The past few weeks have been really stressful.
We closed, we moved, Brandon went to Boston (and I didn't sleep), he came home, we laid sod, tried to deal with some issues with the house and yard and homeowner's insurance, I interviewed for a job, I helped planned a party for all the kids at school, and now I'm training for a new position while simultaneously trying to finish up all the things in the library for the end of the year.
Most of the time, I thrive on stress. It kicks me into high gear and I love the adrenaline rush it gives me. I have the drive to get stuff done so I can relax and do my thing.
And sometimes, I feel like I'm spread too thin. Like no matter what I do with my day or with my life, I will end up disappointing someone, and I hate that. At work, between the growth party, the library and my new position, I barely have time to go to the bathroom. If you know me well at all, you know that I love food and will always make time to eat. Last week I didn't eat lunch twice; that's a big deal. Ha.
On very very very rare occasions, the stress is so overwhelming that I can't handle it and I end up crying in the bathroom at work. Yesterday was one of those days.
I'm sorry that you have to read this not-so-exciting/informative post. But when I'm stressed, I write, and I finally have some time during my day to just breathe, so this is how I'm using it.
The majority of people might say "this is adult life. you are busy and sometimes your head falls off but you just have to deal with it." But I like my head properly secured on my body, and I like having time to live and actually enjoy life, not just going through the daily motions of being an "adult." So here I am, trying to figure out what the heck I'm doing with my life and what is going to make me happiest and most successful (in my own views) as a human. I've gone through like seven different life scenarios in the last ten minutes, so if someone wants to just tell me what to do and provide the means to do it all, please do.
THANKFULLY, there are good things.
First of all, we adore our house. And the fact that it's ours. We laid so much sod a few weeks ago that I wanted to die, but it is so fun looking out the back window window and seeing grass!!! We bought a firepit over the weekend and got to enjoy smores in our own backyard. I really just love it. And the area we live in is so fun too; we are just half a mile away from a fun park with a pond and a playground and pavilions with tables and all the best things. And I just keep thinking about how, if I wanted to, we could have Thanksgiving at our house this year. THIS IS NOT AN INVITATION. I'm just saying it could happen if we wanted it to.
Second of all, our best friends from Utah came to visit us over the long weekend and we had the best time. They got here Friday night, and we spent the whole weekend eating too much food, laughing too much, and talking and just being happy. We never get tired of hanging out with each other and I love that no matter how many days we spend together it just doesn't seem like enough. They found a house down the street from ours that they love, and seriously just thinking about them living so close to us makes me die (in a good way). What a dream that would be!!! We were sad to see them leave on Monday, but we will see them again soon!!
Thirdly, I got offered the registrar position at the school I work at currently. I am very excited to be more involved in the school, and show everyone exactly what I'm made of. I started learning things a few months ago when I first told the current registrar that I was planning to apply, and I will continue training until about two weeks after school ends. There is a lot to learn, but I feel confident that the job and I are a good fit for each other, and I am so dang excited!
A few random, happy things.
--Yesterday we got the movie Paddington for $5. It's cute. If you haven't seen it yet, you should.
--Jurassic World comes out in a few weeks and I am ridiculously excited about it.
--We went to Costa on Friday (because when aren't we at Costa) and my baby bro was there eating with his friends. The look on his face when I started waving excitedly was priceless. I love embarrassing him.
--Football season is coming right up and I can't wait. It's actually embarrassing how much I am looking forward to all the games we plan to attend/watch. I'd rather not talk about it.
--I got to see my best friend on Monday and meet her little baby and I love him. He just kept crying, so he might hate me, but I don't even care. I will love him forever.
--The fact that Paddington is at the top of my list is hilarious. I swear, these are in no specific order.
--I have eight books on hold at the public library and three at home already. Life is good.
--I'm making cookies today. Again.
--Other than the fact that most of my hair has fallen out in the last few weeks, I am very happy.
Thursday, May 28, 2015
Monday, May 11, 2015
maximum exhaustion.
If you don't have a lot of time, or don't care to read a bunch of rambling mumbo jumbo, I highly recommend skipping to the very last page of the post. I will not be held accountable for any feelings of resentment you have toward me for wasting your time with words.
