A few more days

Last Sunday, I sat in my parent’s living room thinking that the week of May 9th was going to be the longest week of our lives. Our emotions were high. We were excited and nervous but most of all we were looking forward to being able to call ourselves homeowners for the first time in our lives. Little did we know, things were not going to go as we had planned or hoped for. Last week ended up being one of the most stressful weeks. Buying a house has proved to be a very tense and challenging process.

So, here is our latest update. The original date to close on our house in Louisiana was set for May 14th, 2010. We have spent the past month in a half making sure everything was in order and ready to go for our big purchase. For the most part things have been pretty smooth. Our main complaint had been with our USAA loan processor. She was always out of the office and wasn’t that great at returning calls. I spent most of my time talking to others loan officers instead of her in order to get updates on the process of our loan. Although I was irritated with her, I felt that things were going the way they were supposed to. We have banked with USAA for years. We really like them and have never had any issues. We had a couple of little bumps here and there throughout this process but nothing to major (or so we thought). On Monday the 10th, I called our loan processor only to find out that she was going to be out of the office (again) until the 13th and that I was supposed to talk to some other loan processor. Needless to say I was a little upset. I ended up leaving her a detailed message expressing my feelings and reminding her that we were to close on May 14th. I also left a message for the other loan processor. On Tuesday morning I called again because I had not heard back from either processor. I ended up speaking to someone in customer service. She assured me that everything was moving along just fine and that an underwriter had picked up our package that morning. She sent him an email asking him to get in touch with me because I had some questions regarding our loan. Up to this point, Jason and I didn’t really have any idea as to what was taking place. We had questions spinning around in our heads. This is a big step for both of us. Call us crazy but we want to know everything that is going on. Not only is this our home but it is also a big part of our future as well as our kids future.

On Wednesday afternoon, I received a phone call from our realtor. She had some bad news. USAA had called her that morning demanding specific information from the developer of our house. USAA wanted the developer to release the land lease agreement as well as his rights to the minerals on our property. If the developer didn’t meet these terms, USAA was not going to close on our house. Before we agreed to sign the contract, our realtor went over the Louisiana state mineral laws as well as the property lease agreement that the developer has. According to the state of Louisiana, any contractor, developer, or builder who purchases land does not have to release private information or give up their rights to the minerals. In simpler terms what it comes down to is if they were to find oil on our property, we would not have the rights to them. According to Louisiana state laws, no one can drill on our property or within 100 feet of our property. It also states that if your house is built within a community, that community will not be touched. The property is ours when we buy it. They have no rights to our property and can not put any kind of lean on our property. Our realtor tried to explain that to USAA. She even tried to email them or fax them the state documents. They refused anything other than what they had asked for.

Our realtor spent all morning trying to find a solution to our problem. When she called me, she had already spoken with a new lender. The lender agreed to transfer our loan. They said that at the very minimum, they would match what USAA had offered us. We decided to go ahead and use them. We trust our realtor and after talking with our new loan processor, we both felt comfortable and that we were making the right decision. Our new lender is a local lender that our real estate company works with on a regular basis. Our new processor is amazing. She has made us her top priority. I have talked to her more in the past couple of days than I ever talked to our old processor in the two months that she had our paperwork.

Jason and I spent Wednesday evening, all day Thursday, and most of Friday getting all of our information transferred to our new lender. We basically had to start the process all over again. Everything that we had done in the past month in a half with USAA was being done in a matter of 2 days with the new lender. We spent a few hours printing everything from loan documents, to bank statements, to different types of military documents. (A HUGE thank you to the Davis family!) On Thursday, we signed all of the new documents and then spent a couple of hours faxing 96 pages to our processor. There were a few odds and ends that we had to fax on Friday. At 2 pm on Friday, all of our documents were handed over to an underwriter. The only thing that is missing is the appraisal on the house. USAA has 48 hours to release it to our new lender. The plan is to close by Friday May 21st.

So, here we are again in my parent’s living room. It is Sunday, technically the beginning of a new week. Our hopes are high. Jason keeps telling me that the worst has passed us by. He is confident that all will go well and that within a matter of days we will finally be able to call ourselves homeowners.

TSgt Mall

April 30th was a big day for Jason. After waiting for almost an entire year, he was finally able to gain recognition as a Tech Sergeant. This is a big step for Air Force members. It is one of the hardest promotion ranks to obtain. Jason has accomplished so much and we are very proud of him. He works very hard day in and day out to support his family which makes this so much more incredible for him.

Last summer while vacationing in Florida, we found out that he had passed the promotion test. I remember that day so clearly. Jay was so nervous. He wanted this so bad not only for himself but for us as well. We all had our fingers crossed for him. It was so great to be able to see his face when he found out that he had made it. It made our vacation that much more enjoyable.

