Home Inspection

We were able to go through our house again yesterday with the home inspector.  He was really happy with the condition of the home.  He pointed out some maintenance items that we'll have to do in the next year or so, but the house looks great.  No structural problems, pests, mold, floods, etc.  :-)  The homeowner had to come inside to change his clothes during the inspection.  He was super friendly - even shared some Indian desserts with us!  We found out that his buddy actually owns the mortgage company that we're using (my broker assured me that our information is confidential).

I took lots of pictures for us, but I thought I would post them here... in case you wanted to browse through them.  I even used my camera's panoramic picture feature a few times!  Jake and I are already planning all the fun things we're going to do to our home!  If everything goes according to plan, our closing date is July 31!!!

During the inspection Scarlett went to one of my new friend's homes.  She lives really close to our house.  I'm really grateful there are awesome ladies that will live close by.  It will be so much fun!!!

After the inspection Jake, Scarlett and I went to our Broker and locked in our interest rate.  Last week the rates fell and they are super great right now!  We were so happy with the rate we got and how everything is working out.  I had faith that moving to Ford was the right decision for us, but these little tender mercies help us feel that we're in the right place.


If you are buying your first home, I would recommend Home Buying for Dummies and Mortgage Ripoffs and Money Savers.  The first book is a great overview of the process.  I also really liked the section on home inspections (make sure you find a full time home inspector who carries error and omissions insurance).  The second book is AMAZING.  Our mortgage broker keeps telling me "you must know someone in the business" and "I wish all my clients were as on top of things as you guys are."  It's all from this book.  I literally saved us ~$5000 in closing costs and ~0.5% on our rate from following her steps!  Not even kidding!  And it doesn't even take that long!  I'm sure there are more wonderful resources out there, but these worked great for me!

"Utah has Copper Mines, but...

...Michigan has Salt Mines," was what one of the union guys told me when I introduced myself on the first day in the plant. He was referring to working in the plant and I'm beginning to see what he means. This is tough!

My schedule goes like this:

4:30 pm (yes, my day begins in the afternoon) - Drive to the Dearborn Truck Plant
5:15 pm - Find a supervisor and figure out who is AWOL, so I can do their job
5:30 pm - The line starts moving
8:15 pm - Take a 20 minute break
10:45 pm - Take a 10 minute break
11:35 pm - Eat lunch, dinner, supper, midnight snack, etc. - not sure what to call that meal
12:05 am - The line starts moving again
2:00 am - Take a 22 minute break
4:00 am - Head home
4:45 am - Take a shower and go to bed (Jen put aluminum foil on our window so our room  stays dark so I can sleep until 1 pm-ish)

This schedule has definitely taken some getting used to and my hands are constantly swollen, but it does have some perks. The traffic is never bad during my commute, I only have to work 4 days a week (Tues-Fri), and the night shift guys yell fewer profanities and cat calls across the plant. Plus, this has been a very low stress job thus far. I show up on time, do the same thing 630 times, listen to an audio book, follow a dress code that includes basketball shorts and a t-shirt, and if I make a mistake it is quickly caught and fixed by a supervisor. 

Last Friday I was working with a guy. After chatting for a few hours he asked if I could give him a ride home. I asked where he lived and he said, "Detroit." Last week a couple people were shot and killed in separate car-jackings, so I wasn't excited about heading in that direction in the middle of the night. Plus, everyone I've talked to said to never go into Detroit at night, so I told him I'd be in a rush to get home.

He continued dropping hints like, "It's too bad the bus doesn't run at night", "I'm pretty new and don't know anyone on this shift,", and "I don't know how I'm going to get home." I finally gave in and told him I could drive him home. On the way he asked me to stop so he could pick up some cigarettes. He suggested I park right next to the door of the gas station, so the security cameras would be on me. When we got to his place he told me his buddy had been "jacked" a block down the road, so he would jump out of the car as soon I stopped and let me drive off as quick as possible. Long story short, I dropped him off and got the heck out of there.

The chassis and bodies come in on separate lines.

I work on the trim line attaching various pieces to the body like antenas, grommets, wire holders, and A/C pressure lines.

The bodies sit on lifts that can be adjusted to each worker's height, so their backs don't get too sore; they still get sore, though.

Between 2 shifts the plant builds around 1300 trucks a day.