Monday last week was Brandon's birthday!!! He turned the big 2-7, and we celebrated the best we could with the limited time we had. I made him sticky buns for breakfast on his birthday, and thankfully they actually turned out well considering I had never made them before. We both had to go to work that day, but I leave a few hours before Brandon, so he took a nap between when I left and when he had to leave. After work we went to Main Street Burger for dinner. It was our first time there and it was really good! Then we went mini-golfing and Brandon won (he says I let him win, but really I just suck at mini golf). To finish the night off right, we got Coldstone with my family, then went back to the apartment so Brandon could open presents. It was a great day!
The following morning things were a bit hectic. We were supposed to close on our house at 9:00 that morning, but the night before we had gotten an email from our realtor that they hadn't received the documents from the bank yet, so our closing might be pushed back. I went to work for a little bit, then we got an email from her saying that we were still on for 9:00. We went and signed the papers, which was the easiest part of the entire home-buying process. Then it was back to work for a day filled with waiting! We had loaded both of our cars up with boxes on Monday afternoon, so after work on Tuesday I went to pick up our keys, then went straight to the house to unload my car. Then went home, loaded up the car again, went to the house, unloaded, and waited for Brandon to show up. Along with his carload of boxes, he brought Costa Vida so that we could properly celebrate our first night being homeowners. After we unloaded his car and ate dinner, we loaded up his car again and took it out to the house. That night we took our all the boxes that we had packed up already. We felt so good, and like we were getting so much done!!
And then Wednesday came.
After work on Wednesday, I went home and loaded up my car again with all sorts of smallish random things that I could fit. I packed it up in an hour and only fell down the stairs once, so I consider that an accomplishment. Took all those things to the house, then went back home to have dinner ready for Brandon, then we went to my parents' house to borrow their ladder and vehicle. When we got to the house, we realized that we left them our car keys, so we didn't have the key to our house. So we had to drive back to their house, get the keys, and then finally we made it out to the house. We then attempted to install the garage door opener (and by we I mean Brandon). Apparently, the box didn't come with all the things we needed, so we only got so far, but it still was quite the process! While Brandon worked on that, I started unboxing a few things and we stayed for as long as Brandon could work on the garage door opener.
On Thursday, I went home and packed up all of our clothes, and took as many bags/suitcases as I could down the stairs in one trip. Then I went to my parents house to load up a dresser that we were storing there, and to take apart our old bed that they had been using as a guest bed. Highlight of the whole week: my mom had made chocolate chip cookies, and I so desperately needed them amongst all the stress of moving. After that, I went home just in time to meet Brandon. We carried a few more loads down the stairs and filled my car to the brim, stopped at McDonald's, and then went to the house to unload and finish installing the garage door opener. And he did it!! I am so impressed with him. He put in a garage door opener all by himself!! Although, unless you have a Brandon, I don't recommend doing it on your own. It's the worst process.
I took the day off on Friday to move. My mom met me out at the house at 9:00 that morning, and we started unpacking things from the boxes. Around 11:30 we went to meet Brandon to get the moving truck, and my mom was the super best and picked up Jimmy John's for the three of us on the way back to the apartment. After we ate, we started loading things into her expedition. My baby bro was kind enough to dedicate some of his school time and his entire afternoon/evening to help us move, so he showed up right as my mom and I were finishing loading the expedition. Not too long after we got to the house, Lowe's showed up to install the fridge!! It's ridiculous how excited I was about it, but boy was I excited.
We went back to the apartment to load the Uhaul. Adrian helped me carry all the heavy things, and my mom made so many trips up and down the stairs carrying all the random things. I can't even describe enough how thankful I am for those two and all their help. We ended up getting everything packed except the 5 heaviest objects in the apartment. They had to leave for a little bit, but Adrian came back to the apartment right after Brandon got home, and those two carried the last heavy pieces downstairs. We got some Panda Express to take out to the house with us (priorities) and ate our dinner on the kitchen floor. When we started to unload the truck it was 8:00, and around 9:00, Adrian left to go hang out with friends, and all Brandon and I had to carry in were the couches. We killed the unloading part of the day! Brandon put together the bed, we went back and picked up the final cargo (the cats), and spent our first night in our brand new home.
Saturday and Sunday were spent unboxing things and getting things settled. We woke up early and had to take the moving truck back, but then were working steadily on the house until about 4:00. We were gifted with a surprise visit from our best friends, and even though it was short, it was the best part of the whole day! We even showed them the house next door where they could live if they wanted to! (Alyssa, Brandon and I decided we will personally pay for the upgrade to the large tub if you'll just move here already!!) After they left, we went to Lowe's and bought blinds and a lawn mower. Brandon installed the blinds that night while I unpacked more things. It was a very productive day and we were both exhausted by the end of it!
