Ghostly Apparition

Those of you who know me, know that I whole heartedly believe in ghosts.
I have had "paranormal" experiences in nearly every house that I have lived in since I was a child, and over time, have simply decided that there must be something off about me
that attracts that kind of activity.
Since moving back in with my parents, I had not had any odd feelings or seen anything "odd"
until this past month.
My three year old, Aiden, was watching a movie in the basement during a particularly boring afternoon, when I went upstairs to do some laundry. Once I got the laundry loaded, and water boiling to make her lunch, I wandered back downstairs to find Aiden trying to un-lock the basement door.
I said "Aiden, what are you doing, you know that you aren't allowed to open doors unless Mommy says so."
"but Mommy," she says " there is a man at the door, he is asking to come inside."
Needless to say, I get creeped out.
Over the years, I have found that the best way to survive the constant feel of ghosts, or "weird" feelings, is to ignore them.
If I ignore the activity, rather than reacting to it, the negative energy usually disperses, and stays away for a while.
So, I decided to ignore it.
A little while later, I went back upstairs to change the laundry from the washer to the dryer.
When I came back about five minutes later,
there was Aiden, trying to open the door again.
Same thing.
"but Mommy, there is a man, who says he needs to come in."
I sat on the couch with her for the rest of the afternoon.
Nothing.
When my husband came home, I told him the story,
he checked the backyard for footprints.
Nothing.

That night, I woke up to a weird noise.
Our bedroom floor has wood floors, and Aiden's room is connected to ours through a doorway.
We have a heavy down comforter that we use during the winter, the sound I woke up to was like the down comforter was being dragged across the floor of our room--back and forth across the floor.

I was terrified. I looked down from the bed, and found the blanket pooled at the foot of our bed.
I poked my husband awake. We both sat in silence, when suddenly, from Aidens room we hear her say "won't you come in?"

Looks like whoever was trying to get my daughter to let them in that afternoon, succeeded.

Sorry

I must admit, I have been avoiding you.
I haven't wanted to work on my blog lately, because it hasn't started out being what I want it to be. When I started this blog, I had ideas of grandure about it. It was going to contain beautiful pictures of pretty things, it was going to give a beautiful little tidbit about what I was doing around my new house each day.
I haven't been able to do those things, and I am a little embarrassed about it.
We are in a holding pattern. Just waiting to find out which house will be ours, we still have two weeks until we find out which house we are moving into. Is it the beautiful, 1930s cottage, the house of my dreams?? Or is it the somewhat less loved 1950s cottage that I can make my own?? I have no idea.
So here I am, feeling that this whole situation is a bit like that melting, forgotten, february snow outside my window.
The luster of house hunting and house buying is gone.
I am ready for house owning.
So, I am here to say I am sorry.
As of now,
I am going to entertain you with stories of what is happening during the in between.
I hope you will stick with me until we get to the good parts.

An Open Window

So, after all the heartache of trying to buy the last house, we decided to go out and find some other options. This cute little thing showed up for sale just 18 days ago.

The yard is beautiful, and it is positioned at the top of the hill, so it is just a block away from some amazing walking and biking trails.

The inside is a bit of a different story. The bathroom and the kitchen have to go, there is carpet to rip out, lots and lots of wood paneling to rip down, and endless painting to be had.

Lots of experiences waiting.

I want that feeling you have when you have a place to call your own.
Something that says you belong here.
I want to fold arm loads of laundry,
soak mountains of dishes, and
hide love notes in secret places.
It has been a year since we last had a place that was our own.
And though it seems small, un-important,
to some,
I want to give my children a place that is theirs.
Not something borrowed.

I want to wake at night
in the locked stillness of a house,
and walk through each darkened room,
running my open palms
across the coolness of the walls,
in appreciation
for the things I have been given.

Choosing Happiness

I am, by nature, a pessimistic person. I am moody and volatile at times. I am sensitive and easily hurt, and deeply self-conscious.

And then I am passionate and loyal, trust worthy and sincere.

I often forget my better traits. I allow myself to dwell in negativity.

I had been dwelling in negativity for weeks, when I was so worried that this house may not be ours. When I was worrying over being stuck in my parent's basement for another daunting length of time.

I have, instead, decided to choose happiness. Happiness is a choice we make each day. And nothing so small as a house should change the happiness that I experience with my family.

I want to choose joy because when I do, it causes a ripple effect in my life. The power of smiling cannot be over estimated.

And in the last few weeks, I have not been cherishing the smiles of my beautiful daughter and son like I should be. I have not been smiling at my amazing husband enough.

So instead of fretting over this house, that my family does desperately need, but can go on living without, I am choosing happiness.

I am living in happiness,

regardless of where we live physically.

Sad but True

Short Sale.

These words have become the bane of my existence.

We started looking for a home over six months ago. Initially, we found a nice house in north Ogden that was for sale in a short sale situation. We got on-board, and we waded through a mountain of paper work with the bank to close on the house. The day of our close day came, and the bank had no papers for us to sign. Apparently, the branch of the bank that deals in short sales had not been communicating with the branch of the bank that deals in foreclosure.

The bank decided to push the house through to foreclosure, even though we had a contract to buy the house. We were out of luck. Nothing we could do. It was the little guy against the huge corporate bank.

Attempt two of house hunting led us to this fantastic house. It wasn't a short sale, it was a traditional, clean-cut, for sale house. Or so we thought. We were supposed to close on this house this week. Instead, the owner requested a private meeting. Turns out, he hadn't been exactly honest about his financial situation when he listed the house. He hadn't been paying his mortgage since last October. Therefore, there is a lien on the house that no-one knew about except for him, until this week.

Again, we find ourselves in a short sale situation.
I don't know if I can do this again. A house starts with all this possibility. You think, because your offer is accepted, and you have a legal contract, that it will all work out. That's not always true. Especially for us.

The seller now has two and a half weeks to get his financial ducks in a row, and sell this house to us.

February 17, 2010.

Pray for us that this works out. My family is exhausted. We love this house, and don't want to lose another one.

I love all the pretty details in this old house. You can't find these things anymore. I haven't even moved boxes in yet, and this house feels like a home. I can't wait to bring in all my old chipped furniture and antiques. They are going to be perfect in this house. Like they were always meant to be here. And after a year in storage, I am ready to see everything again

This is the front living room to our new house. It is pretty much a blank canvas. Once our boxes are unpacked, I will have plenty of options for decorating, and will likely be seeking lots of help. I can't wait to be able to light a fire in the fireplace and lounge around with the family.
For now, the previous owner converted the original wood burning fireplace into a gas fireplace. We will be doing some maintenance and getting the fireplace back to wood burning. We also want to remove the 70s stone that is currently covering the fireplace, and cover it with brick and a cute mantle.

I love the possibility.