Taboo Condiments

So for father's day Jake and I thought it would be fun to send our dads some stuff from Michigan.  We found a super cute little boutique that sells Made in Michigan stuff.  Apparently Michigan is known for their cherries!  Delicious!  There was a whole section dedicated just to cherry jam.  We hunted through all the jars, determining what was the best value per ounce (they weren't cheap!)  We found a jar that seemed like the best bang for the buck.  So we bought 3.  One for Jake, one for Dad Seaver, and one for Dad Glauser.   Then we shipped the jar and other MI goods to Utah.  Since the jam was in a glass jar it had to be bubble wrapped and sent UPS.  Again, not cheap.  But we didn't care - it looked so delicious and (I thought) a fun idea.

Well, yesterday the packages finally arrived at their destinations.  Jake's dad called to say thanks... even though he was a little confused at the Brandied Cherries.  What?!?  Apparently the "jam" we purchase was actually cherries in a 5% alcohol brandy!!!!!  We weren't even paying attention!  And the cashier didn't ask for id (do you have to?)

Anyways... sending our dad's expensive alcoholic treats isn't even the worst part!  Nor is it even the fact that Jake and I had sampled the cherry "jam" over the weekend on some toast (I do recall thinking - wow, this doesn't taste that great for being jam).  No...... the worst part definitely is the fact that we put this jam on the table for our big Father's Day dinner (see post below) with our friends and THE SISTER MISSIONARIES!!!  Oh my heck!  Luckily Krista's rolls were so good that no one dived into the "jam" or even the butter.  But I have no idea if they were paying attention and noticed that we were trying to serve them taboo condiments.

Another shining moment for the two enginerds.  I guess book smarts really doesn't equal street smarts.

Side note: I would like to vent a pet peave of mine.  I went to a RS activity this week at the park.  It was 7pm and still 90degF outside.  It was HOT!  I started telling a friend how I couldn't believe how hot it was.  Another lady overheard and, knowing that I just moved here, said "You have noooo idea.  This is nothing.  You just wait.  The humidity is nothing compared to Utah."  Really?  Really?  Really lady?  I have nooooo idea?  I actually have a great deal of an idea - having lived on the East Coast for 2 years AND spent an entire summer in Michigan.  And guess what lady - it was a record high that day.  So ya, I think I am justified in saying that it was hot.  Sheesh!  

PS - Don't forget to check out my 3 posts I wrote last night (below)!

Offer Accepted!

WE BOUGHT A HOUSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, at least we have a signed purchase agreement.  We're now in the home inspection/mortgage loan phase.  SO EXCITING (and super stressful)!

We have been home shopping since we decided to move to Michigan.  We decided to move out here before making any decisions, so right now we're in a 3 month lease with the option to go month-to-month if we need to.

First we found a realtor (recommended from the Quicken Loan guy I was talking to).  And she seems to know her stuff.  She's owned her own company for 30 years.  Plus - she's from Canton... so she knows everything about this city.

Next we decided to focus our search only in Canton.  It is a lovely city with all the amenities we were looking for (Hobby Lobby, etc!)  It has 2 fabulous WalMarts, tons of new shopping centers, great library, beautiful parks, amazing ward, and tons of Ford employees.  The resale of our home someday down the road will be easy here - the houses go fast.

I noticed that no one has a fence in their yard out here.  The HOAs prohibit it.  But since the city doesn't snow plow the neighborhoods, you need HOAs to organize all that stuff.  Bummer!  I really really really wanted a yard with a fence.  The only way around that rule is if you have a pool.  If you are all familiar with me, you'll understand a pool is one of the last things I want to spend money on.  I was really upset at this - it really made me at odds with Michigan.  But I'm over it.  It's just the way it is out here.  I will figure something out...

The next problem we ran into was the HOAs don't let you park trailers outside on your property.  So that narrowed our search down to only homes with 3 car garages.

After that, the search got pretty easy.  There are only a limited number of homes in our price range, with 3 car garages, in Canton, that are new construction.

Last Friday we went and saw a home on Stanton Street.  We had been in several other homes in the same development, so we knew what the floor plan would be.  But this house has been really well taken care of.  It's a married couple without kids, non smokes, no animals (as best as we could tell).  They are really tidy and have taken care of the home.  Our realtor pointed out all the upgrades they put into the home.  Plus they had all the options that we liked.  We were really impressed with the condition of it.  We drove by it the next day and we saw the homeowner outside fixing the plastic curbing around their garden.  I appreciate their attention to detail and fixing the small things.