I don’t think that I could ever say enough about my husband. He is a wonderful husband and an amazing daddy to our three children. He has supported every step I have ever taken through the years. He has encouraged me to fight for the things that I want. He has given me the confidence and courage I need to keep going. He has made all the effort in the world to be there for all three of our children. He has never given up as a husband or a father.

Over the past 11 years as a service member, he has gained so much. Along with that, he has also missed out on a lot. Many sacrifices have been made over the years. As many military families know, a lot of shadiness takes place behind closed doors. There are many things that should have happened for him over the past few years that never did. There are many moments where he should have gotten the recognition he deserved but it was overlooked. I probably have more issues with this than he does. I guess that just goes along with being the protective wife :)

The one thing that I have learned as a military spouse is to keep moving forward. There will always be a lot what ifs. There will be those moments that you don’t understand what is going on or maybe don’t want to try to understand. There will be moments that you want to question everything. There are periods where you don’t want to be strong, where you don’t want to say good-bye. These are all the moments that define you as a military spouse because even though all of these things come into play, you keep moving forward. You do whatever it takes to keep your family happy. You become the shield that keeps your family as protected as possible.

As for my husband, he deserves so much more credit than he is ever given. I am so very proud of who he is and what he has done. All I can say is that he completes me!!!



My husband,
puts his family first
shares parenting responsibilities
guides our children to be the best that they can be
is honest, faithful, and dependable
is able to admit when he is wrong
knows that romance comes from the heart
is encouraging and supportive
leaves work at the door when he comes home
does his share of the household chores
knows and respects my needs as a wife and as a mother
listens and can communicate
shows his love and appreciation
is considerate, kind, and forgiving
above all loves with all of his heart

Halfway There

We are halfway through the escrow process and exactly 22 days from closing on our first house! As of today, things are moving along as planned. All of our paperwork will be delivered to the loan processing department by Monday. So far we have managed to overcome all of the little hurdles that come along with buying a home. As exciting (and nerve wracking) as this has all been, the reality of moving 1600 miles away from family and friends has truly started to set in. I have had a few moments here and there filled with tears at the thought of having to say good-bye. I think I have been so focused on the many other things that have been going on that I haven’t had time to think about the one negative aspect of our move.

Over the past week I have been quite busy sorting through all of our belongings. This move is a rather unique one for us which makes it a little challenging to pack our things. We will be moving out of our house on Point Mugu on Friday April 3oth however, we will still be living on base until the children finish school in June. Our family of six (yes I am counting our dog too) will be moving into my parents 5th wheel for 6 weeks. I guess this might sound a little bizarre if you aren’t familiar with everything that has gone on with our house over the past few months. Let me explain without going into all of the ugly details of our situation.

As most of you know, the state of California is not one that gets a whole lot of rain at least not in our neck of the woods. However, this year we have been hit with quite a few storms. In January, we got hit with back to back rain storms. During one of the storms, we found out that our windows were not properly sealed. The reason we found this out was because the water came into our home. It was literally raining inside our living room. The housing company had to tarp off the entire backside of our house. Long story short, after the rain disappeared, the housing company came in and found black mold inside our walls. The wood framing around the windows was so soft that the maintenance guy was literally able to slide his pencil right through the wood. Although we were given the option to move into another house, Jason and I decided not to accept the offer because we didn’t want to be held responsible for another house on base especially when we had already received our orders to Louisiana. To make matters even worse, Travin’s immune system was compromised. He is doing fine now but things got a little worrisome for us. I guess it is safe to say that the “Mall Family Expedition” is one that is never dull and always full of interesting surprises =) I think we might have some kind of special talent (ha ha).

So, Monday brings on a whole new week. The movers will be here at 8:30 am to pack-up all of our things. The truck will follow on Tuesday to pick everything up and haul it away to storage for the next 6 weeks. On a positive note, (because it’s always best to find the silver lining in every situation :) for the first time ever as a Military family, we will actually have an address before we move! YAY!!!

Our First Home

I have to say that the past month has been quite an eventful one for our family. Besides the hustle and bustle of our daily routines and all of the ins and outs of trying to keep everyone healthy and happy, we are also in the process of trying to get things ready for our summer move to Louisiana.

The day after our oldest daughter turned 10, Jason and I began our first 1600 mile trip to Louisiana. We planned our trip out very carefully because we both knew that this trip could possibly lead us towards one of the biggest and most significant steps as husband and wife. We drove across five different states with the intent on buying our first home. We both set out with a positive outlook on the new life that stood before us. Although the drive was long and strenuous, we were both very excited to be able to see exactly where the military was sending us next.

I think that we were both a little surprised by how much we liked the area. Although there are some areas that will definitely be avoided, we both felt very optimistic about starting the next chapter of our lives there.

