...And the Hunt Begins Again

Found this in a basement of a house we looked at.
May it forever haunt your dreams.

Welcome back, America.

The Houghs have been living in central Michigan for about a year and a half now, but regardless of the fact that we're both holding down well-paying jobs and are in close proximity to all sides of our family, we still aren't feeling 100% settled up here.

And that's because we're still living in a f***ing Rental.

Not a bad floor plan - if not a little small - and
the appliances were pretty old.

While this little house of ours is getting us by - there's plenty of storage space for all our crap, the neighborhood's great, we're centrally located in town to just about everything you could ask for - it still isn't quite 'home.'


The house we've been renting since June of 2015 is small, it's old, and the yard looks like a hobo without his shirt on.  We have my Granny's piano in our dining room, my library has been sitting in a mountain of cardboard boxes atop steel shelving in the basement (undisplayed), and I have stacks of swords everywhere because there's no real place to display them properly.

Long story short, Kris and I are ready to be home-owners again.

I know I've mentioned this before, but we were fortunate enough to make a decent chunk of change off the sale of our Majorama House in Orlando.  To date, that money has been sitting safely in our local Credit Union, biding its time until we can use it to throw down a down payment on our next house.  This next house of ours, dear readers, shall hopefully be the last house Kris and I ever purchase, and I'm aiming to die in it as an old man.

Checking out a built-in library in a property

Preferably in front of the fireplace, with a sword across my lap and a Who album on the turntable.

Anyway.

Now that the Holiday juggernaut has come and gone, and things have once again fallen back into a familiar grind - Kris and I are back at work, the kids are back in school - we've decided to start actively looking for a new place to live.

Our current lease is up in June, so while we're entering the market at a less-than-opportune time (not a lot of inventory available in the dead of winter, so it's definitely a Seller's Market up here in Midland), Kris and I are hoping we can catch something within the next few months and be able to move out before having to extend our lease any.

Checking out a not-so-nice deck of a house that could have worked,
had the owners actually bothered to take care of it these last couple decades. . .

After asking around, Kris and I were led to a realtor that works through the same real estate company we use as our landlord's rental agent.  This guy, Rick (at left), is known for being straight-forward and honest with houses, which Kris and I prefer.  We wanted someone with experience who won't fluff a place up if he doesn't think it's worth it, and fortunately that's not something we have to worry about with him.

After being approved through a lender, we were ready to start viewing available properties. . . and I remembered how much I loathe house-hunting.  Of the five we saw over the course of the last week or so, some were nice, others were comically bad, and some could have worked if only one or two things had been different regarding the floor plan.  Neither of us want to settle, considering we're betting on this next house to be the last we ever own.

I'll use this particular house on Mason St. as an example.  This old Dow-designed house was in our price range, in a desirable neighborhood, with some great landscaping, and three living rooms. . .

. . . a built-in library, with a nice staircase, room for a piano, and an indoor opening that looked down into the kitchen. . .

Slate floors, plenty of retro charm. . .

. . . BUT antiquated windows that would all have to be replaced (they were from the '60s or '70s.)  And replacing an entire house's windows is not cheap, folks.

 Nor is replacing an entire house-worth of peeling wallpaper.  Had this house been about $100,000 less, Kris and I would have pounced on it, but, sadly, we had to pass on it.  This sort of 'on one hand this, but on the other hand, this' thing is starting to get really, really old, and we've only been looking for a week or so.  Can't imagine how many more white hairs I'm going to start sprouting if we're going to be at this for a few months. . .

Rick and Kris, inspecting another property's living room windows. . .

Kris and I have realized we need at least three bedrooms and two bathrooms in our next house (well, four bedrooms or three bedrooms and an office space for Kris, to be exact.)  We'd also need a Living Room (for the couches, TV, etc.) as well as a Family Room (for a fireplace, our library, the bar stuff, etc.)  A two-car garage, a large basement (to house our storage, our exercise equipment, drum set, girls' playroom etc.), and a shed.  In addition, we'd like to be on this side of town, near the kids' schools and where the neighborhoods are a little quieter.

Retro '70s basement, anyone?

Maybe that's frivolous, maybe that's being too picky. . . but, damn it, you know what?  I'm pushing 40, and I deserve this crap in my life, already.

We'll keep you posted with how this whole disaster of a situation unfolds. . .

- Brian

What Randoms June Hath Wrought

In honor of our ol' pal Juno - Roman goddess of something-or-other, we present to you all a brief collection of visual randomness for the month that honors Her.

(You're welcome.)

Hard to believe this was only a few weeks ago - feels like another lifetime, honestly.  This bare, empty, shell of a room is all that remained of my classroom during the last week of school.  No books, no posters, no decor, no technology, no nothing.  The room gutted, my souvenirs from eight years of teaching boxed up and loaded into my car.  See ya later, Teaching.

Our last trip over the Scary Bridge, en route to the Voigts for one, final visit with the girls' honorary aunt and uncle (and cousins.)

Play-dopes.

Our girls decided to crash Jack's bedtime story sesson with Adam. . .

Some of Alayna's awards from First Grade that she brought home the last week of school.

