A Tale of [family madness in] Two Cities - Final Thoughts & PTR Link!

[mrsksomeday]

We still have never had the tuna from CHH, I will have to try it one day.

We really enjoyed the HOP, you are really getting to see where Bill and I sit all the time in the shows LOL. That handicap spot is Bill's favorite parade spot in Liberty Square.

Isn't it nuts how people line up that early for a parade, especially in the handicap section? What did you think of your perspective from the chair? A lot of people don't pay attention and almost run into him or pay a lot of attention and stare.

Fantastic pictures of COP, does it say no pictures at all or no flash pictures? OMG you are so right about the cheese-fabulous!! We love it.

OMG the Noodle Station was open?? Wow, I have never seen that. We are going to be there in May I wonder if it will be open then?

It is so odd for me to see Christmas parade pictures in the daytime. I am so Jealous of Henry getting to meet Grumpy!! Your pictures were great even with the sun being an issue.

"No Mine" That is too funny. I absolutely adore the ice cream pictures, they are so precious! "More of that Mommy, more of that". That boy can not be any cuter!!!

These updates are fantastic, what a wonderful family trip you had.

 

[MeMom]

Brook, are you busy stuffing yourself with shamrock shakes???
There is a McDonald's about one mile from my house, but I don't go by it often, since I turn to go to school and church before I get to it. I haven't even seen a shamrock shake poster in the window yet. I should be ashamed.

 

[ptcrn]

I am embarrassed to be so very far behind again!!! I've had lots of stuff going on lately and haven't found time to be on the DIS, but I'm all caught up and hope to stay that way! Sometimes its just so much easier to do Facebook, kwim?

ptcrn - I just read the two pages of your TR....are you going to have it opened up again so you can finish? Please? Your DS is adorable! And from the bits of your house that I can see, it's beautiful!!

Thank you for your sweet comments! I am not very good at keeping caught up (obviously! ) but I think I will have them open it up again once I have the next few updates written out. I really do want to write it all down before I forget it.

I am loving your TR and all the wonderful pictures! David and I watched the parade videos this morning and he cried when they were over! He is very into "Mickey parades" and was so excited to see one on the "puter!" We then saw the picture of Henry eating his Mickey bar and he said "oh, that looks good!" Too funny.

I know you said your shoes were Keens, but are Henry's Keens as well? They look really cute and comfy!

There were lots of things I wanted to comment on, but alas, I can't remember them all! I will have to go back through. Looking forward to more!

 

[brookelizabeth]

Hi everyone,
I apologize about my disappearance lately here on the DIS...the Joe/Brook/Henry Household has been undergoing some interesting turn of events as of late.

I haven't spoken of it much on here, but we have had our house on the market for approximately 2 years. It was on before Henry was born, and then taken off for almost a year, then put back on - and has been since. We have dropped the price $30K in that 2 year period. Which makes me frustrated and a bit sick to my stomach; however.........we have dreams. That are well worth the hit we are going to take when the house sells. More on that later.

So, we just lowered the price the other day and we instantly get a bite. And it is the most promising bite we've had since we put it on 2 years ago for the first time. This family is looking at 10 homes in our area, 5 new construction, 5 older homes and then making a selection. They viewed the new construction homes this past Wednesday and ours is their #1 pick.

However, it's also at the top of their budget.

And they have 5 more homes to look at.

Our town has been hit HARD by the economy, there are tons of cheap, cheap homes and foreclosures. I know the homes they will be looking at will be cheaper than ours....which makes me nervous. They liked the upgrades in our home and the layout (open floor plan).

This coming Wednesday they will view the other 5 homes and make a decision. I desperately want to slash the cost of our home again to entice them to stay with us. Joe and I crunched the numbers to the last penny and it was NOT pretty.

We knew it would be tight, but we didn't realize it would be THIS tight.

Long story short, if the home sells for $8K less than what we have it listed, we will be bringing $20K to the table to cover the mortgage, the REALTOR fees and the closing costs.

Where does a family with one income come up with $20K?

Thankfully we do have some in savings. And we do qualify for a good loan (which I HATE doing, but...dreams...!), so that will cover it for the most part. However, with the future loan payments, that would leave us in the red each month.

We have decided to sell our DVC, the contract for sale is laying on my desk as I type this-ready to fax and list. It makes both Joe and I very, very, very sad to do so. It also irks us that we will be loosing money on it in the long run (thankfully we aren't upside down on it or anything like that, we will actually take a wee bit of money home from the sale...which we need!). However, it will free up over $300 per month (payment + dues), which we desperately need to make our dreams a reality.