So we looked at a bunch of other comparable homes to find a fair price.  We found out that they haven't had any offers yet (since beginning of April).  So we decided to put in an offer that was reasonable, but pretty low.  They counter-offered as we expected, but not as high as we thought they would!  We felt like the price was really great bang for the buck!  So we took it!

These pictures are off the web.  I will take some of my own this week when we get it inspected.

Built in 2002.  2350 sq feet.  approx 0.3 acre lot.
Main floor: kitchen, family room, living room, laundry room, half bath, 3 car garage, back deck with hot tub
2nd floor: 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms
basement: unfinished (but they painted the concrete floor so it's not scary down there)

  

 

Father's Day

Well, I can't speak for Jake - but Scarlett and I had a great Father's Day! ;-)

We went to the Canton Liberty Festival to watch the fireworks.  Scarlett spent most of her time on Jake's lap, Eric's lap, or following Sadie around.  

Side note: our friends from Provo (the Peery Family) are at Ford this summer for an internship - yay!  We have many strange connections.  I went to high school with Krista, I was on the FSAE team with Eric, they were in my parent's ward, now Eric is in the MBA program!  They are soooooo much fun and I'm so glad we get to spend the summer with them.  Plus Scarlett loves Sadie and Hannah (well, at least she loves their toys)!

BYU FSAE June 2006.  Eric is wearing the black SAE hat.  And I'm... well... I'm pretty hard to spot in this picture.

On Father's day we had delicious lunch of SpongeBob macaroni.  Scarlett loves her high chair - even when there's no food!

These two lounged around while I cooked.

The sister missionaries introduced themselves to me after church.  While we were talking I asked what their plans were for dinner - they had none!  And on Father's Day!  So I invited them over (luckily I had a huge pot roast already cooking in the crock pot)!  It was so wonderful to feel their special spirits in our home.  They said this was their first dinner with Jello!  Can you believe that?!?!  :-)

The kiddos had to eat on the floor.  Do you like the little "tables"?

I'm so blessed to have my best friend as my husband and the father of my children.  Jake is so wonderful, funny, motivated, easy-going, trustworthy, kind, hard-working, and amazing.  He is such a great daddy and we love him so much!!!

Also - shout out to our dad's!  Jake and I are both very lucky to have wonderful fathers who are great examples to us.  We love you both!!!!!!!!!!!!

sCARLett wants to be just like her Grumple:

Twice now Scarlett has fallen asleep in her high chair while we were eating lunch.  It's hilarious!

I thought I would add these videos just to prove that Scarlett does more than just sleep in Michigan (yes Mary, these are for you!)

Ford Fusion

One of the perks when you work for a car company is ... can you guess ... CARS!  

Jake gets employee pricing on purchases and leases.  So we did some number crunching.  There were awesome deals on 2012 Fusions, plus he got a car voucher when he signed with Ford.  So... we are leasing a 2012 Fusion for less than the depreciation value of the car!  What a fun (and affordable) way to drive the latest and greatest Fords!

The dealerships only lease out high trim packages.  So this Fusion is fully loaded.  Rain sensing wipers, SYNC, backup camera (that is integrated in the rear view mirror), V6, Sony sound system, BLIS traffic alert (blind spot detection), SiriusXM radio, Easyfuel capless system, adjustable color instrument panel lighting, keyless entry, and so much more!  Jake's commute just got a whole lot more luxurious!

I have a feeling that the Durango will "mysteriously" stop working in the near future.  Oops!  Oh well....  I guess I should start shopping for my new Ford too!  ;-)

Talk to the Hand

If you ask a true Michigander where they live - they'll whip out their palms to show you their relative location.  I'm not kidding, it's seriously what people do!  Jake said on his mission he saw lots of Wisconsinites do the same thing!  The "mitten" states!  :-)

         

Other Michigan observations:

• People from the upper peninsula are called "Yoopers" (you-pers)
• They say their a's different here, ie: they have accents (aik-sents)
• You can get an enhanced drivers license to cross back and forth into Canada.  There is an underwater tunnel that connects Detroit to Windsor, Canada.
• The humidity is nice!  Yes, some days it is really muggy and foggy with water in the air.  But most days it's just nice.  I like the way my skin feels - and my eyeballs!  Plus we don't have as many boogies!  (TMI?)
• There are American cars EVERYWHERE.  When you'd see a Honda Civic in Utah, here you'd see a Ford Focus.
• There are amazing cars on the freeway!  I'm so used to seeing family-friendly and economical cars, but in Michigan people love their cars.  They spend money on their cars.  They pimp their cars.  It's fantastic!  Everyday is a like a car show!  Carolyn: I know you're missing it - come visit!
• Since they are car people - they do car stuff right: wide lanes, lighted street signs, fast speed limits (45 where Utah would have 35), extra street signs before the intersection, and the Michigan Left.
• The Michigan Left, or as I like to call it "the hook", is a more efficient way to keep flow moving through an intersection.  So to go left, you first have to turn right, then there are 2 left turn lanes (more like U-turn lanes).  Many times they have there own light, but you can still turn on a red if it's clear.  

