Last August we were living in Flagstaff, AZ and N proposed to me on the top of the San Francisco Peaks. Then we packed up a moving truck, the RV, said goodbye to all our family, friends and we drove cross country in our RV with our zoo of animals. N got a new job and we relocated.

Once we got here we settled in and less than a month later we learned of our surprise pregnancy. We had been trying for almost 2 years before relocating with no success. We were planning our wedding when we discovered I was pregnant, I had just purchased my wedding dress.

Once the pregnancy was confirmed we shared the happy news, postponed our wedding plans and headed to the court house to become legally married (for insurance purposes). Once insured we found out we were expecting a baby girl.

We dealt with a moldy inhabitable rental home, broke our lease and moved to a new home (that we agreed to buy), I was 8 months pregnant. Now our adorable baby girl is here and she’s almost 3 months old.

It truly has been one jam packed year for us. Lots of ups and downs but we ended up way better off than when we started and we’ve achieved just about everything we were aiming to.

Things are finally getting all boring and calm again so we are looking forward and planning ahead now. We only have two major things we are tackling right now.

We are gearing up to apply for a mortgage on the house we are living in right now, we have until April to close on the house or we forfeit all the money we paid upfront when we agreed to the contract sale. Although we would love to close before the end of the year so we can take advantage of the first time home buyers tax incentives.

We also need to get our “good car” repaired so we have a safer ride for Everly. It is back in Arizona so once it’s fixed we’ll need to fly out there and drive it back. We are saving up for this right now. Fixing it is still cheaper than getting under a new car payment, especially since we are getting ready to take on a mortgage.

N is on contract for another 2 years and has yet to see the anchor time he was promised upon accepting the job. Hopefully he’ll be on the anchor desk more in the next two years otherwise…. Well you know the drill.

Exactly one year ago we were looking to the future wondering when engagement, marriage and kids would be in the cards. It is crazy how fast life changes! It’s been a crazy ride so far but I love my life and have everything I could ever want.

The post Reflecting on the past then looking forward and planning ahead appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.

After months of certified letters, emails, phone calls and face to face meetings that accomplish nothing we’ve finally decided to ask the landlords to release us from the lease come May 1st.

We decided that asking to be released from the lease was the better way to go. If we needed to get a lawyer and present all our documentation supporting their breach of the lease we could. It is just that starting the legal battle takes much time and lots of money we didn’t really want to have to fork out if not necessary.

So, N made the phone call to the landlords this morning. He is the professional one who can present things in a non emotional way. I just tend to be blunt and rude about things like this and say stuff like F-you, you are an idiot. LOL…

Anyway, N got a call back about 10 min. before we had to leave for my chiropractor appointment be we figured that would happen and were ready.

During the call he outlined our frustrations with the rental situation. Talked about how paying them rent has been an ongoing challenge as a result of them changing banks and addresses monthly.

He brought up our health concerns over the mold and the fact that we asked them to take action back in November to help remedy the mold issue but they ignored our requests.

He talked about how we’ve sent multiple certified letters that they’ve refused to pick up and he basically said that we would like  to be let out of our lease, penalty free so we find a more stable home before baby Tater comes.

Her response was “Okay, we just need to get the owed rent from February and March first”… She didn’t even care about us wanting to be let out of the lease!

We recorded the phone conversation for our records and we’ll be typing up a letter stating that we’re being let out of our lease by the landlords that she will sign.

We’ve also placed a stop payment on the previously issued checks from February and March per her request and have turned those in to one big cashiers check to give her when she signs the “early release from lease letter”. Thank goodness we are out of here!

Basically we get the keys to our new place on April 1st and will have a month to get out of our current place and to tidy it up before the move out inspection here on May 1st.

We are super stoked and feel like a huge burden has been lifted from our shoulders. We are still trying to be sure we keep good documentation of all of it just to cover our butts but essentially it should be all done and over with now.

We found our new place, got released from our current one and are pretty much on track for getting all this madness taken care of before Tater comes. Yay!