Our dreams....our dream is to sell our home and move to New York City. As most all of you know, I lived there for 1.5 years before moving to Minnesota to marry Joe. I have missed it since day one. My heart aches to be there. It's an ache I cannot explain, it's in my bones. Joe has also taken on this desire. We are ready to go and the bite at our house makes us very, very excited about the possibility of it FINALLY becoming reality.

I feel like we have been living between chapters in our lives for 2 years now, it's exhausting and frustrating. We are ready to move on. We are more than willing to take the hit and pay a loan each month so we can move on. We are willing to sell our DVC so we can move on. Despite it making us tear up a bit, we are willing.

And we know that with the bonus monies that Joe earns each month (that we don't put into our regular budget), and with my penny pinching, we will still be going to Disney this year. It will not be the DIS Podcast Cruise, or a stay at the Boardwalk Villas as we were planning. It will probably be at a Value or maybe a Mod, and the cruise will have to wait a few years, but you know what - we are SO okay with that. Disney magic is alive and well no matter where you stay.

New York City is our heart, our passion. It will not only provide incredible opportunities career wise for Joe and education options for Henry, but it will also provide a freedom to Joe that he's never known. Due to his eye condition he has had to rely on others all his life. He cannot jump in the car and run an errand. He cannot get to church on his own. He cannot even take himself to the doctor easily. In New York he will be an equal. He will have independence. He and I both readily look forward to that.

With all this said, we have been busy with the house. We have been going through our things, purging what we don't need, whittling down EVERYTHING to prepare going from a 4 bedroom >2000 square foot home to a 2 bedroom <800 square foot apartment. Plus, keeping it looking nice for showings. That is a feat! And, we have had to cut the budget a bit more recently, so I've been busy trying to earn an extra buck on the side and pinch a few pennies.

I do plan to continue with my TR, I won't be gone forever, it just might be a bit slower moving here for a bit.

I'll keep you all posted on the sale of the house. I would greatly appreciate your prayers for the sale as well. We need wisdom on what to do - drop the price a bit, or leave it as is and hope the sellers come back.

Thanks for letting me ramble!

-Brook

 

[wickesy]

Good luck Brooke - whatever happens and whatever you decide.

"I wish for you what you wish for yourself"

 

[GreatBiscuit]

I'll be praying for you guys! I know that wherever God is calling you, He will provide a way. Moving is stressful, even it's only a few blocks away. Starting over completely is a massive leap of faith. I know you guys will land on your feet ready to run. Take all the time you need. We'll be here waiting.

 

[Lovemy3babes]

What a wonderful update Brook!! The photo of Henry sleeping at CHH is priceless. He's so adorable. And speaking of CHH, your post sounded so good! It's definitely on the next time list. I also really enjoyed CoP. I know the scenes are sort of cheesy but it was just an awesome attraction. My kids even loved it and still sing "There's A Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow...." all the time!! Great parade pictures!

A shamrock shake in on my agenda for this evening. Didn't we all have this exact same conversation last year at this time?! LOL!!

 

[Lovemy3babes]

I missed your last post!!! I'll miss you in Minnesota but you gotta do what gotta to do to be truly happy. Good luck Brook!

 

[SoonerGirl]

I was wondering what was keeping you tied up this last week.

I'm sorry that you are having to sell your DVC points, but like you said, although Deluxe is nice, it's not necessary to have a fabulous Disney vacation. And, Disney isn't going anywhere, you can always buy again in the future.

You have to do what you all feel will be the most fulfilling for the lives in your family. Good luck on the sale of your house, and on making your dreams come true!

 

[thewesterberg]

What big things you have on your plate, exciting and scary all at the same time. And you seem to have such a good attitude towards the sacrifices in order to take this leap... You guys are in my prayers as you look towards this next step... it sounds like exciting things on the horizons!

 

[MeMom]

My heart aches to be there. It's an ache I cannot explain, it's in my bones. Joe has also taken on this desire. We are ready to go and the bite at our house makes us very, very excited about the possibility of it FINALLY becoming reality.

And we know that with the bonus monies that Joe earns each month (that we don't put into our regular budget), and with my penny pinching, we will still be going to Disney this year. It will not be the DIS Podcast Cruise, or a stay at the Boardwalk Villas as we were planning. It will probably be at a Value or maybe a Mod, and the cruise will have to wait a few years, but you know what - we are SO okay with that. Disney magic is alive and well no matter where you stay.


New York City is our heart, our passion. In New York he will be an equal. He will have independence. He and I both readily look forward to that.



I do plan to continue with my TR, I won't be gone forever, it just might be a bit slower moving here for a bit.

