Looks like getting a home loan is more possible than I thought =)

So Erin and I have been looking into the possibility of getting a VA home loan. I contacted the VA recently and got redirected to Quicken loans. They looked at mine and her credit and said that we aren't high enough for them to approve us for a loan, but they have a department that can help with that. So today I received the phone call from them, and although it will cost us $300-$600 for the credit repair on both of us. However, we don't have that kind of money just yet, so the representative said he would start it with one of us and half the payment, so for me to start, he'd charge me $150.00 and then when I get paid again, I could pay the other $150.00. Then we could get Erin started as soon as possible after me. He said that he estimated about 4-5 months that it'd take before we could get approved for a loan based off our credit if we started with his program. 4-5 months is a good time frame or us, and so we are moving forward with that.

a day of change

Well, a few things for ya before I have to take off. So hopefully I can type pretty fast because 1) when I came on here, it took me about 10 minutes longer than I had hoped to change some settings. Why was I changing settings on here you might ask? Well, it just felt like it was time for a change on the blog. It turned out that with school, work, and everything else, obviously it didnt work out with coming on here every single day to post 365 days of trying to improve my life. So, instead of occasionally adding another post towards the 365, and then ditching this blog and starting a regular one, I figured "why not just change my current one and make it a regular one? That way readers can see how I began for the first 90-100 posts, and then how it has evolved.

So, as you may notice, there are a few minor adjustments. 1) the url is changed to something simple, which is basically blodgettchris.blogger.com or something like that (i'm sure I typed it wrong just now, but if you look you will see. 2) I modified the title and description. So this blog is officially just my regular blog that was once a blog about trying to improve my life. Might as well.

So, to touch base quickly on something. Recently I received a job offer from this trucking company that transports refrigerated goods all across the US. They would train me, and I would be able to get experience through them. The pay is really good, potential to make over $100,000 in just a year. The catch is this. I would be gone 3 weeks at a time, home 3 days, then gone 3 weeks again. I have thought really long and hard about this, mainly because of the $ that is involved. 100k would really help us, but is it worth it? After a lot of thinking, and praying, I have come to the almost certain decision that I will pass on the job and just wait for a better offer. 1) my kids. Erin and I, I believe, could be apart that much for a year and we would be ok, but our kids? I know they would be ok, but I don't want to miss out on almost a year of their childhood. They will only be kids for so long, and so I need to take advantage of all the time I can get with them RIGHT NOW! No amount of money is worth that, unless of course someone came to me tomorrow and said "I will pay you $1,000,000 to do this job, but you will have to be apart from your family for 12 months! NO CONTACT!" It'd suck, but I think it'd be different if it were such a large amount like that, erin and I would of course talk about it, and figure that after 12 months, and having $1,000,000 in our bank account, we would buy a house with cash, own our cars, set up college funds for the girls, a really good retirement account both for me and erin, and then leave the rest in the bank to live off of. We would be set up for a loooooooooong time, if not life, and so in that case, it'd be a different story.

#2 reason is school. My dream career is to end up working in the hotel industry. My degree aims me in that direction, and I think I should continue focusing heavily on my school and getting my different degrees such as my associates, bachelors, and who knows, maybe a masters after that, but succeeding, in my opinion, would best be accomplished through my education, and I don't want to put that on hold again. Plus, I value my family time too much. With schwans, I left when Zoe was still asleep, and when I came home, she was already in bed, so it felt weird that most of the 10 months I was with schwans, zoe and I really didn't get much time together. She's so young, and growing, and I want to be there for her. So, there you have it. Have I anounced my decision? Nope. I figure, I will hold onto the offer a little bit longer, and continue thinking, but I'm pretty certain that is what I have decided. I have asked a ton of questions, and tried to get as much information as possible, but that is where I stand currently. Just means that paying off debts and stuff might take longer, but that's ok. We're young, no need to rush it.

So anyway, I have to sign off, but there you have it! Thanks for reading! Talk to you again soon!