We're really liking it here - all 2 weeks so far!  It seems to be a perfect blend of Utah and Connecticut.  Yes, there are some things we miss (all you loved ones) but whenever I feel somewhat down I remember what my Mother-In-Law told us:

Bloom where you're planted!

The Ward

So last Sunday was our first encounter with our new ward (the Sunday before was Stake Conference... which we slept through... but honestly we were planning on going.  anyways...)  The ward is great!   The people were super friendly and excited to have new families in the ward.  It's a good sized ward too.  The chapel and small overflow (the carpeted area before the gym) were pretty full.

We got 3 dinner invitations for that night.  I wanted to go to all 3, but decided I need to start cutting back on the Cals, so we just went to one.  Hopefully the other families will still have us over...

The ward seems super on top of stuff.  The RS Presidency came to visit me this afternoon - and they brought yummy homemade bread!  Plus the directory lady took pictures of us and already has them uploaded on LDS.org!  Scarlett wasn't too happy when she took these (we had just figured out naps with 1pm church... it will take us awhile to adjust to this 9am church schedule).

Since it was testimony meeting we got introduced to several members of our new ward (mostly children).  One lady got up and spoke about her physical trials she's been through and what she's learned from them.  The she said someone asked her if she would go through them again if she had to.  She replied "damn right I would".  hahahahahahahahaha!  I had to turn to Jake to double check I heard her right!  I think I'll fit in just fine here ;-)

During Sacrament meeting we sat by a darling blond gal.  Scarlett was super friendly and kept touching her legs (she's usually not so warm to strangers).  I think I figured it out: the girl looks like Aunt Jami!  Poor little Scarlett was just missing her big baby! <3

There are lots of Ford employees in the ward (yay!)  And randomly... lots of podiatry doctors here for their 2 year residency (apparently the hospital here is like super amazing at taking care of people's feet).  Jami: I understand if this little piece of information deters you from wanting to visit us... but I urge you to reconsider.  I bet they've all washed their hands multiple times between touching feet and coming to church.  


Jake took Scarlett in the hall during Sunday School so she could run around since she was being disruptive in class.  While they were out there Scarlett just happened to wander over to the nursery room (I swear she has "bubble" radar!)  When they were over there playing, all the nursery kids came filing out of the classroom holding onto a long piece of string.  One little girl in the front spotted Scarlett, she let go of the string and exclaimed "A NEW FRIEND!!!" then she ran over the Scarlett and gave her a huge hug (almost knocking her over in the process!)  The teacher gathered the little girl and all the nursery kids proceeded to walk down the hall.  As they passed Scarlett they each waved and said "hi" to her!  How cute!  I'm so excited for her.  We'll start taking her there next Sunday - hopefully in 3 months she'll be totally fine being there without us *fingers crossed!*

For the record... this was the first time in a long time that I introduced myself WITHOUT mentioning that I am an engineer.  I'm still adjusting to my new role as stay-at-home mommy.  I am so grateful for this opportunity, but it definitely is a sacrifice (as you all know).  I just need to transition over to new things that identify who I am.  Am I the PTA mom?  The runner mom?  The crafty mom?  The soccer mom?  So many options... maybe I'll try them all!

Ford-et About It!

So, for my first month at Ford I will be working in their Dearborn Truck Plant where they make all the F-150's except for the King Ranch edition, which is built in Kentucky. The majority of the week was spent in orientation classes that were pretty boring. Because I'm in the factory I had to be there at 6:00 am, which meant waking up at 4:30am to get there on time. Needless to say I found myself nodding off quite a bit. Finally, on Friday I went to work on the line building trucks.

Working with the union guys was definitely different than working in an office. Every HR policy about what is appropriate behavior at the workplace went out the window real quick. As I was being shown to my work station it was like a scene from any prison movie you've ever seen. People were shouting things like, "Fresh meat!" and "You won't last a week!" 

