Feeling a bit overwhelmed ... need vacation!

So I think Cyndie and I are feeling a bit overwhelmed with the house right now. It seems like we have a whole bunch of stuff breaking and a whole bunch of projects that we've started, but are just sitting there unfinished. So it's partly stuff we can't control, but mostly our own fault for starting too many things.

In the last week or so we've had the gazebo thing (screened) that covers the jacuzzi blow over and break, a leak (through a crack in the foundation) in the basement, and the jacuzzi stop working. On top of that we have the craft room project, various lighting projects, Tim's room which we have stuff for, but haven't worked on, flooring that we now have money for, but need to do, etc., etc. Additionally, we're feeling like the yard (and specifically the weeds in the rock areas) are growing faster than we can keep up with!

Soooooo, we decided last night that we need to take a bit of a step back and focus on one thing at a time with the hope that we can get a handle on the house. We'll not try to do much this week (before vacation), but when we get back, we're going to focus on trying to get ahead of the yard. There are several different "flower beds" (not grass, but not exactly usable or at all good looking), that we're going to get rid of and try to seed. We'll also get rid of some smaller bushes that really serve no purpose, and just require constant trimming. We'll see where that gets us! We'll deal with the broken stuff as we can ... with many thanks to my dad for all the work he's done thus far on the gazebo and leak.

On the family front, we're cruising right along. The kids had a play date yesterday afternoon, and after a quick bite to eat together, we headed out for some fishing. Not a single bite! In fact, I didn't even see any fish, which is pretty unusual by the pier where we were fishing. Oh well.

July 4th ... the weekend

We had a nice weekend with all of my sister's and their families around. There was lots of fun stuff going on: swimming, cousins playing together, games, great food, some fireworks, all that stuff. We very much enjoyed the weekend together, and I was pooped by Sunday night. We went to bed early, and still overslept a bit.

Now we're in the finish line for Cyndie and I's vacation. We're trying to get the house in order a bit, and wishing we weren't quite so much in the middle of so many projects. Oh well. I guess we just need to start focusing on a couple of those so that we can make some progress rather than getting so spread out across so many.

Monday ... the countdown starts.

There are officially six more days until Cyndie and I hit the airport for our trip to Cancun*. We are starting the countdown. Last night before bed, I read a few reviews of the hotel online ... both to see if there were any special "hints" we should take advantage of, and also to just let the excitement start building. Good stuff.

*I suppose that we could equally start the countdown for the visit of Grandma Cathy and Grandpa Fred, though that really more represents excitement on behalf of Emma and Tim since we'll be gone for much of their visit.

July 3 - Happy Birthday Dad!

My Dad is 68 today! Happy birthday Dad, you are one of a kind and I love you!

So, I'm trying to fit in some work today around looking at a few more houses this morning, and all of my family being around the rest of the day. It should be a fun, busy day!

My folks were over this morning to watch the kids while Cyndie and I hit the houses. We had donuts (with candles for my dad), oatmeal, and eggs for breakfast ... the breakfast of champions!

The houses we saw were interesting. Still no "gotta buy it"s. We'll keep plugging. Cyndie is meeting with a lawyer to try to get our Trust up to date in advance of heading to Cancun!

Holiday Weekend Cometh ...

Not a lot is happening now ... just gearing up for the holiday weekend. Jane comes tonight (will stay with Gowans). Tomorrow we're going to look at a couple more houses. Then I'll work a half day and help celebrate my dad's 68th birthday! Yeah Dad! Then it'll be more family time throughout the weekend.

Saw a few houses ...

So we saw four houses this afternoon and really discovered what a house for under $100k in Lake Geneva looks like:

1. Small - It's likely going to be 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, maybe another BR if the house is trashy enough.
2. Old - The houses going for under $100k are those that have been around for 50+ years, which means they're also 1) Small.
3. Trashy - These are handyman specials folks.

So we saw four houses with two definite "no"s and two "maybe"s. It looks like we'll try to see a few more places on Friday morning.

Starting July Off Right!

So, we're starting a new month, and kind of starting a new era for the Wildwood DeVries. We've sold the CA house, and now have quite a bit of money, certainly more than we've ever dealt with before, to steward. On the way to and from the cabin (20 or so hours total in the car) we listened to some CDs by Dave Ramsey, a financial guru who happens to be a Christian (but whose advice is not overtly Christian). Anyway, we are very convicted that we don't want to let ourselves get back into the mode of "now we have some more income/money, but where is it all going". We want to be more intentional with what we do with our money, and how we manage it on God's behalf. So we're doing two things.

First, we're going to have a monthly budget (which Ramsey calls a Cash Flow Plan). His point is that if you don't direct where every dollar is going to go before it's on hand, then the dollars tend to seep out here and there and by month end, you haven't put aside anything for saving, and you're short on this bill or that, etc. So here we are ... more financially free than we've been for a while, but on a budget. And we're happy about that. It's actually pretty liberating to know that, "yeah, I have $50 to go out for dinner ... I don't have to worry about that". Or, "no problems, I can deal with a $500 water treatment related bill because I have a fund to deal with large, bills like that". Anyway, it's good stuff, and we're excited to start that.

The second thing is that we're going out today with our local realtor to look at some investment properties. We've really been blessed with how real estate has worked out for us. And we're not afraid to get our hands dirty and but in some sweat equity into a place. So we'll see where that goes! Should be interesting!

So there you have it, a new financial dawn for the Wildwood DeVries. It'll be a little work, but we're excited to be able to see some results!