This is a better picture of Joshua. It was so sunny that a lot of the pictures either had his eyes closed or squinted. Hope this is a better one.
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Kids last day of school pictures
This is Joshua on the 2nd to last day of school. He is going on to 3rd Grade in the Fall.
This is Mikayla during the last week of School. She is going on to 7th Grade in the Fall.
My Crazy Life
Right now I am facing many challenges in my life. Things are not going well and I need to write about these things so that I can unleash my pent up feelings.
First, I realize that all things will work out in the end. I know that God is in control and that He will never give me more than I can handle. With that said, I need to talk about what's bothering me.
The last couple of years has been a roller coaster ride. We have struggled as a family unit, financially and emotionally. I have been trying to work through my crises but it seems as though it's one thing after another. I have been trying to figure out what keeps going wrong in my life. I have a good job, I have a husband, 2 kids and my family. Most importantly, I have God. You'd think with all the great things that I have that I wouldn't have to struggle as I do. A year ago, Joe spoke of legally separating and going our separate ways. It has come up 3-4 times in the last year. None of us are happy. None of us seem to have a strong, family bond. We've had issues with our daughter, Mikayla. She started having suicidal thoughts and began cutting herself. We had to put her in a treatment plan to help her. She was dealing with bullying at school. We pulled her out of school for the last month. All of this on top of the financial burdens that we are faced with, Joe ended up losing his job.
The rent was paid through April 30, 2012. We were fortunate that I was able to pay it ahead 3 months. Joe had gallbladder surgery on April 7th and was out of work for 4 weeks for recovery. He went back to work for three days and then had issues with his back so had to be out again for about a week. Then, he was scheduled to go back to work that following Monday. However, that is when the issues with Mikayla came about. So, he was told that we both had to stay home with her to make sure she didn't self-harm. Well, that cost him his job. So, because of all the financial loss, we were unable to pay the full rent on May 1, 2012. I made partial payments in May and only had $120 left to pay for the month. I made a payment of $85 to help bring the balance down. Well, they tacked on a $50 late feel so that brought it up to $170.50. So, they say we still owe $85.50 for May. Then, because he was now out of work and I had missing time due to my FMLA, we came up short for June. I cancelled Mikayla's trip to Washington DC so I was able to get a partial refund. I was planning on paying $400 for the rest of May's rent and then part of June's rent. The other $300 I was going to pay off the other bills that I had.
Well, unfortunately two neighbor boys were playing with a lighter and caught the woods behind our building on fire. Josh was with them. The fire department came out and extinguished the fire. The next day I called the office to tell them about the fire, which they already knew about. They said that my file was on their desk for review. He said that because of the fire that we had to be out by July 31, 2012. He said that even before the fire occurred, they had already decided to non-renew our lease for poor payment history. He said that Josh was guilty by association and both households had to vacate the premises by the July 31st date.
Got the summons in the mail today. We have to go to court on July 10, 2012 for the financial side of it. We owe $1700, which includes the rest of May, all of June and July, plus court costs and late fees. Typically, you have ten days after the judgment is made to either move or they will formally evict you. Well, now I wonder if we have to be out by July 20th instead of July 31st. So, the stress mounts.
I have been checking the rental websites and am not having much luck. We have bad credit, poor rental history and are in severe financial distress. I really don't know what to think right now. My stomach has been in knots since all this happened on May 17th. I haven't been sleeping well, eating well or feeling any stress relief. So, today, I made a list of all of my stresses and some things we can try and do to fix the problem and possible solutions.
What we really need is for someone to give us a chance and work with us. It's going to be a long road, that's for sure.
Here is a list of my stresses (in no particular order):
Have to move by 7/20/12 or 7/31/12 (depends what court says)
Court July 10 for financial judgment
Come up with security deposit
Pay off 5 bad checks (probably about $500)
Pay $830 to DTE Energy from 4 years ago
Save money for rent
Owe $1700 for arrears in rent
Find place to live
Pack
Have a back up plan if can't find a place to live.
Changing schools for the kids
Possibility of staying in shelter/being homeless
Possibly get a storage unit to store our belongings in the event we cannot find a place to live.
Come up with money for moving truck.
Things I can do to help:
Call churches
Check Salvation Army
Call DHS for Emergency Housing Program
Ask family and friends for help
See what programs are available to me.
