Homeless

Yes, we really are homeless. Without the goodness of Tyler's boss and wife & my aunt and uncle we would be on the streets. It's been a crazy turn of events. We left Nevada with a plan and everything set in place. We called a property management company and got a list of homes they were renting. We saw a nice 4 bedroom house with a 2 car garage and fenced back yard on the list for $700. It was in a seemingly nice neighborhood. So, since the company only takes cash (even to pay rent) we sent off our applications with our application fee in the mail and were approved for our home. We just had to be to their office by 5pm on Friday to sign the papers.

We looked at pictures of the house before we signed and it looked nice. We only had an hour to pay our security deposit ($600) and rent ($700) before the office closed and we had until Sunday to return the moving truck full of our stuff. Our only option at the time was to sign the papers before we got to see the house. Upon arriving they told us that there was a typo & the home actually rented for $1000 per month and didn't allow dogs. Since they didn't mention the dog thing to us they would let that pass. Our bank wouldn't let us take out any additional money that day. They gave us the key and we would come back for the new keys(after they changed the locks) and to pay the rest. We also found out when we arrived that we couldn't move into the home because it had a co2 leak from the furnace into the bathroom. They said we could store our stuff in the garage until we could move in on Monday. The maintenance was supposed to fix the house for us on Saturday. We decided to spend the weekend with my Aunt & Uncle 3 hours away in Springfield.

After we signed the papers and got the key we went to the house to see it. We soon realized we were in the ghetto. The first neighbor we talked to said that his kids' bikes had been stolen & even some tools. The next door neighbors arrived home drunk (and driving) and gave Tyler a nice big "welcome to the neighborhood" hug. I seriously was afraid to let my kids play outside ever. I didn't want to even leave the house without Tyler. I was scared to be home all day with the kids in that house. The inside was almost as bad. It smelled like smoke and mold. There was signs of water damage in the basement. The cabinets were awful mismatched pieces put together & then painted the same color. There wasn't even a drawer for silverware. The backyard had a big hole in the fence. The garage only opened from the inside and our truck wouldn't even fit. This home was not even worth the $700 per month. Kansas City is a cheap place to live and there are tons of rentals going between $600-$900 that are a lot nicer. We really got ripped off and taken advantage of.

We left my Aunt's house on Monday at 4:00 am so we could drive the 3 hours to Kansas City for Tyler's first day of work. I hung out with his boss' wife that day. Tyler tried to call the office to work something out with them & they said they were too busy to call him back. Tuesday Tyler took the day off to unload the house, and take all of our stuff to storage. That was an added $200. We told the property management company that we wanted our money back because they didn't have the home ready for us to move into on Monday. The breached the contract and we just wanted our money back so we could find somewhere more suitable for us to live. They were rude and told Tyler "not on this planet."

Now we are out $1300 and we don't have enough to money right now to pay rent & a security deposit on another place to live. The company then wrote us an email saying that we still owed the rest of the rent ($300) so they could advertise the house and fix it up. SERIOUSLY??? We didn't cause any damages in that house because we didn't even live there. We put our stuff in the garage and that's it. We are good honest people, and although we could have seriously damaged that house we didn't. I guess the lesson learned is that even though we are honest people, not everyone else is. We know not to make that same mistake again, and we are praying that things will work out for the best. I just hope my Aunt & Uncle aren't sick of us. I'm single parenting yet again while Tyler stays with his boss in Kansas City so he can work.

So, that's the story for anyone that was wondering, and since this is my current journal. I only packed a weeks worth of everything for us so that's all I have. I even had to go buy diapers and wipes for the kids to last until we get a place to live. I'm not asking for pity or anything because I know it will all work out. I'm just a little upset at this company and I hope no one else makes the same mistake that we did.

Traveling and Halloween

So, we left on Wednesday morningish. I don't think I'm ever going to be on time to anything again. I plan and rush and I still can't get everyone out the door when I want. We took a moving truck full of our stuff that Tyler drove and then I drove the truck. Tyler switched off taking the girls with him so I didn't have to juggle all 3 kids. We had to stop in St George for diapers and last minute Halloween costume things. Our goal was to get to Grand Junction that night. We made it at 10 pm and opened presents. My wonderful Granny bought the kids presents especially Carter. She always spoils us. She got up and made us breakfast in the morning and was even late to work helping us. She made goody baskets with toys and things for the kids.

We were in Denver at 5 pm and I really wanted to stop and visit so many people. But, we wanted to make it as far as we could. At about midnight I could not keep my eyes open. We got a hotel room (we should have just napped since we didn't get much sleep anyways) and the kids enjoyed the break from the truck. We got up at 6 am to start driving again. I was having a hard time keeping my eyes open so I decided to just get a Mountain Dew because the consequences of falling asleep far outweighed the consequences of drinking a soda (and bonus, it didn't upset Carter's tummy like it did with the girls). We spent the day driving across Kansas. It was the best part of the drive, I thought. No mountains, and straight roads. The kids slept for a while too.

Carter was awesome the whole time. All I had to do was feed him & change him every 3 hours and then put him back in his car seat. He was quiet and slept a lot. It was hard to not be able to snuggle up to him though. The girls did really well entertaining themselves and Kate didn't fuss near as much as we thought she would (she's a BUSY girl).

We made it to Kansas City that afternoon. We signed the papers to our house, dropped the moving truck off at Tyler's office then got a hotel room. The next day we unloaded the truck into the garage and headed to Springfield to my Aunt Jodi's house for trunk or treat. We were too late for the trunk or treat because we had to drop off the moving truck and it took us longer than we thought to find the place. So, we dressed the kids up, took them to a few houses, and they were happy. I let them eat it all when we got back (it was only a few pieces each). We will make it up to them next year...poor kids.

Alivia was Rapunzel (last minute hair idea there haha), Kate was a cow girl, and Carter was a pumpkin (I lost his little hat)

Saddest Halloween ever huh?

Carter 4 weeks

I feel bad. Life has been so crazy that I've hardly taken any pictures of the kids. I know this little man is changing so much. He will probably look different by the time Tyler sees him again. He is 4 weeks today so I made a goal to go out and take some pictures of him. None of them are edited or professional at all, but here they are.

He is such a cute and fun baby. I just love him to pieces. He loves to kick and coo. He grunts when he eats. He reminds me of a little old man. The girls are in love with him and he has been such a wonderful addition to our family.