luckyjim




I'm doing 39 things
 

luckyjim's Life List

  1. 1. Be a friend to everyone I meet
    1 entry . 63 cheers
    2 people
  2. 2. identify 43 things that I love about my wife
    1 entry . 37 cheers
    1 person
  3. 3. Make a positive contribution to zeitgeist.
    10 cheers
    1 person
  4. 4. Give my wife (my one) the vacation of her dreams.
    1 entry . 42 cheers
    1 person
  5. 5. Give my daughter the wedding of her dreams.
    1 entry . 32 cheers
    3 people
  6. 6. Take part in building someone else's home.
    21 cheers
    1 person
  7. 7. Meet someone else who is doing 43 things.
    1 entry . 9 cheers
    1 person
  8. 8. Attend at least one major sporting event with my kids
    17 cheers
    1 person
  9. 9. Watch a space shuttle launch.
    18 cheers
    957 people
  10. 10. Be an extra in a film.
    1 entry . 7 cheers
    235 people
  11. 11. Be a member of an audience in a TV show.
    4 cheers
    10 people
  12. 12. Be a contestant on a gameshow.
    11 cheers
    15 people
  13. 13. Ride a camel or an elephant.
    12 cheers
    2 people
  14. 14. Waterski on the ocean.
    7 cheers
    2 people
  15. 15. Own a tuxedo.
    1 entry . 9 cheers
    5 people
  16. 16. Write something and have it published.
    14 cheers
    19 people
  17. 17. Experience weightlessness.
    4 cheers
    158 people
  18. 18. Go to the top of the Statue of Liberty.
    8 cheers
    86 people
  19. 19. Go to the top of the Empire State Building.
    9 cheers
    40 people
  20. 20. Go to the top of the St. Louis Arch.
    6 cheers
    4 people
  21. 21. Go to the top of the Washington Memorial.
    6 cheers
    5 people
  22. 22. Go to the top of the Space Needle in Seattle.
    6 cheers
    13 people
  23. 23. Make a hole-in-one.
    1 entry . 5 cheers
    15 people
  24. 24. Raft through the Grand Canyon
    7 cheers
    79 people
  25. 25. Ride in a hot air balloon
    6 cheers
    1,983 people
  26. 26. Master golf well enough to place in a tournament.
    4 cheers
    1 person
  27. 27. Visit Machu Picchu
    1 entry . 12 cheers
    682 people
  28. 28. Visit Rome
    14 cheers
    428 people
  29. 29. Take a cruise through the Panama Canal.
    4 cheers
    16 people
  30. 30. Go on a road trip on my motorcycle.
    2 entries . 17 cheers
    1 person
  31. 31. Learn to juggle
    1 entry . 12 cheers
    1,173 people
  32. 32. Purchase a house, turn it into a home.
    2 entries . 10 cheers
    1 person
  33. 33. Master Civil 3D
    1 cheer
    2 people
  34. 34. Think of fun and special ways to make my wife feel like the sexy and amazing woman that she really is.
    1 entry . 3 cheers
    1 person
  35. 35. Support my wife in her new job.
    1 person
  36. 36. Live in the moment.
    2 entries . 4 cheers
    1,930 people
  37. 37. Look good with my shirt off.
    2 entries . 11 cheers
    1 person
  38. 38. Improve my singing.
    3 entries . 5 cheers
    123 people
  39. 39. Continue to perform on stage.
    10 entries . 6 cheers
    1 person
Recent entries
Purchase a house, turn it into a home. (read all 2 entries…)
Moving back to California 2 months ago

I would like to preface this blog with this fact: none of the decisions we made was without a tremendous amount of prayer and of seeking God’s will for our lives. We endeavor everyday to follow Him and ask for His guidance in everything we do.

In 2000, my family and I moved back to California. We had been a single income family and we had hoped that the economy in California would allow us to continue to do so without more drastic changes in our lifestyle. We lived here for about a year when we decided that homeschooling was the best option for our children’s education which thereby precluded my wife’s status as “stay-at-home-mom.” It was not economically feasible for us to purchase a home and we had hoped that we could within a few years.
This was not to be.
With the announcement of our town being the choice for the location of the new University we soon saw house prices begin to soar. We knew some people in the real estate market and they all confirmed our suspicion that Bay Area investors were driving up the housing market and the prices. We actually met a few people who moved here, commuted to the Bay Area for a few short years, and then turned this house into a rental while they would move back into (presumably) their primary residence in the Bay Area.
It was soon evident that we would be renting for a very long time.
Around 2006-2008 we saw the housing market peak. People were paying extraordinary prices for houses. We went house shopping one summer, just to see. Anything newly built listed as “affordable” was very cheaply constructed and shoe-horned onto tiny lots. Living in this kind of condition is not for the shy or the claustrophobic. You WILL know your neighbor. Half-million dollar homes did not have the bells and whistles that you would expect from a half-million dollar home. It was just a house, but an expensive one.
We set our sites on staying put in our little rental, that we were quickly out-growing.
As market forces continued to drive the housing market, and the promise of our town becoming a University town, prices continued to climb and become less affordable.
A plethora of reasons could be cited for the housing bubble to burst; but burst it did, with a pop heard across this country.
About October, 2008, we decided that perhaps we could afford to buy a house, but we’d have to adjust our expenses once again. We began the process of finding every unnecessary expense and either eliminate it or reduce it. For every bill that landed in our mail box a phone call was made. We reduced our phone bill, cell phone charges, switched cable TV companies and got fewer channels, we even switched out light bulbs to lower wattage or cheaper fluorescent.
When we shared our “plan” with friends we received a lot of counsel. Our pastor Bruce connected us with a real estate agent, Debbie, and a mortgage lender representative, Scott. In January of 2009 we finally placed a call to these two people so that we could get a better idea of where we stood in the midst of this volatile housing market.
We discovered that it was definitely a buyers market and we found out what we could feasibly afford. So the game is on.
Next: our adventures in house hunting.



Purchase a house, turn it into a home. (read all 2 entries…)
We have a home... 2 months ago

We moved in over the weekend of September 4-7.



Get passionate about a cause and spend time helping it, instead of just thinking about it. (read all 6 entries…)
Board of Directors 18 months ago

Last night, May 7th, 2008, I was nominated for the board of directors. The board voted and unanimously approved. I am now firmly involved in a cause that I am passionate about: our local community theater.



See all entries ...


 

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