Before going to the line I was told to be careful what I say to the union workers in order to avoid a lot of harsh treatment. I tried my best to not let them know that I'm a salary worker who actually has a desk job. However, within the first hour they had looked me over and figured out that I wasn't "one of them". At that point they kept joking about having a nark in their midst. The union actually has a pretty good relationship with Ford, so they weren't too mean. In fact there hasn't been a strike since 1976.

My job was to install pins to hold the heat shield to the bottom side of the hood (round, black circles in the picture). After doing this about 600 times in 10 hours I had a bit more respect for the hard work the union guys do!

I move to a new shift and new job this week, I'll keep you posted once I figure out what I'll be doing.  In the meantime, I need to go buy some comfy shoes!

The Great Smoke Out

Saturday morning at 10am we heard a high pitched beeping.  Jake tracked the sound to our office and started trying to reset the smoke detector.  A few seconds later all the smoke detectors started going off.  It was LOUD!!!

Neither of us were dressed so we threw on clothes, grabbed the baby, our purse/wallets, and our wedding rings and headed out the door.  Our neighbors were also filing out of their front doors.  No one knew what was going on - there was no smoke/fire/obvious issue.  So one of our neighbors called maintenance.  They guy came over and after 30 min or so was able to override the system and turn it off.  I had a nice time chatting with my new neighbors and getting to know them (I think we might be the only white people in our complex).

We went back inside (we were melting out there - it's been in the 90s this week - so sticky!).  As we started to eat breakfast we heard beeping from upstairs.  Jake went up and sure enough the office was still yelling at us.  So we had the maintenance guy come back to take a look at our smoke detector.  He was stumped.  Since it is hard wired you can't just take the battery out (that was his first suggestion to us... classic).  He was on the phone with some other guys trying to figure it out.  He would walk outside and fiddle with the box, but nothing helped.  Finally he shut down the entire building's smoke detector system, but the beeping didn't stop!?!?!?!  Finally he and Jake were able to track the sound to one of our boxes.  Inside was a carbon monoxide detector with a dying 9V battery.

We apologized for making him come over on a Saturday and sent him off with a Diet Dr. Pepper.  He said not to worry - that he didn't have anything to do, he lives in the complex, and he gets double overtime on Saturdays.

After he left, Jake told me that he realized that when the carbon monoxide sensor originally went off and he was fiddling with the smoke detector in our office - he must have triggered the system for the whole building!  Oops!!!!!  Let's keep this as our little secret!

For two engineers, we sure have issues with smoke detectors!

You Might Be a Redneck If...

Welcome to our new home!  When we first walked through it was super muggy, everything was squeaky/creaky, and you could smell a faint hint of tobacco smoke when we walked in the door.  But after a week of unpacking it's starting to feel more like home (though we're pretty motivated to find a house ASAP!) 

The kitchen

True redneck decorating!  And since the move we haven't been able to find the legs to her high chair... boo!  Since it's their fault I think they'll have to buy us a new one.

The scary basement.  I'll admit I try to get outta there as fast as I can when I'm doing laundry.  It just gives me the creeps!  When we moved in we found out that there are only hookups for a gas dryer - so we've been hang drying all our clothes.  Which is fine... just not ideal.  It takes a full 24 hours for them to dry in this humid air.  And I am not a fan of crunchy socks.  Only a few months...

Living room

Yes, I plan on using the treadmill... at least once.  Jake said it feels like a mission apartment, especially since I hung a huge map on our wall!  :-)

Upstairs bathroom (there's a half bath on the main floor)

Scarlett's room

Our room (with a nice walk in closet)

The office/everything else I don't want to unpack/extra boxes/luggage/winter clothes/scrapbook/baby gear/storage room

Back patio.  Michiganders don't really feel backyard fences are important - so everyone can walk right up to our sliding door.  Not a fan.  But at least the back lawn glitters with fireflies at night.  :-)

Luckily we live right next to the park.  So we've been making good use of it.

It's an alright park.  Lots of trash and junk littering the ground.  Random graffiti everywhere.  And they took the slides off the kiddie playground.  As you can see in this pic, there are just huge holes.  Unsafe!  So we've spent most of our time crawling all over the big kid set and swinging.

The other day there was a teenager and her little 6 year old cousin that came to play with us.  The 6 year old girl yelled to her cousin "hey!  look what I foun'!" (it was one of those poles you can slide down)
teenager: "we call that a fireman's pole"
6 year old: "you call it a fireman's po', I call it a strippin' po'" !!!  hahaha