Yesterday was a great Mother's Day! We went on a short hike with my family to a secluded waterfall, then stopped for Dairy Queen on the way home. Once Brandon and I were home, I finished the laundry while he set up the lawn mower and mowed the freaking lawn. This kid is a champion, I tell ya. I am so happy to have him and his dedication. We were able to chat with his youngest brother who is on a mission, and then it was back to Lowe's/Home Depot for home things. We bought more blinds, and also an unfinished cabinet for Brandon's brilliant invention. My dad came over and helped Brandon cut a hole in our wall through to the garage. They then cut a hole in the back of the cabinet and backed it up to the wall, and thus a bathroom for the cats is born. We didn't want the litter box inside the house, but didn't want the cat door to lead into the open garage, so Brandon had the great idea of putting the litter box inside the cabinet. It's going to be pretty stellar actually, and once we get a counter on top of the cabinet, Brandon will have a nice little workspace. He was pretty excited about it, so even if you don't think it's cool, you should pretend to. We both ended the day with killer headaches yesterday, so we were in bed by 8:30 hoping that we needed to just catch up on sleep.
We were up at 5:00 this morning because Brandon had a flight to catch at 7:30. He is headed to Boston for a new employee orientation with his new job. He had a list of things he wanted to get done this weekend before he left (mainly blinds) and he got the whole list and more finished by last night. I really am so grateful for him and also for my family for helping us get it all done!
Moral of this entire post: I am freaking tired. I never thought I could ever feel so tired in my whole life. And I'm never walking up another set of stairs ever again. I must have gone up and down those stairs at like 50 times last week and I never want to do it ever again. But I am so happy that we have a house! And we can live in it for years and call it our own. And eventually, sometime (maybe), all the boxes will finally be unpacked and we will be able to walk through every room in the house without falling over cardboard.
Monday last week was Brandon's birthday!!! He turned the big 2-7, and we celebrated the best we could with the limited time we had. I made him sticky buns for breakfast on his birthday, and thankfully they actually turned out well considering I had never made them before. We both had to go to work that day, but I leave a few hours before Brandon, so he took a nap between when I left and when he had to leave. After work we went to Main Street Burger for dinner. It was our first time there and it was really good! Then we went mini-golfing and Brandon won (he says I let him win, but really I just suck at mini golf). To finish the night off right, we got Coldstone with my family, then went back to the apartment so Brandon could open presents. It was a great day!
The following morning things were a bit hectic. We were supposed to close on our house at 9:00 that morning, but the night before we had gotten an email from our realtor that they hadn't received the documents from the bank yet, so our closing might be pushed back. I went to work for a little bit, then we got an email from her saying that we were still on for 9:00. We went and signed the papers, which was the easiest part of the entire home-buying process. Then it was back to work for a day filled with waiting! We had loaded both of our cars up with boxes on Monday afternoon, so after work on Tuesday I went to pick up our keys, then went straight to the house to unload my car. Then went home, loaded up the car again, went to the house, unloaded, and waited for Brandon to show up. Along with his carload of boxes, he brought Costa Vida so that we could properly celebrate our first night being homeowners. After we unloaded his car and ate dinner, we loaded up his car again and took it out to the house. That night we took our all the boxes that we had packed up already. We felt so good, and like we were getting so much done!!
And then Wednesday came.
After work on Wednesday, I went home and loaded up my car again with all sorts of smallish random things that I could fit. I packed it up in an hour and only fell down the stairs once, so I consider that an accomplishment. Took all those things to the house, then went back home to have dinner ready for Brandon, then we went to my parents' house to borrow their ladder and vehicle. When we got to the house, we realized that we left them our car keys, so we didn't have the key to our house. So we had to drive back to their house, get the keys, and then finally we made it out to the house. We then attempted to install the garage door opener (and by we I mean Brandon). Apparently, the box didn't come with all the things we needed, so we only got so far, but it still was quite the process! While Brandon worked on that, I started unboxing a few things and we stayed for as long as Brandon could work on the garage door opener.
