Weekly Update 7/24/11

The week began with a phone call from our agent explaining that even though we were in contract with the sellers of our dream house, they had continued accepting offers. Although not illegal, the listing agent's behavior was highly unethical. The two of the other offers were for above asking price. Although they were in a contract with us because they had already countered, our agent informed us that to get out of the contract, the sellers would simply mention to the bank that higher offers had come in and the bank would flat out reject our offer. I was really miffed to say the least and wrote a very stern letter to the involved parties expressing my severe disappointment in the unethical behavior displayed by the listing agent. The listing agent then expressed her regret and told our agent to have us submit a slightly higher offer and she would present our offer with prejudice. Our agent got wind of some of the other offer numbers (also unethical but when it works in our favor it's OK...I guess) so we decided to beat them out. Annie and I discussed several numbers before bed and prayed that by morning we would have a good one in mind. I woke up at 0300 with a specific number in mind. It was several thousand higher than any of the numbers Annie and I had discussed. I schemed for two hours how I would convince Annie to come to an agreement. I had Annie sign the papers the night before so all I had to do was write in the number and send the contract back to the agent. I even entertained the idea of just writing in the number an telling Annie about it later (the whole forgiveness is easier than permission argument). As I was getting dressed at 0530, a groggy Annie mumbled something about a dream and yawned a number. HOLY CRAP!...it was the exact same number I'd had in mind when I woke up. A prayer answered...and no sneaky shenanagins needed! We submitted our counter, the listing agent (the evil one) presented it, and our contract was ratified! It's ours pending third party approval and a successful home inspection. Annie and I saw this house back in February and loved it but it was way more than we wanted to spend. Between then and now we decided to obey God's counsel and become debt free. We did so by using the money we had saved for a down payment. We knew God would bless us for this act of courage and faith. Well, he did. He opened the doors and the house we fell in love with dropped $45,000 and into our lap! Annie and I occupy our free time by surfing the Internet for bathroom renovation ideas. The house is beautiful, but the bathrooms need updating. Take a gander at the exterior. It's a little shaky, but it's the best I could do with an iPod.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zc9V1u2Y2p0

My grandfather took a turn for the worst this week. He passed away yesterday. He finally had the opportunity to part from a failing physical body. I am confident that although those left behind shed tears of sadness, Grandpa shed tears of joy as he was welcomed with open arms and reunited with children, parents, siblings, and one very excited Bianca (who probably gave him a head to toe bath of puppy kisses). We will all miss our grandfather, father, uncle, and husband, but we are comforted in knowing that in a short time, we too will be reunited. This is all part of God's plan and this is simply the next step. I know that God lives, loves us, and has prepared a way for families to be together forever. How grateful I am to have been raised in a home that taught these eternal principles! This knowledge makes these experiences bitter-sweet...but mostly sweet if we have the correct perspective. I love our Heavenly parents and our elder brother, Jesus, who opened the doors for us to overcome our sins and death. Knowledge of the Plan of Salvation truly is a blessing in our lives! What comfort it brings in these times of sadness.

Annie and I are painting our apartment for our Landlord. He had baby poop green painted on the walls in different sheens (flat and semi-gloss). Every time I walked in and saw the color I could just smell a poopy diaper. I can't figure out why he likes that color. His wife is so thankful that we are wiping this 1200 sq/ft bum. Annie and I prime or paint for a couple hours after dinner each night and then jump in the back yard pool for an hour or so. We have so much fun painting together!

We saw the newest installment of Harry Potter last night. It was about like all the other ones...so long that by the end my butt was so sore that I could have sworn I had bedsores. What's worse, the speaker right above our heads was blown and literally rattled the entire movie. What's even worse than that, the screen was so small that I think my TV here at home is probably larger. I commented on how small the screen was when I walked in. Then, after the pre-game show the screen shape changed an became even smaller! We would have needed to sit on the front row to get the same viewing experience offered in other theaters. All I can say is...they're over! No more Harry Potters! Annie's bummed though...she loves them...although I can't figure out why. Maybe she has a thing for Harry like she does for Mr. Darcy and Edward.

We had our landlords down to watch Blindside on my Man TV last night. I love that movie! We found out last night that Americans are stupid and that our landlord is anti-religion of any sort. I guess the movie had too much religion for her. I wanted to suggest that if she felt that way about America, that maybe she ought to just go back to China and enjoy the third world. However, I refrained from speaking my mind. I want our deposit back.