What a Year!

Well, I know that it has been a very long time since I last blogged, so I thought a quick post to end the year was in order.  This is a very hard post for me to compose.  This has been a tremendous year of ups and downs, so it is hard to figure out how to write something that captures the year, but does not dwell on the sad or b

ad.

So I will quickly mention that the year started off very difficult with the loss of my grandfather, followed shortly by the lose of my best friends father.  It is hard to see people you care about go, especially when it does not come with any real warning.  The year ended with a major hurricane that caused serious damage to our home and has made the last three months an emotional roller coaster.  So that is how the year bookends, but as with any story there is the middle, and in this case that is the very best part.

The greatest day of my year was March 15, when I got the privilege

 to marry my wonderful husband.  I have no idea where I would be without him in my life, he brings me such happiness and balance.  Which given the way everything went this year I have really needed.  We had an absolutely perfect wedding that was everything a girl could hope for.  I am putting in a couple pictures because I never got around to doing it on the blog.  I had planned to do a big six month anniversary post, but the hurricane got in the way.

We then traveled to Mendocino, California for a honeymoon.  We loved our little bed and breakfast and really enjoyed all of the outdoor hiking.  We then travelled south to San Francisco, which was very different from our quiet little B&B, but a lot of fun.  

We headed to Pennsylvania in July to spend the fourth with family and friends.  My parents hosted a summer reception for us so that all of my family and our friends that could not make it to the wedding had a chance to meet the husband.  We had a lot of fun, but the trip was too short.

The last thing I want to mention about the year is Christmas.  The husband and I headed back to Pennsylvania for a few days of quiet away from the bustling world we are currently living in.  We got to see fresh snow, go sledding, go skiing, snuggle in front of a warm fireplace, and spend time with family.

The year has been very full and there are lots of things about it I wish I could just forget or at least undo...but there are also many things that made it a great year.  I am choosing to remember 2008 as the year I pledged to love my husband for the rest of my life, and found a way to get a fully remodeled house without having to save a penny (thanks Ike!).

Here is wishing everyone a wonderful New Year's Eve and a very happy 2009!

Week 5 and counting

Hopefully this will be a short and sweet email regarding our progress. Things are finally starting to really move along. So here is the quick story of progress:

• Since I last wrote we have turned in our elevation certificate to the city and it was approved.
• We have "patiently" (not really but we are trying) waited for the flood adjuster to come back to the house. He finally made it out to the house on Monday. We scheduled an appointment for 3pm and at 2:50 they called to reschedule for the next day. FOr those that know me, I am sure you can imagine my response. I informed them that there would be no rescheduling, that The husband and I would be waiting at the house, with flashlights if necessary, to meet with them on Monday. They did finally make it to the house at almost 5pm. We completed the walk through, so now we are waiting on them to provide us the draft scope which is where we will start to see the amount of money insurance will give us to rebuild...we are trying to be patient. The adjusters seemed very pleased with all of the efforts we have taken, but did ask to have the ceiling sprayed with the anti-microbial stuff. Not something I had thought about, but we are going to do it in the next week since I agree that it is a great idea!
• Monday we also had an appointment with a plumber. He came out, looked around, and we are waiting for his estimate. He assures us that the price will include a "Hurricane Ike" discount. It is really great to see how people are willing to help and work with you.
• Wednesday we met with the Air Conditioning guy about replacing our 4 month old unit. He seems really nice and was very easy to work with. He is also going to get us prices on about 3 different systems, so that we can decide what we want. The AC will be one of the last pieces, since we don't want all of the debris and dust from the construction process getting sucked up into the new system. So we are waiting for the paperwork and then we will have him do the work in two parts, removal of the current system (to allow better access for drywall work) and installation of the new.
• Wednesday we also met with our contractor, Ray. Ray is chomping at the bit to get started and I think he is as excited as we are that we get to rebuild. We went over all of the information from the plumber and AC with him and I think we are all in agreement.
• Thursday we met with the electrician. He feels pretty confident that he can pull and replace all of the necessary wire in a week. So we are going to pull the permit next week and hopefully by the following weekend we will have new wire. He is also going to replace the circuit box. He is the husband of one of the people I work with, so he is being great about the price. He will come back after drywall is done to install the actual switches... the idea is to leave them off for a while so that they don't get messed up during the construction process.
• One last thing is about the cars. I have found a used Infiniti to replace my car. I have requested that it be sent from Austin and hopefully it will be here today! So I should soon be in my new car.
• Oh, and we went out and got a new MacBook so we now have a computer all our own. We are very excited to back in the technology world, without having to wait our turn at the computer.