On Thursday, I went home and packed up all of our clothes, and took as many bags/suitcases as I could down the stairs in one trip. Then I went to my parents house to load up a dresser that we were storing there, and to take apart our old bed that they had been using as a guest bed. Highlight of the whole week: my mom had made chocolate chip cookies, and I so desperately needed them amongst all the stress of moving. After that, I went home just in time to meet Brandon. We carried a few more loads down the stairs and filled my car to the brim, stopped at McDonald's, and then went to the house to unload and finish installing the garage door opener. And he did it!! I am so impressed with him. He put in a garage door opener all by himself!! Although, unless you have a Brandon, I don't recommend doing it on your own. It's the worst process.
I took the day off on Friday to move. My mom met me out at the house at 9:00 that morning, and we started unpacking things from the boxes. Around 11:30 we went to meet Brandon to get the moving truck, and my mom was the super best and picked up Jimmy John's for the three of us on the way back to the apartment. After we ate, we started loading things into her expedition. My baby bro was kind enough to dedicate some of his school time and his entire afternoon/evening to help us move, so he showed up right as my mom and I were finishing loading the expedition. Not too long after we got to the house, Lowe's showed up to install the fridge!! It's ridiculous how excited I was about it, but boy was I excited.
We went back to the apartment to load the Uhaul. Adrian helped me carry all the heavy things, and my mom made so many trips up and down the stairs carrying all the random things. I can't even describe enough how thankful I am for those two and all their help. We ended up getting everything packed except the 5 heaviest objects in the apartment. They had to leave for a little bit, but Adrian came back to the apartment right after Brandon got home, and those two carried the last heavy pieces downstairs. We got some Panda Express to take out to the house with us (priorities) and ate our dinner on the kitchen floor. When we started to unload the truck it was 8:00, and around 9:00, Adrian left to go hang out with friends, and all Brandon and I had to carry in were the couches. We killed the unloading part of the day! Brandon put together the bed, we went back and picked up the final cargo (the cats), and spent our first night in our brand new home.
Saturday and Sunday were spent unboxing things and getting things settled. We woke up early and had to take the moving truck back, but then were working steadily on the house until about 4:00. We were gifted with a surprise visit from our best friends, and even though it was short, it was the best part of the whole day! We even showed them the house next door where they could live if they wanted to! (Alyssa, Brandon and I decided we will personally pay for the upgrade to the large tub if you'll just move here already!!) After they left, we went to Lowe's and bought blinds and a lawn mower. Brandon installed the blinds that night while I unpacked more things. It was a very productive day and we were both exhausted by the end of it!
Yesterday was a great Mother's Day! We went on a short hike with my family to a secluded waterfall, then stopped for Dairy Queen on the way home. Once Brandon and I were home, I finished the laundry while he set up the lawn mower and mowed the freaking lawn. This kid is a champion, I tell ya. I am so happy to have him and his dedication. We were able to chat with his youngest brother who is on a mission, and then it was back to Lowe's/Home Depot for home things. We bought more blinds, and also an unfinished cabinet for Brandon's brilliant invention. My dad came over and helped Brandon cut a hole in our wall through to the garage. They then cut a hole in the back of the cabinet and backed it up to the wall, and thus a bathroom for the cats is born. We didn't want the litter box inside the house, but didn't want the cat door to lead into the open garage, so Brandon had the great idea of putting the litter box inside the cabinet. It's going to be pretty stellar actually, and once we get a counter on top of the cabinet, Brandon will have a nice little workspace. He was pretty excited about it, so even if you don't think it's cool, you should pretend to. We both ended the day with killer headaches yesterday, so we were in bed by 8:30 hoping that we needed to just catch up on sleep.
We were up at 5:00 this morning because Brandon had a flight to catch at 7:30. He is headed to Boston for a new employee orientation with his new job. He had a list of things he wanted to get done this weekend before he left (mainly blinds) and he got the whole list and more finished by last night. I really am so grateful for him and also for my family for helping us get it all done!
Moral of this entire post: I am freaking tired. I never thought I could ever feel so tired in my whole life. And I'm never walking up another set of stairs ever again. I must have gone up and down those stairs at like 50 times last week and I never want to do it ever again. But I am so happy that we have a house! And we can live in it for years and call it our own. And eventually, sometime (maybe), all the boxes will finally be unpacked and we will be able to walk through every room in the house without falling over cardboard.
