Category: Family

Possibility of owning vs renting

backyard

I love owning our home vs renting, for sure. My wife and I, when we were renting, talked about the possibly of getting a bigger place and I’m all for it. But, rent costs are going up in the area and I’m not renting at $1400 mo. No way! I’ll buy a home and be over joyed to pay a mortgage of $1400 though.

When we seriously thought of buying, the inventory had been very low because of all the natural disasters that had unfortunately happened. People lost their homes and had to find a new home, so the pickings were slim.

You know, everyone wants a 3 bedroom 2 bath but the pickings were slim. My wife had a good eye on what was available and in our price range, more importantly. We both want to be close to our jobs too, I hate driving. Merriell found this 2 bedroom 1 bath in our price range so we asked our realtor to show us the house. Nice home, good bones, big lot and lots of potential. The neighborhood was pretty damn good, nice wide streets too.

We have been through this process before so timing is of the essence at making a decision/offer. Knowing that the inventory was low and somebody else could possibly out bid us first, life comes down to a few moments and this was one of them. We ultimately made an offer and it was accepted.

Renting before, we had an upstairs, single garage, 1 and a half bath, about 35′ by 40′ lot, very small and it sucked at times. Already being use to a 2 bedroom, this home is perfect for our small family. When we finally moved in and everything was put away, what we got was a ton of SPACE.

Same size living space, basically a 2 and half car garage, huge front and backyard. It’s so much better than it was. Now we have family dinners and get togethers at our place. Optional fire pit action, outdoor seating, TV, arcade games, ping pong and night time lighting. Family fun. There is still a lot of work to do to this house and we have some upgrades we would like.

warming my feet on the firepit

We’re in it to win it. Merriell and I have comeback from being down and out since 2014 and that was our choice, but we survived and we will survive the foreseeable future as well.

Thanks for reading my wonderful life experiences.

Chris Tuttle

MTB solo pic Chris Tuttle

We are buying a house soon

That is the news. Eventually, we are purchasing a house but at this time we are in the process of negotiation after spending time there while the inspectors were there.

I started to smell a pee odor as I was taking measurements. And it’s funny though, as I was hanging out doing my thing, the selling agent and I had a few moments to speak. He accidentally slipped up and said, “I don’t think they used Kilz before laying the flooring” .

So, at this time are negotiating the inspection repairs as well as come down on the price for the crappy floor job that I am going to have to do because they sure aren’t.

I have a question for everybody that reads this post, would you buy a 2 bed 1 bath 930 sqft home with a pee odor, for $186,000 in this market??? The home has brand new flooring throughout and has been painted. Move-in ready. Besides the pee odor. Would you buy? The location is off of Girvan in Redding CA.

Also, they don’t want to take care of the GCFIs(2 at a cost close to $600). Huh?? Why? I guess the agent doesn’t something else(issue)come up. Makes you wonder.

Thanks for reading.

Chris Tuttle

Trip To The Bay Area Enjoying The Cool Ocean Breeze

Went to the bay area a couple of weeks ago and visited my wife’s good friend in Walnut Creek. While we were down there we had some good times, went to “Taco Bell” beach if you are familiar with beaches in the bay area. I blew it though and didn’t get any footage of all the surfers getting it on. I really enjoyed the relaxation just chilling on the beach. I never get to do that.
So I put together a video, fast forward video to be exact. I think you’ll enjoy it. Watch my NEW VIDEO below.

That wasn’t the whole trip and I have more video so I will be making another. We took a tour through Berkeley and Telegraph area. Merriell had a Henna done on her forearm, you’ll see. Henna is a cool option for people who are not too sure about getting a real tattoo.

Also, Celia Argabright is a pretty darn good photographer. You can see her photography on her site by clicking this link.

Here is a few pics of me and my wonderful daughter, Hailey Tuttle being goofy with some awesome pizza from the Telegraph area.

Chris Tuttle Pizza
Chris Tuttle Pizza

Hailey Tuttle Pizza
Hailey Tuttle Pizza

Merriell here, had such a great visit with my best friend Celia.We need to do it more often. Going to Berkeley was very nostalgic for me as I showed my daughter around. At the end of high school my friends and I would run over here to get Blondie’s Pizza. I was very sad that it had changed names only 1 year ago, but luckily the tile out front still said Blondie’s! And getting a Henna tattoo was fun! It lasted about 9 days for me. It was a practice run. Had a great night out with food friends and family! Thank you hubby for driving us and having a short but fun mini vacation

4th Of July With My Family 2017

I love holidays. Holidays brings us all together, family and friends. It really pisses me OFF when I have to work at my stupid J.O.B. when a holiday rolls around. But thank goodness that I was able to enjoy this holiday because IT would of REALLY piss me off if I missed this moment.
Little Scarlette is so amazed at the 4th of July fireworks show.
Redding Convention Center is always a great place to enjoy the community fun. Lots of people, wise to ride a bicycle and beat the traffic.
https://imchristuttle.com

MTB Cloverdale and Piety Hill Loop, Views of Clear Creek

I went out for a ride about a week ago, looking for a certain fellow, Sasquatch Bob. Well I found him and I found some awesome trail(Cloverdale Loop)that loops. It’s a short loop so you can do it over and over again. Which I did 3 times in a row because it was THAT GOOD folks.
Anyways, I brought my son Jeremy Tuttle the other day and we started from the same start I did before which is Horsetown TH but this time around I went a different route. I went the opposite way I went the last time which lead us to the ULTIMATE DH. Cloverdale DH according to Strava.

I love Strava. I have the FREE version. With Strava you can see where you rank amongst the other riders on Strava. It’s interesting to know that after riding down the Cloverdale DH, we both ended up ranking 10TH out of 57 other riders abroad. I know we can go faster next time and that is the plan.
You need to make this your next ride. For sure.
Click here to check out my other rides.

Sacramento Zoo/Fairytale Land Family Fun Day

Such a fun time with my family. We went to the the Sacramento Zoo on a cloudy day which was not too cold or too crowded. A lot of the animals were asleep or not around, kind of a bummer, but my granddaughter who is 2 &1/2 didn’t mind. My teenager Hailey was a trooper, she must have been bored but she never let on. The prices in the cafe for lunch were crazy high but that is par for the course, no surprise.

We were able to purchase tickets for the Zoo and Fairytale Land (which is right across the street) at the same time. I thought Fairytale Land was great compared to reviews I read online beforehand. It was very spacious and the plants and grass were well taken care of. A few attractions were a bit old, but overall nice. Of course the toddler thought it was the greatest place on earth because she could run around everywhere and climb and explore!

Scarlett was great the entire day, the only time she threw a fit was when we had to leave, and that was to be expected. It is an easy trip to pull off in one day if you live in Redding, but kind of expensive, but hey what isn’t these days!
MERRIELL TUTTLE

Click on the red square with the white arrow below and enjoy the video. And after you are done watching my latest creation, share it with your friends by using the “SHARE” buttons below or if you want…. comment via FB.
Thanks for watching!

Don’t forget to walk through the rock garden before you leave, it is beautiful!