July 2009








Chase Mortgage has finally gotten tired of the late mortgage payments and has sent us notification that they are going to start foreclosure proceedings. Dave still has not been able to find a job. He is trying to find something not in retail. Considering his work experience for the past 25 years is in retail management it is making the job search difficult. I am confident that there is something out there for him.

There have been several people praying for Dave the past few years. We have been asking the Lord to provide David a job that is closer to home and one that he will enjoy what he does everyday. I consider Daves lay off an answer to that prayer. We just need to wait until the job that God has for him comes along or he finds it.

The past nine months have been good for him. He has spent more time with his daughter who will be graduating from school next year and going off to college. He has been able to de-stress from the years of grief....He is actually enjoying being a stay home dad for the first time in 23 years.

3rd: We have an 11:00a.m. meeting today with Bill Savage. He is a realtor I heard about from one of the patients in the office I work in. He took a tour of our house and the surrounding grounds. He is confident that he can sell our house and get a profit. He made some other recommendations to give us some time so that maybe we could hang on to our house for a little bit longer in hopes that Dave will get a job soon. We decided not take that risk and end up right back here. We both agreed it is time to let the house go.

Mr. Savage was very surprised that we did not have any second mortgages against the loan on our house. Bill went about the property outside and took pictures of the house and yard. He put the "For Sale" sign up and we took care of the paperwork to get things rolling. We spent the remaining part of our weekend boxing up and decluttering the inside of the house and preparing it for repainting. We need to repaint a few of the rooms to a more neutral color.

Bill is coming out on Monday to take some pictures of the inside to add to the virtual tour he creating on the webpage for our house. Our house has it's own website...is that awesome or what?

4th: Happy Independence Day Everyone!

6th: Already we have a realtor that wants to bring a client out to take a look at the house. We have not had a chance to paint and get the pictures on the web page of the inside of the house. We did get quite a bit of decluttering done. We had to move our appointment with Bill Savage to Friday in order to give ourselves a little more time to work on the inside before he comes to take pictures.

All of the normal activities of the week have been put on hold so that we can focus on the house!

10th: Brittney has pictures today in St. Augustine for her senior portraits. We are only getting the formals done, she is arranging a private photographer to get her senior portraits taken later. Our baby girl is growing up so fast and she was absolutely beautiful today. She was so self conscience, she felt she did not compare to all of the other girls that were prancing around like proud little ponnies. She could hold her own against them, I promise you. That is not a prejudice momma talking either, that is a fact. The fact that she doesn't see it is what makes her even more beautiful!

Happy Birthday Isobel: I hope your day is filled with smiles! That is the least you deserve...

13th: Dave has a job interview today at 7:30a.m. with Fleming Island High School for a custodian position within the Clay County School Board. He has another job interview for another custodian position for Ridgeview High School at 2:00p.m. Good Luck Dave...you will get the job that the Lord has for you!

Dave also applied for a maintenance position at a nursing home called "Lifecare at Wells Crossing'. Michael worked at this same nursing home for about 8 months before going into the Army. Now the jobs are everywhere. God is moving, I feel that we are doing the right thing!


15th: Dave has orientation today at "Lifecare". Congratulations Honey-they are lucky to have you!

Not only did Dave get the job at Lifecare today but we got a call from Bill Savage today. He got an offer on the house! Wow, we have not even gotten pictures taken of the inside yet for the webpage and already we have an offer. God is good! It feels good when you know that you have made the right decision and God takes the lead on getting the details taken care of.

Happy 23rd Anniversary Dave!

19th: This has been one of those tough years that marriages have to endure from time to time. We will get through this one too, just like all of the others.


20th: Today we have the home inspection. We have a great realtor, he advised that we not be home for this. He knows how stressful this whole thing has been for us. He will be there for the inspection and of course he will let us know what is said. Bill said this is one of those times when someone comes through the house with a fine tooth comb looking for anything and everything they can find wrong with it. We would probably take the whole experience personally because we have worked very hard at keeping our house in good order.


The things the inspector pointed out were all very minor and easily fixed except for the roof. The inspector insisted on a new roof because the house is 13 years old and this is a military loan. The military wants to take care of their people and cover their investment. This family will be at this duty station for the next 3 years, then they will have to sell the house when they are reassigned. The military does not want them to have to worry about the roof in three years. Makes sense, but it is going to be expensive!


I am getting a start on making phone calls to get several bids on the roof throughout the week and we are spending the weekends looking for a place to move to while we also continue to pack up the house.


24th: The appraiser is coming out today. Now we get to see if the house values at the price that we have asked and the buyer is willing to pay.



Dave has also heard back from Ridgeview High School and they want to hire him. He still has to go through the fingerprinting and drug screening before it is official. Wow, he goes from having no job for the past nine months and now he has two job offers.



27th: Today Dave has his meeting with Pam at the school board for the details on the job package and to get his drug screening done.

Happy Birthday Beth-Wow your getting old...How did that happen?

30th: Today Brittney is getting her senior portraits taken by Mrs. Osilka. She has choosen St. Augustine as her backdrop for the pictures. Her meeting is at 8:30a.m.

The photo shoot went really well. She brought three different changes of clothes and we got pictures in all different types of settings. She was beautiful! I can't wait to see how the pictures turn out. I know they will be awesome. Courtney and I were the mules that carried all of Brittneys stuff around. It got hot today though. By the time we were getting to the last few locations she was starting to sweat and her hair was getting some wave to it. You could see the heat was taking it's toll. Poor Courtney and I were dying from carrying all her stuff and we were tired. When the shoot was done I was so ready to go home. But it was a good day!

I have never been more ready to see a month over with. It has been a productive month but a very busy one at that. Next month we should see the end to all the packing and we have a closing date on the house. Our biggest obstacle now is trying to find a place to move to. We have been searching for apartments but they do not afford the storage space we require. To go into an apartment would mean also renting a storage building. This is increasing our monthly rent. So we opted to look into renting a house. We require a three bedroom house so that we have room for all of us but trying to find a house that size within our new budget is just not out there. We have looked at several houses over the past few weekends within our price range but we are not happy with the neighborhoods. We would not feel safe bringing two young ladies into those neighborhoods. Their safety is our first priority.

Your continued prayers are appreciated as God directs us on the next decisions that we must make within our near future. God Bless from the Jacksonville Cowan's!