We spent the first couple of day’s house hunting and driving around several different neighborhoods. I have to say that this was one of the most stressful yet exciting events of my life. For most people, purchasing a new home is an adventure in itself. As a military family, we have to add the fact that we are relocating to a whole to new area. We were completely dependent on our real estate agent. This can be a very scary process, especially when you consider the fact that you are putting the well being of your family in someone else’s hands. Luckily, we found a real estate agent and company that made this process a little easier to handle.

We spent our time looking at new construction as well as older homes. From the very beginning, we organized two separate piles. The first pile contained the listings we really liked. The second contained the listings we didn’t really care for. We took several pictures and wrote a detailed list of everything we saw inside and outside of each individual house. We spent time exploring different neighborhoods. At night, we sat in our hotel room and talked about the pros and cons of each house that we looked at. We also spent time researching information about the schools and the neighborhoods online. Ultimately, at the end of every conversation, there was one house that stood out the most for the two of us.

The very first house we looked at was a brand new construction located in a gated community about 10 minutes away from the base. The first thing we fell in love with was the location. The area is beautiful and the schools are a part of the Blue Ribbon school district. The second thing we fell in love with was the house itself. When Jason and I walked into the house it truly felt like home. Everything felt right. It was the first time as a parent that I could actually visualize a place to raise my children. I was excited at the idea of being able to watch my children grow up in this house. Looking out the front windows, I could picture my children riding their bikes around the cul-de-sac. It truly was an incredible feeling.

After a couple days of outweighing the pros and cons of each house, we decided that the first house we looked at was the house we wanted to make our first offer on. That day, we took a drive out to the community. We parked our car and just walked around the neighborhood. It was such a remarkable feeling to see people out walking their dogs, kids riding their bikes and flying kites, and best of all the people were friendly and welcoming. We both felt safe. We both felt at home.

On March 31st, 2010, Jason and I made our very first home offer. It was a morning like no other. I don’t think either one of us could believe what was happening. Needless to say, that morning was one of the longest mornings of our lives. At 1:30 in the afternoon, we received the news that our offer was accepted. I don’t think that I can explain how we felt. We both were overcome with emotions signing all of the paperwork. When we signed the last paper, we looked at each other and smiled. Jason leaned over gave me a hug and a kiss and whispered "we just bought our first home!" In an instant, we became official grow-ups. =)

Every so often, there are moments when I just stop and reflect upon the things that are going on within my life. I have always been a very goal oriented person. Needless to say, I tend to examine who I am and what I have accomplished over the years. In that past 11 years, I have been fortunate enough to create a life with my partner, my very best friend. Together, we have established a happy and successful marriage. Together, we have created a beautiful family of five. We are in the process of raising three incredible children. I am very proud of the life Jason and I have created together. Through the good, the bad, the beautiful, and the ugly, we have managed to stand with each other every step of the way.

As we move forward towards the next chapter of our lives, I can honestly say that I wouldn’t change a thing. This is where we are supposed to be. Every step we have taken in our lives has led us to this exact moment. We have three wonderful children and an amazing marriage. We are surrounded by a support system like no other. We have the most incredible family and friends and now we are purchasing our very first home! All I can say is that life is simply wonderful!

You'll Always Be My Little Girl

One of things that I have come to love about blogging is being able to express my feelings in a unique way. Writing has always been an outlet for me. Over the past week, I wrote a little something for Bryanna. Driving halfway across the country allotted me a lot of time to reflect upon the many things in my life, especially my three amazing kids.

One of the happiest days of my life was the day my first child was born. On March 26th, 2000, my life was forever changed. On that day, I became a part of a very unique and extraordinary world, a world that allowed me to open my heart in ways I never thought possible.

The very first moment I looked at my little girl's face, I knew both Jason and I had been blessed with a precious gift. As I looked into her eyes, I could never have imagined how rich and meaningful my life was going to become, all because of her presence. From the moment Bryanna took her very first breath, she taught me the true meaning of unconditional love.

Her kind and gentle spirit inspires me to become a better person. Her love and compassion towards animals, plants, the environment, and others are simple and subtle emotions that add to her endless list of qualities. Her passion for books and music, her enthusiasm to learn new things, and the moments she takes just to reflect upon herself, remind me so much of myself. Her charismatic attitude and witty personality remind me so much of her daddy. These exceptional traits join together to help shape that incredible young woman my daughter is most destined to be.

Today, my little girl has reached that exciting age of double digits. Bryanna is now 10! As hard as this may be for me to grasp, I often sit and watch in pure amazement as I notice her inner beauty as well as her captivating individuality flourish with every passing day. The person she will grow to become has really started to unfold right before my eyes.

On Easter morning Bryanna gave us a card she made. Her words meant so very much to both Jason and I. She thanked us for being wonderful parents and for always being there for her. She said that even though she is growing up, she will always be our little girl. It is during these moments that I realize just how fast the time is passing me by. My little girl is becoming a young lady.



Bryanna making "rainbow" cupcakes for her classmates.