I'll keep you all posted on the sale of the house. I would greatly appreciate your prayers for the sale as well. We need wisdom on what to do - drop the price a bit, or leave it as is and hope the sellers come back.


Thanks for letting me ramble!

-Brook

And I thought you were just stuffing yourself with Shamrock Shakes!!!

When something is your passion, you are willing to sacrifice much to take care of it. We'll be glad to let you stay at our Pop, and we're even having it newly painted and putting in new carpets and bedspreads for you! Check out the pictures on allears of the new rooms we're fixing up for you.

Prayers are with you for wisdom as you make the transition. We are going through a big one ourselves, and there have been tears and prayers, but hopefully dreams come true in the end.

You can ramble any time, you know. We're always here. Take care of your family first. The rest of the stuff will be there when you get to it.

And don't even think about being gone forever! It would be like losing family!

 

[John's Mom]

Prayers and pixie dust coming your way!

 

[blessedby3]

Awww, praying for you and Joe and Im sure that everything will work out in God's timing. NYC sounds great. We love to visit there. Sorry you have to sell the DVC, but at least you can still go to Disney
Looking forward to hearing updates on the house and TR!

 

[Charleston Princess]

Lots of prayers heading your way, Brook! I hope the family loves your house so much that they are willing to buy it at the current asking price. I hope you are able to move to NYC very soon! What a fun place for Henry to grow up.

I am sad that you are selling your DVC contract, but if it will help you realize your bigger dream than it's all for the best! Like you said, you can have a great Disney vacation at a mod or a value. Your words helped me to remember that! Thanks!

 

[3prettyprincesses]

Oh Brook! How exciting and scary at the same time! Wow, you and Joe have quite a full plate right now. I'm so sorry to hear that this crappola recession has hit your area too. Man, does it ever stink! But I think it is ultra-fabulous (I remember you liked that phrase!) that you're going back to New York! I love love love New York, I really do. But DH isn't as keen on it as me so we won't probably ever live there. But we like to visit! When we were first married, we wanted to move to NYC so badly, although we were watching 'Mad About You' a lot so maybe that had something to do with it! I am so glad to hear that making a move like this will make life easier for Joe as well. And Henry is so cute that he'll fit in anywhere you go! I'm wishing you and your family the best. And I'm praying that God will bless your family and sell your home! Keep the faith Brook. I'm totally crossing my fingers for you too! Ugh, did that sound like valley girl 80's to you? Like it did to me, like totally! Take your time with your TR too, I don't mind waiting one bit! And good news that Disney will still happen for you too. Like others have said, you can still have a wonderful, magical time even if you don't stay deluxe. Take care and keep us posted!

 

[micandminforever]

Thought and prayers are with you, Henry and Joe.

 

[gellybean]

I'm so envious of what you guys are trying to do!! I so wish we could sell everything and move!! I wish you all the best luck in your adventure and truly hope it all works out for y'all, as it's intended too!

I totally understand you want Joe to have more freedom! AND I understand wanting something down to your bones. I admire your courage to go for it!!

We'll be here, waiting, for as long as it takes!!

I am for you, though, having to sell DVC!! But Disney will be there, and buying back in will be there at some point, too, I'm sure. I've had thoughts of adding to our family lately, and Disney crossed my mind as a reason not to have another one. Harder on budgets, and we'd have to get a bigger room, etc.

And then I realized I was letting one week a year, mayber two weeks a year dictate a decision that affects my family 52 weeks a year, for the rest of our lives!

I had to adjust my priorities a bit and not let a Disney vakay influence our family's choices!

So I get it. And I wish you guys all the best.




Sending prayers and thoughts y'all's way!

 

[CJsMom]

Good luck with the sale of the house and realizing your dreams. You can always buy DVC again in the future, and Disney will always be there waiting for you. Sending loads of pixie dust your way...

 

[VAisforDisneyLvrs]

Here's hoping there is lots of good news, and an exciting move, in your future!

 

[claryche]

My thoughts and prayers are with you guys. I would be sad about selling the DVC, but like others have said, Disney magic occurs in the value resorts too. And that is actually part of the reason why we haven't bought into DVC, because we always stay at a value and just can't wing the monthly cost of the DVC right now. So I can totally see that.

Even though I have never lived in NYC, I always said that I would love to live there. I have only visited once and fell in love with it. My hardest part would be getting rid of stuff, like you talked about, so good luck on that one.

I'm a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. Even though we don't know the reason most times, there is a reason. And what is meant to happen will happen, as long as you are open to it happening.

So take care and feel free to ramble all you want and keep us up to date.