Some solutions:
Maybe stay with family or friends for a while until bad debts can be paid and then save money to get a new place once things are situated.
Find someone to work with us until we are back on our feet again.
Whatever happens, I want our family to stay together.
First, I realize that all things will work out in the end. I know that God is in control and that He will never give me more than I can handle. With that said, I need to talk about what's bothering me.
The last couple of years has been a roller coaster ride. We have struggled as a family unit, financially and emotionally. I have been trying to work through my crises but it seems as though it's one thing after another. I have been trying to figure out what keeps going wrong in my life. I have a good job, I have a husband, 2 kids and my family. Most importantly, I have God. You'd think with all the great things that I have that I wouldn't have to struggle as I do. A year ago, Joe spoke of legally separating and going our separate ways. It has come up 3-4 times in the last year. None of us are happy. None of us seem to have a strong, family bond. We've had issues with our daughter, Mikayla. She started having suicidal thoughts and began cutting herself. We had to put her in a treatment plan to help her. She was dealing with bullying at school. We pulled her out of school for the last month. All of this on top of the financial burdens that we are faced with, Joe ended up losing his job.
The rent was paid through April 30, 2012. We were fortunate that I was able to pay it ahead 3 months. Joe had gallbladder surgery on April 7th and was out of work for 4 weeks for recovery. He went back to work for three days and then had issues with his back so had to be out again for about a week. Then, he was scheduled to go back to work that following Monday. However, that is when the issues with Mikayla came about. So, he was told that we both had to stay home with her to make sure she didn't self-harm. Well, that cost him his job. So, because of all the financial loss, we were unable to pay the full rent on May 1, 2012. I made partial payments in May and only had $120 left to pay for the month. I made a payment of $85 to help bring the balance down. Well, they tacked on a $50 late feel so that brought it up to $170.50. So, they say we still owe $85.50 for May. Then, because he was now out of work and I had missing time due to my FMLA, we came up short for June. I cancelled Mikayla's trip to Washington DC so I was able to get a partial refund. I was planning on paying $400 for the rest of May's rent and then part of June's rent. The other $300 I was going to pay off the other bills that I had.
Well, unfortunately two neighbor boys were playing with a lighter and caught the woods behind our building on fire. Josh was with them. The fire department came out and extinguished the fire. The next day I called the office to tell them about the fire, which they already knew about. They said that my file was on their desk for review. He said that because of the fire that we had to be out by July 31, 2012. He said that even before the fire occurred, they had already decided to non-renew our lease for poor payment history. He said that Josh was guilty by association and both households had to vacate the premises by the July 31st date.
Got the summons in the mail today. We have to go to court on July 10, 2012 for the financial side of it. We owe $1700, which includes the rest of May, all of June and July, plus court costs and late fees. Typically, you have ten days after the judgment is made to either move or they will formally evict you. Well, now I wonder if we have to be out by July 20th instead of July 31st. So, the stress mounts.
I have been checking the rental websites and am not having much luck. We have bad credit, poor rental history and are in severe financial distress. I really don't know what to think right now. My stomach has been in knots since all this happened on May 17th. I haven't been sleeping well, eating well or feeling any stress relief. So, today, I made a list of all of my stresses and some things we can try and do to fix the problem and possible solutions.
What we really need is for someone to give us a chance and work with us. It's going to be a long road, that's for sure.
Here is a list of my stresses (in no particular order):
Have to move by 7/20/12 or 7/31/12 (depends what court says)
Court July 10 for financial judgment
Come up with security deposit
Pay off 5 bad checks (probably about $500)
Pay $830 to DTE Energy from 4 years ago
Save money for rent
Owe $1700 for arrears in rent
Find place to live
Pack
Have a back up plan if can't find a place to live.
Changing schools for the kids
Possibility of staying in shelter/being homeless
Possibly get a storage unit to store our belongings in the event we cannot find a place to live.
Come up with money for moving truck.
Things I can do to help:
Call churches
Check Salvation Army
Call DHS for Emergency Housing Program
Ask family and friends for help
See what programs are available to me.
Some solutions:
Maybe stay with family or friends for a while until bad debts can be paid and then save money to get a new place once things are situated.
Find someone to work with us until we are back on our feet again.
Whatever happens, I want our family to stay together.
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