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.

 
 
 
 

While Daddy is Away

Olivia and I are missing Drake terribly. In the evenings when she and Drake have their play time she wants me to play the same games that they normally play together. Unfortunately, Mommy is not as good at rough play as Daddy, but I try. The evenings are the hardest time as it is usually a bit of a break for me (and Olivia). Tonight I was desperate enough to take Olivia to the mall at christmas time and cold and flu season to play at the play place. This usually results in some kind of illness for Olivia and this time of year it is CRAZY there. Anyway, Olivia is staying busy and it seems like everyday she is into something else. Right now she is really into climbing up into chairs, especially the rocking chair in our bedroom. She likes to rock back and forth and trace the wood carving with her hand. This is pretty cute because this chair was in Drakes house when he was little and he did the same thing. Olivia also has been really into feeding herself with her fork which is very messy business. She is actually getting pretty good at it. She also now has a strange fascination with the caps that go on the bolts on the bottom of the toilet.She pulls them off and then I have to take them away so she doesn't choke. I had to include a picture of Olivia with Drakes picture. I take it down all the time for her to look at. She points and taps the glass and says "Dada?"

We miss you Daddy and we can't wait to visit you in Denver this weekend! Love Rache and Liv

Snow Bunny

Olivia is really starting to warm up to winter clothing :) She got a hat and mittens from her Nana and Papa and we bought her a set as well because it doesn;t take long for one set to get dirty and need washing. She is so adorable in her winter clothes. I had to capture a few pics.

 
 
 
 

A walk down memory Lane

When we went back to Michigan, Drake and I left the baby with Nana and Papa for a day and we went to back to East Lansing to visit MSU, our beloved alma mater (sp?). We had such a great day reminiscing about how far we have come in the 4.5 years since we moved to Asheville from MSU. We lived in a 400 sq ft OLD, OUTDATED apt on campus in married housing on campus. Commplete with Train tracks outside our hour apt. where the train would pass by nearly 20 times each day and night! There were times we weren't sure how we would make the rent or pay for food but somehow we did. The two of us stuck together and we have mad such a great team.

Drake is now in Denver and will come back for Christmas. My Christmas wish is that we can sell our house or find a renter to cover our mortgage. So that Olivia and I can join Drake in Denver after Christmas and be togther. So far we have had no one come to see our house because the market is just so slow. My brother reminded me the other day that this is the time to have faith, more than ever. Well this was a bit of a rambling but it was just a reflection of mine. I leave you with pics of our trip to MSU- it was a beautiful snow covered day and MSU has some of the most beautiful old buildings.

The Peanut Barrel- A great hang out after my night classes
 

Our old Apartment! The top right hand apt was our home sweet shoebox for 3 years
 

The Student Union
 
 

Belated Turkey Day

Things have been beyond busy for us lately, I am only now getting to post a few pics from Thanksgiving in Michigan. We really enjoyed getting away from the house for awhile after we worked on it night and day to get it ready to put on the market. We listed it the day before we left for thanksgiving. We would put Livie to bed around 8 and work on the house until 1 or 2 in the morning. We had so many friends who came to help with the many projects and we could not have done it without them. We completely gutted and remodeled our master bath, updated our other bathroom and the kitchen in 3 weeks. In addition to my part time job, Drakes job and parenting. Anyway, we are happy to be done with the projects around the house and have a good thanksgiving together.