For those of you in similar situations with unresponsive landlords you may find the following posts and references helpful. Read all about our moldy, indiana rental and what we did about it in these posts (arranged from newest to oldest):

• The Filter Queen, a cute country home and more landlord drama…
• Checketty, check, check those things off that list! The landlord comes a knocking
• Slumloards, credit scores and a prenatal chiropractor [in a pear tree]…
• Bubbling with anticipation and watching the world blow by…
• Getting the holiday ducks in a row and not looking like a hobo anymore! Mold test photos.
  
• In Indiana breathing mold is okay but home birth is not, just an FYI.
• I am just a tad angry right now! The saga of the first certified letter.
• Good morning all, got a flood? We do!

You may also find the following external links helpful:

• How to write an early termination letter to your landlord.
• Sample Letter: Breaking fixed term co-tenancy: all co-tenants vacating
• SAMPLE ONLY – Letter Breaking a Lease
• Mutual release from contract/ lease form

The post The final chapter of the crappy evansville landlord drama. appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.

On the first day of Christmas, my true love sent to me
A garage cat with some fleas.

On the second day of Christmas, my true love sent to me
Two broken cars (poor Nissan and Amigo!)
And a garage cat with some fleas.

On the third day of Christmas, my true love sent to me
Three months-of-pregnancy (almost 4!),
Two broken cars,
And a garage cat with some fleas.

On the fourth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me
Four petri dishes of growing mold,
Three months-of-pregnancy,
Two broken cars,
And a garage cat with some fleas.

On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me
Five feet of soaking, nasty basement,
Four dishes of mold,
Three months-of-pregnancy,
Two broken cars,
And a garage cat with some fleas.

On the sixth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me
Six days of rain (and no freaking snow!),
Five feet of soaking basement,
Four dishes of mold,
Three months-of-pregnancy,
Two broken cars,
And a garage cat with some fleas.

On the seventh day of Christmas, my true love sent to me
Seven pans of cinnamon rolls,
Six days of rain,
Five feet of soaking basement,
Four dishes of mold,
Three months-of-pregnancy,
Two broken cars,
And a garage cat with some fleas.

On the eighth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me
Eight pounds of baby weight,
Seven pans of rolls,
Six days of rain,
Five feet of soaking basement,
Four dishes of mold,
Three months-of-pregnancy,
Two broken cars,
And a garage cat with some fleas.

On the ninth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me
Only nine checkers checking (at Walmart yesterday, what a joke!),
Eight pounds of weight,
Seven pans of rolls,
Six days of rain,
Five feet of soaking basement,
Four dishes of mold,
Three months-of-pregnancy,
Two broken cars,
And a garage cat with some fleas.

On the tenth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me
Ten packages shipped to loved ones,
Nine checkers checking,
Eight pounds of weight,
Seven pans of rolls,
Six days of rain,
Five feet of soaking basement,
Four dishes of mold,
Three months-of-pregnancy,
Two broken cars,
And a garage cat with some fleas.

On the eleventh day of Christmas, my true love sent to me
Eleven poo smears in the toilet,
Ten packages shipped,
Nine checkers checking,
Eight pounds of weight,
Seven pans of rolls,
Six days of rain,
Five feet of soaking basement -Yuck!,
Four dishes of mold,
Three months-of-pregnancy,
Two broken cars,
And a garage cat with some fleas.

On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me
Twelve-hundred-dollars-of-car-repair-work for the amigo. Ouch,
Eleven poo smears,
Ten packages shipped,
Nine checkers checking,
Eight pounds of weight,
Seven pans of cinnamon rolls,
Six days of rain,
Five feet of soaked basement,
Four dishes of mold,
Three months-of-pregnancy,
Two broken cars,
And a garage cat with some fleas.

Whew! That was amusing for me. By the way, after I wrote it all out I also did sing it just for good measure. You know to make sure it all went well together. Hope you tried to sing it too, brought a smile to my face just trying it! Happy holidays all, I hope you are having the best time today!

I know mine isn’t as good as this but it was entertaining!