I think that is what is going on in a nut shell. I know I keep saying it but really appreciate all of you kinds call and thoughts. We are finally staring to see the light at the tunnel and I am almost convinced that it is daylight and not a train! We will keep you in the loop on progress. On a final note, Ray says if we get started in the next week or so we should be in the house by the end of January.

The next chapter

Let me first start off with an apology. I know many of you have tried to get in touch with us or have been patiently waiting for an email with an update, but to no avail. We are sorry it has taken so long to get to you but to say it has been crazy has been an understatement and I am sure you can all understand. The husband and I are still doing fine, but this has been two very long and difficult weeks. And to be blatantly honest, I just did not have the strength to write what was going on for most of the time. I will not go through the blow by blow, but below is a quick account of what has been going on:
-We met with FEMA, the gentlemen was very nice and told us to expect our denial letter within 7 to 10 days. Apparently FEMA has way too much time on its hands and denies all claims the first time and then once they receive the appeal they actually review the claim. We are still waiting for our denial letter, but are more than ready to fight the denial.
-The car insurance person came to see the cars. Only my car was covered by the policy because we only carried a limited amount of coverage on the Corvette. The insurance company totaled out my car (for obvious reasons) and is paying more than I owe, which means I have a down payment. My car was towed off last Monday and I got the check in the mail today. So we should be able to start car shopping soon. As for the Corvette, the husband decided to sell it on Craig's List due to the lack of time and money to fix it right now. He sold it today and I think it has gone to a good home. The people that bought it plan to restore it and give it to their 87 year old mother. They promised we could go visit it! And just because life is fun, my rental car had a completely flat tire last Monday on the driver side and now has a slow leak on the passenger side...will the fun never stop!
-The flood insurance adjuster made it out to the house Friday a week ago. He is a delightful gentleman that informed us that it would be between 60 and 90 days minimum to get an insurance check and that there was a good chance our house would have to be demolished and rebuilt at a higher elevation (more on this later). He finished the assessment part of his work and then headed out. He informed us that he would be in touch in 7 to 10 days to schedule the scope portion of his work. He further stated that we were not to do any more work on the house until he returned. Needless to say he has not returned and we have done no further work. Our house was deemed "unlivable," shocking I know, but unfortunately given everything that was not a foregone conclusion. We are also entitled to emergency funds to help cover immediate costs...we are still waiting (I am not sure what the exact definition of immediate is, but I am certain it is shorter than 22 days.)
-The wind insurance adjuster came to the house last Monday with no appointment and apparently did the whole inspection without us. We spoke with him this weekend and he is going to provide money to replace 100 feet of fence, 5 days of mandatory evacuation, and food loss due to power outage. So now we are just waiting for that check.

So that I think catches us up on all of the people that have been to visit the house. We are still at the same point with the house; it is down to the studs and has been drying for about 2 weeks...so now we just wait for the flood person.

On to the discussion of having to tear down the house and start over. Apparently following the devastating hurricanes in Florida and Louisiana prior to 2007 there were some changes in the laws regarding base flood elevation. I am not going to get into the details, but if your house is below base flood elevation and has substantial damage (damages are greater than 50% of the value of the home) then you must elevate to at or able the base flood elevation. The base flood elevation is determined by a flood map from the National Flood Insurance Program and the elevation of the homes are determined by survey and recorded on an Elevation Certificate. To make a long story short the base elevation for our area is 12 feet and our house is 12.74 feet. So we are good to go. But there was a lot of back and forth about what year the certificate had to be and whether the benchmark changed...and so it has been nearly two weeks of not knowing whether the house could be rebuilt or if we would have to demolish the house and start over.

So today we got the good news that our elevation certificate was accepted by the city and now we just have to get permits when we are ready for electrical, plumbing or air conditioning. Needless to say a great weight has been lifted.

The husband and I want to say thank you to all of our friends and family for your willingness to help, listen, and offer kinds words and big hearts. This has been a very traumatic time, but it is much better surrounded by some many people that love us.
We will be in touch!