Friday, April 12, 2013

Whoohoo!! It's official!!



**happy dance**  I'm finally feeling secure enough to reveal my long-awaited good news.  We have sold our big horse trailer!  Oh yeah!!  That means a lot of different things for us.  In fact, this whole deal has turned out to be one very unexpected and multi-faceted blessing that we couldn't have anticipated or even imagined.  A true blessing!!

The guy that's buying our trailer has Fresians and Gypsy Vanner horses.  Incredibly beautiful horses!  In only my wildest dreams have I ever imagined having a Fresian.  They are so beautiful in fact, that I can usually only watch them through tears, that's how much emotion they emit from my soul when I see them.  Truly gorgeous and elegant movers.  But before we go any further, yes he did offer a young Fresian to me as part of the deal, but I said no.  Heaven knows we don't need any more horses!  But, for a tiny amount of time, my heart did dare to dream about the possibility...if only for a moment and only in my mind, I galloped bareback, glossy mane flying,  through a grassy meadow on the back of a jet-black phantom horse I called Gypsy.  *sigh*

Hmmhuh, sorry.  Back to reality.  Yeah well, it was fun while it lasted.  Anyway, we did eventually strike a deal that was pleasing to both parties involved.  Juan is also a contractor.  He owns a construction business and specializes in home remodeling.  My eyes begin to twinkle...he asks me, "is your home everything you want it to be?".  Are you kidding me?  Our little house needs lots of work, there's plenty of room for improvement.  We've just never got enough money, time, expertise, patience, energy...need I go on?  Then there's the likely event of a murder taking place between my husband and me.  We have differences in how we think things ought to be done.  You understand, I'm sure.  I invite Juan inside...

So we struck a deal for some cash and some work to be done in our house.  Specifically, they're going to demo our floor in the laundry room, which has dry rot.  Replace some needed joists and build a new sub-floor.  They're going to re-enforce the floor in our kitchen nook (wood stove room) and rebuild the sub-floor there also; it sags a bit.  They are replacing the flooring in the laundry room, the entryway (mudroom) and the pantry with new vinyl of my choice.  They're also replacing the flooring in the kitchen and the wood stove room with new laminate (fake hardwood) of my choice, and replacing all the base trim and the adjacent bathroom door facing trim, and we're getting a new front door too!!  Oh my gosh, I never would have expected such an immense amount of work to be completed; and by someone other than ourselves!!  I'm still in shock.  I haven't been sleeping well.  I make flooring decisions in my dreams.

And, we're getting enough cash to pay off some bills, enabling us to refinance our home at no cost at all.  That in itself will save us over $50,000 in interest over the life of our loan, cut our payments by over 5 years and cut our interest rate almost in half, while reducing our monthly payment by about $90.00 - can you believe it?  I am completely humbled by our good fortune, and overwhelmed with gratitude.  The overall value of our home will be increased, and it will be much closer to market-ready if and when we decide to sell and relocate.  It's simply better than we ever could have hoped for.

I'm going to try to remember to take a few pictures of the before and then of the after.  We're in the process of moving all our large appliances and furniture out to prepare for the work to begin next week.  I'm horrified by how bad it really looks without everything in its' place.  My husband found a mouse nest.  Good grief.

I'm also mildly concerned about the prospect of showering without a hot water heater.  And we may be eating cold sandwiches on paper plates for a while.  But that's alright.  We're thinking of this as one of life's little adventures.  Building a memory and all that...counting our blessings.

It's all good...

Until next time, Lorie @ Cingspots


25 comments:

Oak Creek Ranch said...

How exciting! I'm with you on the savings. We are looking for a smaller house with a lower interest rate. Even with more land, its going to save us a bundle. I had a Friesian for five years and he was poetry in motion. Unfortunately, he and I weren't a good fit personality-wise so he is in a much more structured environment now and we're both happier.

L.Williams said...

Congrats! What good fortune!

Anonymous said...

Wow! sounds like a good deal for everyone. A lady at my barn had two Friesians - beautiful horses and very sweet.

Mare said...

WOW! That's super exciting!

Denise at Autumn Sky said...

That is terrific news for you!! Congratulations.

Grey Horse Matters said...

Wonderful news! It will be so exciting to get everything fixed and new floors. Congratulations on a great deal.

Lea and her Mustangs said...

That sounds just awsome Lorie. I always wanted a Friensen but reality is, could not afford one. I am excited that you made such a good deal.

Blessings, Lea

Jeanne said...

I'm excited for you!

Stephen Andrew said...

Yaaaaay!!!!!! Congratulations! I love those beautiful shiny black horses too :) someday...someday. Can't wait to see!

aurora said...

A win-win! Guess this falls under the "good things come to those who wait" category. Friesan's are my dream horse too, for their poetry in motion & sweet personalities. I am sure if we did a poll, they would top the dream horse list. In my "dream", I am riding bareback splashing in the ocean. I am young, thin, with long flowing hair. Since none of that is true anymore, I would settle for feeling their floaty gaits just once, and any sane horse would do for the ocean thing!! Happy to hear that worries are lessened by this sale, life moves forward, and you'll enjoy other things. Have fun planning!

Sherry Sikstrom said...

Wonderful news! congrats

Karen thisoldhouse2.com said...

Congrats! and ooh, it's just lovely in your neck o'the woods.

Alicia@ eco friendly homemaking said...

Oh my goodness what an awesome blessing!! I am so happy that it has all worked out so well for you all.

Aoife said...

Found my way here from Mare + Missy's blog / congrats on a sweet deal and the best of luck with the re-modelling!

Unknown said...

I tried to post a comment 2 days ago, but my stupid cobwebbed filled computer from home wouldn't let me...but I'm here now!

That is a fantastic deal! Very excited for you. I pretty much got my barn and new bathroom the same way. We traded a pick up for the work.

I have to tell you, that although inconvenient for a while, once it is all done you will have a great time reveling in your new surroundings and knowing that you can check a few more things off the "need to be done list" ! Yay!

Jenn said...

Sounds like a good deal for all parties involved...and I sure hope the contractor holds up his end of the deal and doesn't leave the job half done! (I'm a bit of a skeptic when it comes to contractors.)

C-ingspots said...

Aurora: You and I have very, very similar dreams! In mine, I did forget to mention that I am also thin, willowy, young and beautiful with long flowing hair! Who woulda thought? :)

Jenn: Our agreement is he takes the trailer home when the job is done and cash is paid. I'm a wee bit skeptical about things being too good to be true sometimes too.

Thanks for all the wonderful comments everybody!! :)

Carolynn Anctil said...

Wow, that sounds awesome! I had to google Fresian horses...I can see why you'd fantasize about them. *smile* Good luck with the renos! They're disruptive, no matter who's doing them.

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Cindy Garber Iverson said...

That is news definitely "woo hoo" worthy!!! What an incredible deal you've struck. It makes me want a horse trailer just so I can use it to barter with. ;-) We certainly have a list of things that need to be done and no money to do them.

Vaquerogirl said...

Wow! Good news! You still have your horses though?

Strawberry Lane said...

That is such exciting news! So happy for you. Can't wait to see the before and after photos!

C-ingspots said...

Vaquero Girl: Yes, we still have all our horses. Couldn't live without them. We have an older 3-horse slant horse trailer that we've had for years...back to using that one. I'm really gonna miss my cushy bed in the big one though. Can't have everything!

Thistle Cove Farm said...

clapping my hands at your good blessing and visiting from...can't remember. surfing around blog land.

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