Its been a long time since I last wrote. When you hear all the things that have been going on you'll understand why its taken so long.
STS-131 Launch of Space Shuttle Discovery trip to Florida
At the beginning of April Ryan and I had the opportunity to head south to Florida with my Mom, Dad, and brother Korey to see one of the last space shuttle launches to ever happen. History in the making. A little background to this story: In December of 1985 the Kubacki family were in Florida for a trip to Disney World when my mother caught wind that the Space Shuttle Columbia would be launching. So we headed to Kennedy Space Center to watch the launch (STS-61-C).. Long story short.. some how, someway we ended up at a VIP launch viewing area. we could see the shuttle all lit up on the pad ready to go. I can't explain or describe the excitement of that countdown waiting for the shuttle to blast into the sky and we had a front row seat. We went through all the holds and finally the count down continued... 20..19..18..17..16..15..14... and then the words count down on HOLD. We waited and waited and waited.. This particular mission was riddled with problems History of STS-61-C click the link to see all the problems. So for 25 years its been a dream to see a shuttle launch. With only 5 left (at the time) we made the trip.
So it was a 9 hour drive from Raleigh to Titusville FL. Thankfully, we took breaks (thanks Mom and Dad) and didn't try to make it all in one night. We did some sight seeing on Saturday spent some time on the beach and int he ocean which Ryan absolutely loved, and then back to the Kennedy Space Center Visitors Center to view the launch of Discovery at 6:21am. Ryan was a trooper the entire trip (I was really scared that the trip was going to be a disaster with him melting down for many reasons). Anyway, we arrived at the KSC VC at 11:00pm to get a great spot to see the launch. So imagine sitting in your camp chairs from 11pm waiting for 6:21am and a couple of thousand other people trying to see the same. Not much sleep happens, although we brought Ryan a sleeping bag, put it on the ground, got him in it, and he was the only one that got a good nights sleep (which was bad in a very specific respect, more in a sec).. so in between some cat naps and getting some hot coffee at 5:55am I woke Ryan up.. We were in for a special treat the Internation Space Station would fly directly overhead and be visible just before the shuttle launched that morning. That was exciting... and then they started the count down.. You can watch my video of this event (8 minutes long but well worth it) STS-131 Launch. Again.. I can not explain or describe exactly how I felt when it went up although I think you might get a good idea if you listen to the audio of the launch. What an incredible experience.. Mom and Dad made this possible for Ryan and I to go so we can't thank them enough.. They have given us so much.
So back to that little issue of Ryan getting a good nights sleep.. The intent was to go back to the campground and get a couple of hours of sleep after the launch.. We stayed at Jetty Park Campground ( Jetty Park CG ) which is a really nice campground.. I wish we had some time there. So we get breakfast and head back to the campground and I can tell that Ryan is beginning to get ready for the day. We all attempted to take a 'NAP' but there was no way Ryan was down with that.. I think I laid my head down for an hour at th emost and Ryan was ready to eat and get the day started. Bad planning.. Not good.. We got through it though. We headed back that morning drove straight through and arrived at 9:30pm. Everyone is still speaking to one another so I say it was a great trip..
Here are some pics: Enjoy!
Dad and Ryan -Space Cadets
Grandma and Ryan Jetty Park Beach
This is taken early.. Notice Ryan crashed out, I should have done the same
Space Shuttle Discovery just coming over the treeline
If you would like to view all of my pictures here are the links:
OK so if you are still reading..All that in just one weekend... WOW what an experience....
New House updates.
What a damned roller coaster... We thought that selling the house was stressful, this whole process has more than its share of stress. So we entered into this trying to get 100% financing through the USDA program... We did all the paperwork and we were ready to go. Then the appraisal for the house came through. The appraisal came in almost $10k less than we are under contract for... SHOCKED? is not even a word that covers what we were.. So what do we do now?? Well the builder is just as shocked as we are. The builder suggests to Susan that we apply for another loan at a different bank to get another appraisal.. The catch as she is talking to this rep at 3pm on a Friday, the apolication needs to be done by 5 pm becuase the USDA financing program ends that day they suggest getting that application in the same day in 2 hours. I believe that is the first time I have heard my wife use an expletive that starts with a "f" since we have been married. So that didn't happen and for good reason. The builder gets an "independent" appraiser to appraise the house. That appraisal comes in approx $2500 over our contract price.. So Susan and I decide that its time to try the VA loan route. Same bank, different appraiser, so again we wait, and wait, and wait. Finally this Friday the appraisal is ready... It comes in $2,000 more than the original appraisal and ~$7,500 less than our contract price. So they are having a meeting on Monday to discuss it and we should know more on Monday morning.. Rumor has it that the builder wants to pull all the appliances to try and get close to the difference in price.. We will update as soon as we know. But it does appear that we will definitely close on our new dream home. It looks awesome.. they are putting the finishing touches on it and getting it ready for inspections.. We are very tired (very very very tired in this process) and excited at the same time.
Follow this link Latest House PIcs and Kids Together Outing. to see the most recent pictures of the house as well as our outing for the Kids Together Family Fun event.. We joined up with some other Jaycee families and close friends to raise money for this worth cause and then we grilled out.. We really had a blast.. We are looking forward tot he next event.
So this is it for now.. Ryan and I start YMCA T-ball next week... It should be interesting.. and I am sure that there will be plenty of pictures...
Take care until next time.
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