Well I changed the beach photo in the banner today because today we went to the beach and the beach was way nicer looking than the one I went to when I made this layout. The sand was whiter and it was a better view of the beach without the bridge in it. I really miss the pretty clouds that was in my original photo, but I think this one is prettier. If you can’t see the new picture try using the refresh button on your browser to view it or delete the cache.

I also took some more photos that will be added to Eden’s Garden later this year. Well I gotta go. Jeremiah is raising total hell right now so I can’t blog much right now.

Today I received my acceptance letter to start my new job at the employmentguide. I am so excited and happy! I am finally going to get a job that works with my schedule giving me my weekends to spend with my children and that pays decent along with benefits so my family can have health insurance and we won’t have to rely on the government for help. On top of that this job is something that I will love doing and I am good at!

I am really happy. Life is starting to go right for a change! After all that hard work with saving, moving, and job hunting, it’s all going to finally pay off.

I’ll be able to finally get a new car, buy my sons bunk-beds, a couch and a TV along with a bed for myself so we won’t have to sleep on just a mattress anymore.

I’m really happy and all I can do is thank God for this blessing.

Today I went in to fill out the paper work so I can get a drug test to start work. I can’t wait to start working because it sounds so exciting and I know how to do so much with the internet and site design, blogging, etc. I have so many ideas for the blog too so it can be more productive and presentable.

In a few months I’m going to ask them if I could re-design the blog so it can be their own original theme and maybe use a different blogging program like WordPress which will help optimize the blog even better because of all the plugins available with WordPress. I hope they let me design it because the template that they are using isn’t very impressive or professional. I can make it look really good.

Everything else like adding and optimizing the ads will be really easy. I gave them 2 weeks so I can get everything situated with my boys, daycare, and my current job.

I wish I could start right away because even though it’s the beginning of the month I have to have money for next month’s rent. I need $595 for the rent, $65 for the phone/internet bill and $70 for the electric. That’s $730 and right now I think I have about $200 plus my first check from work which may be about $130 leaving $400 more dollars needed. I believe it will work itself out. I just wish I got a letter saying that my name has been selected from the childcare waiting list so that wouldn’t be an issue.

If Elijah goes to after school care that will be a $30 registration fee and $48 a week ($192/month). Destin and Jeremiah will be $200 a week in an affordable childcare center costing $800 a month! That’s a lot of money even with it being affordable childcare.

Everything will work itself out. I just have to pray on it and have faith.

So now I have sometime to fill you in on some of the things that has been going on with me lately since returning to Florida. Well when I moved from Ohio I turned in my keys to Hilltop Estates and wrote them a letter asking them to send my deposit to my Moms address. When I went to get the kids I found a letter from them claiming I owe them money for October and all these items.

To break it down they claimed I owed them rent for October (I’ve been in Florida since then and my lease was up with them as of September 30th on top of them telling me they weren’t renewing my lease), they charged me $100 for a bleach stain (according to the lease that I still have a copy of a bleach stain costs $50), $200 for a cracked window (I am not responsible for and notified them of it which they never replaced. This is also suppose to be $120 according to my lease), a missing battery (There was never a battery in the alarm to begin with), $50 to clean my stove (which was clean and I have a photo to prove it…this is also a $25 charge according to my lease.)

As you can see those assholes not only falsely charged me for rent among other things but there is a significant difference in what they are charging and what I agreed to when I signed my lease. I knew it was going to come to this because of what I went through when I stayed there so I took it upon myself to keep copies of letters that I sent, received, along with my lease in case I would need them in the future.

Today I made copies of all the letters that would easily prove my case along with the copy of the lease that I signed and the part concerning the cost of items when you move out. I highlighted the things that they were charging me for, wrote them a letter and sent it certified. Here’s the letter I wrote:

October 4, 2007

To Touchstone Management:

First of all you must take me for a fool; I don’t owe you a damn dime!

My lease (which I have a copy of) states that it is up on 9/30/07. I also received a letter from you saying you weren’t renewing my lease and I had to be out by 9/30/07 (which I also have a copy of). I did just that and I’ve been living in a totally different state as of 10/01/07 which I can also prove. I do not owe you any rent money. You received last months rent (for September ‘07) when I signed the lease in October of 2006.