From the album: Holiday Spirits by the Straight No Chasers

Now, I am not the only blogger who has reworked a holiday song just for their blog, many others have also done so! If this includes you please enter the link to your holiday song post below. We would love to see what others have come up with!

The post The 12 Days of Christmas, Talina and N's style appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.

N called the landlord over the weekend about it and their response was “well, we’ve been busy and we figured it was returned to you already”. She then said once it was returned to us we could “drop it by some store of theirs” or she could come by and pick it up from us.

Yeah, you are going to have to come by and get it from us since your laziness is not our issue. We sent the letter off to you like we are legally required to and you were too lazy to claim the dang thing, not our issue!

So like I said it has been 18 days since we sent our letter and rent off and the landlord doesn’t seem to have any desire to get it. It is still sitting at the post office and a notice was left at the landlords residence to come claim it.

This raised some questions for us so we looked at county records and found that our landlord owns 38 other houses (not including this one) just within this county. Oh and the house we are living in is worth about $80,000, they are charging us $875 a month and are making killing.

Well no wonder they don’t care about cashing our rent check, they have tons of money coming in from us and other sucker renters! Now N thinks they are acting unresponsive and avoiding our communications because they know they are caught and have wronged us.

Like I said in a previous post, I am fairly certain we have a mold issue just based upon the home’s age and the leaky basement issue. Our basement is finished, here have a look:

I think the electric heater/ fireplace thingy gives the decor age away don’t you?

Then there is the wood siding and the indoor/ outdoor carpet that is water stained from our recent floods.

Check out the green cabinets! Those scream 1970 to me.

So I am wondering… If all the decor and “finishing” in the basement is that old and there is such a big leak issue down there. How many years of mold growth do you think there are? It is kind of scary to think about.

We are certain there is mold growing because we have all had some odd respiratory issues since moving here, including the pets. You know allergies, sinus issues and even bloody noses. Generally nasty stuff!

That is why we sent out the certified letter outlining our concerns about their “lack of disclosure” on the flooding issue. We also mentioned the fact that the moisture from the leaks is impossible for us to fully clean up since the basement is finished and that they need to provide us with a means to clean up the soaked carpet each time the basement floods (aka a carpet cleaning machine or dehumidifier).

Seems like we covered all the bases right? Too bad they have not claimed the letter from the post office and they intend on leaving it unclaimed until the letter is returned to us…

I am not sure what to do next. We did just spend $50.00 on 4 do-it-yourself mold test kits so we’ll have proof of the mold soon but we can’t really afford an attorney to sue them. Is that the only way to take action on this?

—————–

Updates: There have been updates regarding this landlord saga, you can see them by checking out the following posts.

1. Slumloards, credit scores and a prenatal chiropractor [in a pear tree]…
2. In Indiana breathing mold is okay but home birth is not, just an FYI.

Related post search results can be viewed here.

The post I am just a tad angry right now! appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.

I am back in bed right now. I got as far as putting some laundry away and straightening a pile of crap in the bedroom then my heart started racing and I felt dizzy so I had to scale it back and rest for a bit…

I still have loads of laundry to do, I need to iron N’s work shirts and vacuum the house but I just feel like I can’t stay productive for as along as I need to. It especially sucks when I get bursts of energy and want to get stuff done but my body isn’t on the same page as my brain.

I really hope I am not having blood sugar issues or blood pressure issues because that will blow my shot at having a low risk birth and I’ll be forced to deliver in a hospital. Something is definitely going on though with my heart racing all the time though. We’ll talk to the doc about in in two weeks at my next prenatal appointment.

Oh and we actually have a shot at some minimal snow accumulation today as a cold front passes through. How exciting for us, we love to be home enjoying the falling snow. Keep your fingers crossed that we’ll actually get some snow here already.

Hopefully the snow doesn’t result in our basement flooding again but if it does we have a certified letter out to the landlord about it and we are ordering a mold analysis for our own information.

So what is on the schedule for your weekend? Hopefully you stay warm and don’t have to deal with crazy shoppers.

The post Digging out the holiday decor and waiting for snow! appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.