard. I am trying, though, to walk in gratefulness and gratitude that we have a job. As for our house,no offers. We decided to throw it into the huge rental pool here in Asheville. The rental market has a lot in it right now so we had to go lower than we would have liked for rent. Thankfully after 4 days, we have renters. It is two ladies I know from the college. They responded to the ad and then we realized we knew eachother. It is going to be good to have people that we know renting from us. It will be a financial struggle when we move- no job for me, high rent plus covering the amount that our renters here won't cover in the mortgage. We do think that in the end it is better for us to rent. Why sell at the very bottom of the market when we can wait and sell in a few years for a lot more? (hopefully...)

It definately doesn't feel like Christmas for us. No tree or decorations and our house slowing getting packed up. Without all of our usual decorations, traditions and Christmas events it has made me remember the true reason for Christmas and the true spirit of Christmas and for that I am happy.

I am sorry, this was probably a depressing blog but that is just where I am at right now. As for Livie, she is really into toothbrushes (hers and mine) and her baby that her Great grandparents gave her at Thanksgiving. She has been rocking it in the chair and feeding her bottles. I will leave you with some pictures of Olivia, she brings more joy than any material possession, home or place ever could.

 
 
 
 
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1 comment:

Ben, Krissy, Will, Lil and Lulu said...

Hey Rachel...I am reading your blog and relating 100% to your situation. Ben and I are going through the exact same mindset right now. The market in Asheville is terrible as you know and we have not had hardly any showings. We are in the same boat financially too trying to pay rent, on top of a mortgage, on top of my insurance that I am having to cobra on.(and all without me having a job.) We may have to jump into the renter's pool too! With a little one due in 3 months, it is that much more stressful and I know you can relate. However, I totally agree with your comment about kids and that somehow thinking about our baby just makes all the other things seem so small and unimportant. It seems like we are all learning the same lesson :) I just wanted to say hello and let you know that we are in the same boat with you guys. I will give you a call sometime. I know we would definitely have a lot to talk about :) Many prayers your way!

Krissy