Secondly, I lost $200+ in groceries when your defective fridge went bad and I was never reimbursed for it (which I can also prove). I also notified you of the window being cracked that I did not break and I have a picture of it along with the letter I wrote you and you never replaced the window. On top of that according to the lease a bleach stain which I am aware of costs $50 to replace not $100. You also claimed a battery was missing from an alarm when there was never a battery in the alarm to begin with. You will not be getting that from me either. I cleaned the stove to best of my ability and took a photo of it and you think I will pay you $50 when I cleaned it. You must be out of your mind.

The above is only a taste of the evidence I have regarding your apartment and the poor standards in which it was maintained by you in regards to safety standards along with the harassment that I endured which I have well documented.

Now you have 10 days to return to me my deposit and if I don’t get it in 10 days I will be filing a law suit against you. I have enclosed copies of my evidence that I will present in court if my deposit is not received by 10/14/07.

Samara [Last name Removed]
[phone number removed]

Those idiots are really in for a rude awakening. They even had the nerve to say I have to send them $415 in 10 days. After everything I put up with along with the harassing letters, phone calls, harassing visits from maintenance, the fridge they gave me with maggots in it, etc. They still want to continue trying to give me hell.

If you aren’t up to date on what I went through in with this apartment take a look at the following posts:

• http://sweetvanillasugar.com/hilltop-estates/
• http://sweetvanillasugar.com/constant-drama/
• http://sweetvanillasugar.com/apartment-rating-10/
• http://sweetvanillasugar.com/i-hate-this-apartment/
• http://sweetvanillasugar.com/less-than-3-months-left/

As you can see I went through quite a bit with them and I don’t believe even those posts covers how much I endured from Hilltop Estates. I just know they better give me my damn deposit back or I’ll be filing a claim against them. If they keep on playing I will even go as far as having them appear on Judge Judy or Mathis along with suing them for harassment and for the groceries that I lost along with my deposit.

I got back at 5:50pm yesterday and man was it chaotic toting a toddler, infant and a 5 year-old throughout the airport. I was again praying as we took off, but Elijah was amazed by the whole experience while Destin stuffed his face with cheese crackers and Jeremiah slept.

At least my Mom was able to help me when I was in Ohio, but when I got off the airplane I was chasing Destin throughout the terminal! We then spent 20 minutes searching for my car since I was in such a hurry when I left I only remembered what floor I parked on. After that I went back to the terminal, got our luggage and came home.

My mom was of coarse panicking because she expected me to call an hour ago so I had to call her and let her know we arrived safe and sound.

Well I have to go take Jeremy to work. Today is his first day. I also have tons of things to do today which I will talk about later. I also changed the layout again. As far as navigation goes the home page, pages page and my link-me page is located in my banner. Just rollover the 3 square pictures to access these pages. Enjoy!

Well in about 40 minutes I will be leaving for Ohio to get my boys. I’m so excited that I will be able to see them and have them with me finally.

I hope I got the job at the employmentguide. That will be so awesome and things will be working out for me and my family for once. Jeremy got a great job paying $17.50, I will be making $12.50, my boys will be here with me, and life will finally be good to me and my family for once.

Oh yeah…that $100 I was blessed with was for the rent. I guess God knew I was going to need it. It was basically the exact amount I was short. I only had $500 left over and I was $95 short. So thank you God for helping me pay my rent. The timing of receiving those checks was a blessing.

Last night I had to once again chase the gecko out of the apartment for the 3rd time. This time the little guy came into my bedroom. I saw something run across they floor, but when I looked to see I didn’t see anything so I figured it was my eyes playing tricks on me. Later that night I saw the gecko on my wall so I knocked it off the wall and chased it into the bathroom and back in the hall with the broom. When I finally got him I picked him up with one of my t-shirts and carried him out my apartment.

I’m pretty sure that gecko will probably come back in here while I’m gone and I’ll have to chase him out again.

I’m so scared now about the plane ride. I hope I don’t have another panic attack.

Well today I has a 2nd interview with the employmentguide. I am suppose to be getting interviewed with another person later. Let’s just hope that this interview went well. I can’t wait to start because besides the job sounding like a great opportunity that will be exciting and all (with the opportunity to get promoted if I do exceedingly well) I need a new car. My car just keeps giving me problem after problem. For the last three days my car has been making this loud squeaking sound like something is scraping against something when I drive. I HATE THAT CAR! I hate it with a passion.

I’m am so tired of fixing that car over and over again. As soon as I work for a few months I’m getting a new car. That car is history!

I have to go to the mechanic tomorrow to see why it’s making that loud noise. Then I have to get ready to make that trip to Ohio to get my boys. I am dreading the plane ride. After riding the plane in June I really don’t look forward to doing that again. After this I will never get on a plane again.