California residents

California is not such a bad place to have to stay in. The chill has definitely set in here though. We turned our heat on for the first time after we returned home from Thanksgiving in Vegas!
Ray is starting a new adventure in January! He will be teaching a Water Treatment class at Cuesta College! I think he will do an awesome job of teaching. This is something he has wanted to do for a long time.
I am currently a Dental Assistant for Dr. Andrew Kim in Templeton. I am only working temporarily until the regular assistant returns from maternity leave in January. It has been a fun experience and a great office to work in.

A Realignment

This is a new beginning of sorts...

We are somewhat sad that our plans to relocate did not materialize. There is always a touch of sadness when a "no" answer is given...even when given by God. I also thought it was ironic that I got approval for my Pennsylvania engineering license application...the DAY we take our house off the market. This further reinforces my view that God has a sense of humor. I can laugh with Him because in the big picture, there is a significant purpose to me receiving my PA license. It's almost like watching a mystery movie where seemingly insignificant details are introduced but you know are significant to the overall plot.

Another interesting development...House of Ruth, the adoption service that we are signed up with, called yesterday to say that two birthmothers will be looking at our file. We had someone look at our file back in January but I guess we didn't get chosen then. All of these inquiries were from House of Ruth in Bangor, Maine. I guess, we'll see if this has any bearing on our immediate and distant future.

But overall, we are content in God's will. We have great friends here in the California. And with airline travel, the world has become a smaller place; so hopefully we will be able to visit Laura's family more often.

"If the Lord will, we shall live and do this, or that." James 4:15

This for now...

We are pulling the plug!

Today is the final day of our house being on the market. We have decided that our house is no longer for sale. It has been on the market since November and it is growing stale on the market. After 7 months and only 2 offers we figured it is time to pull the plug. We are sorry that it didn't work out but we are also happy to be able to get on with our lives right here in California. This is not a bad place to have to remain in.
It has been a tough way to live not knowing whether we would be moving to Pennsylvania or staying put in California. Laura can now get on with something permanent and Ray can hopefully get on with his professional aspirations.
We appreciate everyone's prayers and support over the last few months!

Too Close to Call...

It looks like decision time is gonna go down to the wire...

The couple that recently looked at our home for an hour and a half came back over the Memorial Day weekend to look at the house a second time...this time one of their mom's came with them! Apparently, our house is now #1 on their list of homes that they've looked at. Two out of the three people who gave our home a second look have made an offer. I guess they are now awaiting word from their lender regarding how much of a loan they can qualify for. I am cautiously optimistic...but more optimistic than cautious. Laura on the other hand has emotionally detached herself. I know I shouldn't jump the gun, but I've started looking at homes in PA again. May God's will be done. Stay tuned...

June 1st

"June 1st"...This is the catch phrase that Laura and I tell each other to summarizes our future plans. On June 1st, we will take our house off the market if it does not go into escrow.
I am reminded of that story in the New Testament when the apostle Paul was "hindered by the Holy Spirit" during one of his missionary journeys. I am still holding on to hope that a door will open, i.e. a buyer will step up and make a good offer before the June 1st deadline.
It's been almost a year since we started taking steps to relocate and we think that it is a good idea to set a deadline to have some certainty in where we are going to live and work. My employers here as well as my prospective employers in Pennsylvania know about our June 1st deadline and most of our families know about it as well. It is our hope that all who are directly involved will be understanding one way or another.
This is a good reminder that even though we plan and take steps, it is God who holds our lives in His hands and He will open and close doors according to His will. God allowed a prospective buyer to lose his job to prevent him him from buying our house! God even allowed for our next door neighbor (with the same driveway issues) to have his house go into escrow after only 3 weeks on the market! God is good to them...and to us as well. God works according to His own timetable and we definitely want to be in His program.
As the days get closer to June 1st, I am looking forward to the bright prospects ahead. (Ray)

AN OFFER!!

Our house gets between 1-4 potential buyers coming through each week.
In the middle of the morning our realtor came by with a woman who had looked at the house on Sunday and wanted to see it again. We didn't hear anything back all day about an offer and as of today we haven't heard anything. We were kind of expecting one since the last two offers came from people who came back for a second look.
Early in the evening I was talking to our neighbor who happens be selling her house. Her and her husband are expecting a baby and would like a larger house. They put their house on the market in early April.
Well, an offer came in yesterday.......FOR THEIR HOUSE!! They got a pretty good offer from someone who had looked at both our house and theirs the day before.
We are genuinely happy for them! It will be great for them to find a house that will be suitable for their growing family.
Their asking price is at $379,000 (only $8000) below our price.
We are quite puzzled...they haven't put in half as much in the way of improvements as we have, they don't have a garage, they have a steep driveway as well but they also have a fireplace, a flat grassy area in their backyard and a larger deck.
As Ray says, "The only explanation is GOD'S WILL"

Anyone out there???