Monday, April 27, 2015
Patience
At noon today we have a walk-through of our house with the superintendent to go over any last minute things that need touched up or fixed. It is currently 10:22, meaning I have been at work for almost three hours, and I am DYING. I mean, it's always more fun to not be at work than it is to actually be at work, but we are getting so close to the move in date and I am tired of waiting. We went to the house Friday and Saturday this weekend, and now today. We close a week from tomorrow. Our closing date was roughly 50 days from when we put in our offer. It has gone way faster than I thought it would, but I don't want to wait anymore!
We started packing last week (finally), and Brandon is being super nice and putting up with all my neurotic list making. I like to make the lists so I feel like I'm actually doing things when there really isn't that much left to do. And luckily for us, we are going out of town this next weekend, otherwise we would just sit around and twiddle our thumbs until Tuesday came. Essentially, this whole house buying process has really been testing my patience (both in ways mentioned above and just the whole process in general. i am never buying a house ever again).
Really though, I feel like this whole past year has tested us. We were both so excited to move to Boise last year and finally start what we considered "adult life," but I think we are just now feeling like we are getting there. When we first moved here, Brandon was working for Campsaver remotely and we were living with my parents. In May, he got his job with Microsoft, and was working part time for both places. In June, we moved into our own apartment and felt like we were getting back to adult life. In August I started a new job. In October, Brandon stopped working for Campsaver. In December, he was working almost full time for Microsoft; the holidays kept them busy. And then in January, he went back to part time hours. And then towards the end of February, they cut hours. Brandon applied for literally 7 jobs a day every single weekday since the day we moved here. We decided to start looking at houses, because apartments here are not as cheap as they are in Logan and we could pay the same amount for a mortgage. We put in the offer on our house, and then two weeks later the mother of all holy blessings, Brandon's job, was offered.
That was a long timeline that really probably nobody cares about, but after a year of job hopping and trying to figure out what to do with life and questioning literally every single decision made in our college career, I think we are finally at a point where we feel like we can really start to settle in. Up until Brandon was offered this job, we weren't even sure if we would be staying in Boise. We had hoped for that, but nothing was ever set in stone. I'm excited to move into our house and to start grad school and have Brandon settle more into his job and finally feel like our lives will settle down a little bit and we can fall back into a routine. We have been waiting for life to happen, and I think we're finally getting there.
We started packing last week (finally), and Brandon is being super nice and putting up with all my neurotic list making. I like to make the lists so I feel like I'm actually doing things when there really isn't that much left to do. And luckily for us, we are going out of town this next weekend, otherwise we would just sit around and twiddle our thumbs until Tuesday came. Essentially, this whole house buying process has really been testing my patience (both in ways mentioned above and just the whole process in general. i am never buying a house ever again).
Really though, I feel like this whole past year has tested us. We were both so excited to move to Boise last year and finally start what we considered "adult life," but I think we are just now feeling like we are getting there. When we first moved here, Brandon was working for Campsaver remotely and we were living with my parents. In May, he got his job with Microsoft, and was working part time for both places. In June, we moved into our own apartment and felt like we were getting back to adult life. In August I started a new job. In October, Brandon stopped working for Campsaver. In December, he was working almost full time for Microsoft; the holidays kept them busy. And then in January, he went back to part time hours. And then towards the end of February, they cut hours. Brandon applied for literally 7 jobs a day every single weekday since the day we moved here. We decided to start looking at houses, because apartments here are not as cheap as they are in Logan and we could pay the same amount for a mortgage. We put in the offer on our house, and then two weeks later the mother of all holy blessings, Brandon's job, was offered.
That was a long timeline that really probably nobody cares about, but after a year of job hopping and trying to figure out what to do with life and questioning literally every single decision made in our college career, I think we are finally at a point where we feel like we can really start to settle in. Up until Brandon was offered this job, we weren't even sure if we would be staying in Boise. We had hoped for that, but nothing was ever set in stone. I'm excited to move into our house and to start grad school and have Brandon settle more into his job and finally feel like our lives will settle down a little bit and we can fall back into a routine. We have been waiting for life to happen, and I think we're finally getting there.
