That's a wrap

Well its bittersweet but its time to sell the house. We got a denial letter from our loan company. No loan modification for us and instructions to stop asking. I only have submitted my packet to them 3 times over the last 2 years. Am I annoying them or something? The nerve!

We applied for a principal reduction through Keep Your Home California as instructed by Guild our loan company. We qualified for $50,000 (yes 50 g's) with the hopes that Guild would match the offer. Since they denied the $50 from KYHC and are not going to match or work with us at all I'm giving up. I think its because we have not defaulted on payments. I mean why would they reduce the principal amount of the loan when its not in default. They would be shooting themselves in the wallet.

So on the market it goes. If we honestly thought that this house would be worth anywhere near what we owed before this baby was in High School we would keep it. But since our neighbors are all bailing out I'm scared who is going to move in. Comparable houses are listed for $170,000 less that what we owe. There are vacancies and its starting to look pretty run down around here. We are in a nice little Historical District pocket but the gang activity surrounding us is too much to deal with. When the ghetto birds are hovering so low they wake up the baby I think its time to move.

Sad, we love this house. Blood, sweat and tears this house. But its older than shit and needs a lot more repairs than we ever did.

So long bloggers. I wish you luck. I hope the new owners get a smokin' deal and keep on fixing her up.

Pour one out for my homies.
peace out-
Sasha

Do over

A little better pictures than the last time...

summer recipies

Here are a few from my favorite magazine. The Heirloom Gardener.

Putting it up

Summer is in full swing at our house. Squash, beans, tomatoes. Its all coming in. We are eating it as fast as we can and I'm packing the freezer.

Made Summer Garden Ratatouille the other day and put a few quarts in the freezer. This will be amazing on some pasta this winter. I grilled the squash, zucchini and eggplant first then added it to the pot with everything else. Threw the beans in last and turned off the heat. Its cooked enough to blend all the flavors but not cooked all the way down. That way when I heat it back up it will finish up cooking the rest of the way. Yum!! Its all about saving summer.

Apricot Chicken

Apricots are in season and thanks to my friend Aliye and Sergio we have been swimming in them. Last night I made apricot chicken with some happy birds from New Frontier Family Farm.

I marinated it in garlic, lemon juice, finely chopped onion and the apricot glaze. To make the glaze I cooked the apricots in a little bit of honey, brandy and butter. Once the apricots cooked down I removed the pits and threw in the blender. The chicken sat in a ziplock in this mixture for a few hours. Then I baked it in the oven at 425 for about 45 minutes. It was not quite done so I covered in foil and popped it back in the oven to finish cooking. Yum!

These are the people in my neighborhood

While walking back from the most ghetto post office I have been to, worse than south LA! I saw this awesomeness happening in my neighbors front window.

Pictures didn't come out too clear. I'll get you another shot. Its too good to miss.

Baby Rockets

I was thinking of shutting down this blog because I thought I was not working on my house anymore. But once I started to look around I realized, um...we still work on this house. What was I thinking.

I ordered some wall decals from Blik thanks Erica for sending me the link. I was looking everywhere for something fun and couldn't find anything. This site has great stuff, we got the rocket ships. Once baby can focus his eyes I hope he enjoys them.