Can't say I miss these guys running about the house.  Michigan doesn't seem to believe in cockroaches (like the poor, unfortunate soul shown here, who didn't realize who's house he was trespassing in.)

Had an awesome send-off with my buddies from work on our way home from my school, the last day of my employment.  This place is called the Fox and Hound pub - a British-styled pub that I could very well live in for the rest of my life.  These few pints to honor the close of my babysitting teaching career were very much needed (and appreciated.)

Just some paper puppets.  Cuddling under a blanket on our living room couch.  Why not.

The coolest thing about packing up your dishes a week before you have to load them onto the back of a moving truck?  Drinking chardonnay out of a plastic cup.  Classiness.  Defined.

A make-shift entertainment center in what was left of my Study, a few days before departure.  The Wii U from the living room, the TV from our master bedroom, and the remaining shelving that used to house my record collection.  It worked well in a pinch.

After Kris, the girls, Watson, Mom and John took our two cars north back to Michigan, Yours Truly got to indulge in more than a few no-kids-allowed pursuits, as shown here.

First full day back in Michigan, crashing at Mom and John's house in Midland.  Nothing spells 'success' like being in your mid-30s, unemployed and living with your parents. 

Oh Captain, My Captain.

In all the hub-ub and confusion of moving, Alayna's birthday kinda got pushed back onto the ol' back-burner, so she never got to finish opening her presents from us until four days after her birthday.  We'd eventually have the rest of her presents opened at Dad and Cindy's house in Clare, but we at least wanted her to open up the ones from us (including this Monster High Dracu-locker, which she had been asking for for months. . .)

We were a little worried about Alayna opening up a bunch of presents in front of her five-year-old sister, but Abby was pretty good about it this year.

A Guardians of the Galaxy playset for their Wii U Disney Infinity game - came with a full game and two additional figures for their Infinity Base (StarLord and Gamora.)

Checking out the Grace A. Dow Memorial Library (they frequent the joint a few times a week, as they have this incentive program where if you read for twenty minutes a day for a week - which our kids do - you get prizes, etc.)

Plymouth Park has been a godsend during this whole moving-in process.  Kris takes the girls up there late in the morning every day for scheduled group activities and games, sponsored by local businesses, churches, and other random organizations.

Superheroes and popsicles.

Not two days into our new Ivy House, we were besieged by an army of bike-riding blonde children, that evidently roam about the neighborhood in packs.  It's like living on the set of The Burbs, honestly - at any given time you see bands of three, four, five, six white kids all riding up and down the street, and it was only a matter of time before our two kids were brought into their fold.  Once the neighborhood kids found out we owned a small arsenal of Nerf guns, it was all over. . .

We had to intervene when they started shooting the darts across the street and running through traffic to retrieve them.  Miraculously, we only lost one dart (and no kids.)

Another incentive to take the kids up to Plymouth Park every day - besides to get them out of my hair while I lift heavy boxes up and down stairs, etc. - is the free picnic lunches they provide.  Can't argue with free healthy food.

Off on another family bike ride with the kids.  This neighborhood is so much more ideal for this than the last one - we live in a very quiet area of town, with little traffic, well-maintained sidewalks, and lots of enormous, shady trees.  We're all pretty big fans of the change.

As I said before, Dad had to spend a few days here, at the Mid-Michigan Regional Medical Center in Midland.  We visited him a couple times during his stay, including on Father's Day.

Jeff and his family also showed up (didn't get a pic with them in it - my apologies.)

Another perk of living in Michigan?  Miller Lite - my preferred, cheap 'sidearm beer' comes in a 15-pack for the same price a Florida 12-pack costs.  Can't argue with that. 

. . . AND it has good taste in baseball.  Cowabunga.

The Hough Line continues.  Jeff's son, Owen.  The first male of the Next Generation.

Our family and Jeff's went over to Mom and John's house towards the end of the month in order to have dinner and visit with Grandma and Grandpa Chinery.

Jeff cleans up some of his daughter Scarlet's handiwork. . .

The kids really liked spending time with their Great-Grandma. . .

. . . and between the two of them they about killed a snack tray of vegetables and ranch that had been out for everyone.

Mom sat herself down at the Kid Table.  Because she's insane.

The Grown Up Table.

Rocking cousin Owen

Kris attempts to figure out her new iPhone.  We had to switch providers after nearly twelve years with T-Mobile, as they're coverage is pure shit up here in Mid-Michigan.  After talking with lots of people, we ended up going with Verizon, but unfortunately our old phones - being T-Mobile phones - wouldn't work with the new carrier, so we had to upgrade.  Kris got herself an iphone, and I upgraded from the Samsung Galaxy 3 to the Galaxy 6.  Probably the greatest phone in humanity's existence, but I'll have to sell one of the kids to help pay it off.

As the dust settles from moving and unpacking, things are beginning to look a lot more like old times around here.  So now we can do all those things we like to do in our free time,  like listen to records, play videogames (see Abby above), and school each other at chess (Alayna got a new chess set from Papa and Nana for her birthday this year - which she loves.)

- Brian