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
happy list
Right when I started thinking about this post, I remembered that once during senior year in high school, I made a happy list. The list was a whole page, front and back, written not in bullet points, but continuously on the page so that every single line was filled across the entire page. Granted, probably a good sixth of the things on the list were food items, but still, that's a lot of things that make me happy. Sometimes it's ridiculous how excited I get about things. Like when we went to Pizza Pie a few weeks ago, Brandon just kept laughing at me because I was so happy. Or when we were fridge shopping on Sunday and I just kept talking romantically about how this is our first fridge we will own. One of the guys I work with introduced me to his buddy as the resident spaz, but I don't think he meant it in a bad way (correct me if I'm wrong here, Catic). I don't think it's a bad thing that the little things in life make me happy. Sometimes I wonder, though, if my bright, positive outlook on life gives people the wrong impression or makes them think that I'm not adult enough or qualified enough to do things. I plan on applying for a different position within the school I work at, but I feel like many people (the ones who don't actually matter when it comes to applying and interviewing and all that) will think I'm way out of my league, only because I have a smile plastered to my face 95% of the day. They aren't related things, but this has just been on my mind the past few days. I didn't mean to turn this into a ranting post...so onto the happy things!
-First and foremost, Brandon was offered and accepted a job last week! After many months of searching and applying for hundreds of job (literally), he was offered a job that is going to be perfect for him. He starts on April 13th and is so excited!
-When he got the call about the job, we were just sitting on the living in our soon-to-be home. It was magic.
-We close on our house exactly five weeks from today. It is killing me to not be able to start packing yet. I'm ready to move!
-Last night we felt super grown up because we made the responsible adult decision to save money by buying brownies and ice cream instead of going to Coldstone, and I thought it was hilarious.
-Tomorrow night is the Dan + Shay concert! I bought our tickets a few months ago and have been (im)patiently waiting for it!
-I got a sunburn over the weekend. Ffity points to the sun for shining and the weather for being so nice over the last part of spring break!
-They set up a game at school where we match the staff's pets to their owners, and the pictures are hanging in the break room. Every time I'm in there with someone I know well I ask if they want to see a picture of my children and I think it's so funny. No wonder I've been dubbed the resident spaz.
-First and foremost, Brandon was offered and accepted a job last week! After many months of searching and applying for hundreds of job (literally), he was offered a job that is going to be perfect for him. He starts on April 13th and is so excited!
-When he got the call about the job, we were just sitting on the living in our soon-to-be home. It was magic.
-We close on our house exactly five weeks from today. It is killing me to not be able to start packing yet. I'm ready to move!
-Last night we felt super grown up because we made the responsible adult decision to save money by buying brownies and ice cream instead of going to Coldstone, and I thought it was hilarious.
-Tomorrow night is the Dan + Shay concert! I bought our tickets a few months ago and have been (im)patiently waiting for it!
-I got a sunburn over the weekend. Ffity points to the sun for shining and the weather for being so nice over the last part of spring break!
-They set up a game at school where we match the staff's pets to their owners, and the pictures are hanging in the break room. Every time I'm in there with someone I know well I ask if they want to see a picture of my children and I think it's so funny. No wonder I've been dubbed the resident spaz.
Friday, March 20, 2015
happy things this week
-First and foremost, today is the last day of school before spring break. A whole week of sleeping in, eating whatever/whenever I want, catching up on my shows, and lounging around with the kitties just sounds dreamy.
-Mortgage rates are dropping, and we haven't locked into a rate yet.
-We are starting to feel slightly less discouraged about the job market.
-I was informed yesterday by my mom that there is a Pizza Pie Café downtown, and discovered that it just opened this week! We have talked so many times in the past year about how Brandon craves their salad and how much we miss our mid-week dinners there. We made it through our first year in Boise, and we were given the gift of Pizza Pie.
-On the same note, we get to eat at Pizza Pie Café tonight for the first time since June or October (I can't remember) and are ecstatic
-We saw Insurgent last night and it was so good. Brandon started listening to the book on Wednesday and has almost finished it, but he didn't like the movie as much because it was pretty different from the book. It was still incredible though.
-Not sure if I have mentioned this, but we bought a house this week and I am absolutely over the moon about it.
-Today is the first day of spring and the sun is shining, and you can't get much better than that.
-Mortgage rates are dropping, and we haven't locked into a rate yet.
-We are starting to feel slightly less discouraged about the job market.
-I was informed yesterday by my mom that there is a Pizza Pie Café downtown, and discovered that it just opened this week! We have talked so many times in the past year about how Brandon craves their salad and how much we miss our mid-week dinners there. We made it through our first year in Boise, and we were given the gift of Pizza Pie.
