HOW I WENT FROM SLANGING PREMIUM BEVERAGES TO SLANGING HOMES
We were young, broke & fresh out of a car accident settlement netting $7,000.
We lived in a 700 square foot apartment. I was a contracted employee for a beverage company & Tim, my now husband then boyfriend, an assistant manager for a well-known retail store.
“Let’s buy a house with this money” I said.
I wish I could’ve captured the look on his face.
“Okay, well let’s just see if we could get pre-approved”
The look continued…
We called a mortgage broker who brought us down to reality real quick. I would not be able to be on the loan based on my employment. I still needed for this to happen. Based on Tim’s income & credit alone we were put in a really, really fun price range. Looking at houses that needed A LOT of work in below ideal areas of town. I still, in my gut knew it was the right decision for us.
We found a house. For $162000 in California, in 2015. It needed work, but we were willing. My gut said we could do it. We did the floors, painted the entire house, fixed the garage, the fence & did a DIY makeover in the kitchen & bathrooms. It needed basically all new appliances in the kitchen but we just winged it and lived without a dishwasher for 2 years. It was livable but it was far from my dream home. I loved every single minute of the process. (except when I saw our floors for the first time and I thought they looked yellow, that wasn’t fun)
We got married. We had a DYI wedding at a campground at Big Trees park & it was beautiful. One of the best days of my life. During the year and a half that we planned this wedding we learned how to budget. We both moved on to higher paying jobs during this time. Tim working as a private investigator & I moved up at the company I was with becoming a permanent employee at management level. Even still, I knew if I wanted to have the wedding of my dreams, we would have to tighten it up. I literally went “scorched earth” I sold everything. All my designer clothes that I stupidly bought in my early 20’s, all the purses & junk that I had collected over the years I sold it all. And we were able to afford our dream wedding. On our own.
We came back from that beautiful Kauai honeymoon to another gut feeling. Foster care. It was always on our hearts but at the end of 2017 I felt like it was time to start the journey down that path. We knew this is how we wanted to grow our family. We knew classes & getting placement could take a while.
Come 2018 I had yet another gut feeling I couldn’t ignore. A series of events I won’t get into at this time caused a serious phone call to my husband saying “I NEED TO MOVE” and so we listed our home. At the perfect time. We made A LOT of money off that house in the hood that needed some love.
This is where I fell in love. This is where I knew I didn’t want to spend my entire life selling beverages. My salary depending on someone else’s agenda. My schedule on someone else’s agenda. It clicked for me how much I loved this process. It stressed my husband out & I loved every minute of it. (except for the sellers of our current house, ill also save that story for another day.)
We had a crazy 2019. Like I feel like I need to say that again kind of crazy 2019. We had a crazy 2019. Started with a bang. Getting placed with our beautiful son who was 2 months premature and only 4.5lbs when we brought him home. We spend the next 6 months back & fourth in visits with birth parents & the ebbing with the natural flow of the foster care system. In August parental rights were terminated and we were so relieved for us & our son and so devastated for our son & for these birthparents we love so much. October my brother died in a motorcycle accident & in January 2020 I was laid off after 5 years with my company.
My gut said it was time. I asked my husband if he thought I could stay home and pursue a career in real estate and he gave me that look but since he has gotten so much better at boundaries these days a “No.” came with it. I was devastated. My whole life every decision I have ever made has been based off a gut feeling. My gut has never failed me. And as much as Tim has experienced this over the years, he still brings the logic to the table. That no crushed me if I am being honest. Nothing in me wanted to go sell a packaged good for anyone ever again but it was all I knew and I was really good at it.
A few days later we talked about it again. We budgeted out & we made a plan. And Tim and I had a long talk that ended with a “yes”. I finished my real estate course in 3 days. My intuition is the strongest muscle I have and has been the most consistent companion in my life.
I want to use this platform as a way to connect with my community. To let you see more of who I am and why I function the way that I do. I want this to be a resource for you. Somewhere you can come to connect with others in your community & to gain knowledge of the industry. I want this to be a place for you to learn about foster care and connect on parenting, family & so much more.
Thank you for being here.