Isn't there anyone out there that wants to live in our house and drive up and down our driveway?


We got some more feedback from a realtor.....

The clients loved the home except for the steep drive and there is no
access to garage from the house. They have little children and are
concerned about the steepness.  I'm sure the home wouldv'e sold by
now if there was just more room on the drive for cars etc.  The home shows
great inside and if my clients did not have children, they said that would
have been the house they would have wanted to put an offer in on.  Having
young children, this home, does not have enough play area for them, but I
will keep it in mind for other clients. Have a great evening.

Waiting....

We got an offer last Saturday! A prospective buyer returned to look at our house with the realtor last Friday and faxed an offer to our realtor on Saturday....for $62,000 below our asking price!! Needless to say, we were a little bit insulted and considered not even responding to the offer. We counter offered at $2000 below our asking price and I guess he didn't take our offer. So we are back to the waiting game.
Our next door neighbors are having a baby and they are needing a bigger house so their house is currently on the market too. We are hoping that the exposure will help us both out. They actually just lowered their price to be more competitive. They have a great deck with the views to go with it and they have a fire place. We both have crazy steep driveways so we are both in a similar predicament.
All we can do now is wait.....

A hiccup!

Ray left work a little early today so we could meet at the Title Company in Atascadero to have our Grant Deed signature notarized. Afterwards we drove up to Paso to have a look at the Chevy Uplander which we are considering renting (or purchasing) for our cross-country trip. My cell phone rang and it was our realtor....she dropped a big bomb.....the buyers cancelled escrow!! The guy lost his job today!! We are in shock!

INSPECTION WEEK!!

We had a lot of inspections at our house this week! PEST, MATTRESS and finally today a HOME INSPECTION. We were supposed to have our septic tank inspected this week but it got rescheduled for Monday.
The Home Inspector was here for almost 3 hours! His inspection took a couple of hours and then the remainder of his time here he was talking with the prospective buyers and their Realtor.
I watched most of the activity from the Wenzels' house down the hill. I got a little teary-eyed when the young couple who is buying our house walked happily up our driveway. I guess that is when it hit me! Someone else is moving into our house!!
It is going to be a long weekend waiting to hear back from our Realtor what the Home Inspection found and what the buyers would like for us to take care of.

ESCROW!

OUR OFFER WAS ACCEPTED!!!
We are officially in escrow! The buyers want a 45 day escrow or sooner if they can do it!
We are really excited about it but nothing is truly set until April 2nd or 3rd (17 days into escrow).

FINALLY.........AN OFFER!

We finally received an offer on our house! It is a bit of an unusual offer....the interested buyers also submitted an offer for another house in Paso Robles at the same time. They wanted to see who would respond with the best offer that they could afford.
We counter-offered and the buyers have until Friday at 7:30pm to respond. We are excited to finally get an offer and the buyers seem serious but we can't get too excited until we hear their response....
While we wait with baited breath we are taking advantage of the warm evenings out on our front deck enjoying the views and a glass of Rabbit Ridge Primitivo!

Soaking it all in.

The house is still on the market. We usually get one interested buyer come by each week. Each time it is the same story......."love the house, hate the driveway...". We lowered the price again to $397,000. We don't plan on lowering further at this point. We are enjoying Atascadero and thankful that we are here. Laura worked a temporary job for the City of Atascadero for about 2 months. The photo on the left is the original City Hall that was damaged two years ago in the San Simeon earthquake. The new city hall is now in a remodeled building that used to be the local bowling alley. We are soaking in everything we love about living here since we don't really know how much longer we will be here. We are thankful for Calvary Chapel Atascadero and how the Word is preached so faithfully and that prayer is such a high priority! We are also thankful for the friends we have gotten to know!
A few of the places we have been to help us soak it in:
1) Reagan Library in Simi Valley.
2) L'Aventure Winery for Laura's Birthday with Jack and Paula and James and Kellie 3) The Beach!