The fun of foreclosures...

One thing that we have discovered about buying a foreclosure is that it is WAY more work than Scott and I could have possibly imagined. One of the big salvage projects is the pool, which happens to be covered in several hundred pounds of ice and water: The black hose coming out of the pool is the pump that was sucking the water out while Scott and I worked to break up the ice:

Our goal was to get as much ice off the cover as possible in attempt to keep it from stretching out any more:

After about an hour or two we started making some progress! (I did actually help but stopped to take some pictures, I promise!)

Go Scott Go!!!

 I'm not sure if you can tell how thick the ice is but it was several inches! 

Unfortunately, after breaking up all of the ice, the temps dropped back into the 20's two days later (I guess we should have checked the forecast!) and everything froze again. But at least we made some progress getting some of the weight off of the cover. Keep in mind that we have no idea what kind of state the pool is in under the cover. We tried to sneak a peek and all we could see was black... Something tells me I'm not going to like what I see when we finally get that cover off! 

All of the painting on the inside should be finished by the end of the weekend. It is really amazing what  a coat of paint can do to change a room. Here is a preview of one before and after in the dining room area off the kitchen after painting the ceilings and walls (which still is not completely finished):

Stay tuned for more!

Home Owners!

After completing the terribly long and frustrating process of trying to get qualified for a mortgage... We officially have our home here in Indiana! While Scott and I each previously owned our own house, this was the first house we picked out together. It was definitely a challenge to find a house we both liked (we definitely got a lesson in the art of compromise), but we did and are excited to make this new house our home.

Now the fun part begins. We're painting the house from top to bottom and trying to get carpets clean all before our furniture arrives in the next week or so. There is quite a bit of work to do but we are excited about all of the potential this house has. We'll be posting pictures of the before and after as we get projects completed.

I have to say I'm quite jealous of all the warm weather my Texas friends are receiving. Snow was still falling from the sky yesterday... I knew it would be colder in March but I definitely didn't expect for it to still be snowing!!  A big prayer request would be for some warmer weather, not just for my sake, but so the ground can dry up so we can get our septic system fixed. Until that is completed we won't be able to move into the house, and I think we are both ready to be done with hotel breakfasts!

Snow Storm!

Well, Indiana decided it wanted to give me a proper welcome by sending a snow storm our way. I've never seen so much snow in my life so it was quite fun. We braved the weather to go celebrate Scott's birthday with his family... Enjoy the pics!

We made it!

After 18... yes EIGHTEEN... hours in a car we finally made it to Indiana. Needless to say I think we both agree that we will never EVER repeat an all-night drive like that again. To be honest, the first twelve hours weren't that bad (and yes, I realize how crazy it sounds to say that twelve hours in a car wasn't that bad). But for as fun and entertaining (thanks to my husband) those first hours were, the last six were about as miserable as could be. The full day of packing prior to the drive put us at almost 30 hours without sleep (and we all know how happy I am without any sleep!).  But God is good and got us to Indiana safe and sound.

Since we are temporarily homeless, we are staying at a hotel in Warsaw. So even though we've moved here, it still feel like we are on vacation (that whole having someone else making the bed and bringing you fresh towels every day is pretty nice). I don't think it has hit me yet that we won't be leaving! My thoughts on Warsaw:

1. I just love Winona Lake... I can't wait for summer to get here!
2. It's cold... yet another reason I can't wait for summer to be here!
3. I felt like I drove all over town today and it didn't take me more than eight minutes to get anywhere, which was just fabulous.
4. Did I mention it was cold? It was 84 degrees in Dallas today and I was at Walmart buying an ice scraper for my car...
5. The speed limit in most places seems to be 35 MPH (maybe 40, if you're lucky), that will take some getting used to.

Anyways, we are very excited to be here! Next week we will close on our house here in Warsaw which means we can start painting and then move in shortly there after. Maybe having a house will help this place seem a little more like home. Or maybe finding a job and starting to work again will put an end to this semi-permanent vacation I'm on... but I don't see any reason to rush that :)

Stay tuned for more updates to come! Until then, to all our Texas friends and family, we miss you!!