-On the same note, we get to eat at Pizza Pie Café tonight for the first time since June or October (I can't remember) and are ecstatic
-We saw Insurgent last night and it was so good. Brandon started listening to the book on Wednesday and has almost finished it, but he didn't like the movie as much because it was pretty different from the book. It was still incredible though.
-Not sure if I have mentioned this, but we bought a house this week and I am absolutely over the moon about it.
-Today is the first day of spring and the sun is shining, and you can't get much better than that.
Wednesday, March 18, 2015
our first great leap into adulthood
Brandon and I had talked about buying a house since before we even graduated college. The plan was to graduate, move to Boise, buy a house, and start grad school. We knew we would have to live with my parents for a little while regardless of the plan, but during that time we both decided to not go to grad school and just get full time jobs instead. We were so excited when Brandon was offered a full-time position at Microsoft that we jumped the gun and put down money to build a house. After the whole mix-up happened, we were devastated (but luckily got all our money back). We were ready to become adults and own a house and start our adult lives, but it all got put on pause, and we found an apartment to rent instead.
We signed a seven month lease (we asked for nine, they said the best they could do was seven...who knows), and thought that by the end of the lease, Brandon would have a full-time job, and we would be making enough money to afford the house we had initially wanted. The job market, however, had other ideas. January 1st rolled around, and there was still no full time job prospect in sight. Our lease ended February 1st, so we decided to just sign another contract, and hope and pray that something would work out in those next few months.
We had been told by so many people that closing on a house can takes up to 2 months, so we had decided to start looking now, so we could put in an offer around the beginning of May and be out of our apartment by July 1st when the lease ended. Honestly, I have been continuously looking at houses since we have been in Boise, but it was time to get serious. We had been looking online and driving around to look at houses since we got back from our vacation in December, and just kept getting so discouraged. Any house that was the size we wanted and no more than 10 years old was just too expensive. We started to feel like the world didn't actually want us to be adults.
Fast forward to the past two weekends. We found a neighborhood further away from the heart of Meridian than we had originally been looking at. Brand new construction, starter homes of the size we were hoping for, and definitely in our price range. Two weekends ago we found one that we liked, but the day we called to set up a showing they told us that someone had put in an offer the day before. Everyone said "it just wasn't the right one, the right one will come along when it's supposed to." This past weekend, we went back out to the neighborhood to look at another house right next to the other one, and we fell in love. This was the first time we had been inside of it, and it was perfect! The realtor that took us out there said it would go quickly, and that the same house couldn't be replicated for the same low price. After a day of consideration and double checking my calculations to make sure we could afford it (I couldn't believe how well it fell into our price range, I'm obsessed with it), we put in an offer.
Last night the house officially became ours, as we signed the final documents. We pushed out the closing date as far as possible, and landed on May 5th. We are so excited to finally be making progress in the adult world, and I'm just happy that life didn't let me down after getting my hopes up so high. Less than fifty days and we will officially be home owners!
We signed a seven month lease (we asked for nine, they said the best they could do was seven...who knows), and thought that by the end of the lease, Brandon would have a full-time job, and we would be making enough money to afford the house we had initially wanted. The job market, however, had other ideas. January 1st rolled around, and there was still no full time job prospect in sight. Our lease ended February 1st, so we decided to just sign another contract, and hope and pray that something would work out in those next few months.
We had been told by so many people that closing on a house can takes up to 2 months, so we had decided to start looking now, so we could put in an offer around the beginning of May and be out of our apartment by July 1st when the lease ended. Honestly, I have been continuously looking at houses since we have been in Boise, but it was time to get serious. We had been looking online and driving around to look at houses since we got back from our vacation in December, and just kept getting so discouraged. Any house that was the size we wanted and no more than 10 years old was just too expensive. We started to feel like the world didn't actually want us to be adults.
Fast forward to the past two weekends. We found a neighborhood further away from the heart of Meridian than we had originally been looking at. Brand new construction, starter homes of the size we were hoping for, and definitely in our price range. Two weekends ago we found one that we liked, but the day we called to set up a showing they told us that someone had put in an offer the day before. Everyone said "it just wasn't the right one, the right one will come along when it's supposed to." This past weekend, we went back out to the neighborhood to look at another house right next to the other one, and we fell in love. This was the first time we had been inside of it, and it was perfect! The realtor that took us out there said it would go quickly, and that the same house couldn't be replicated for the same low price. After a day of consideration and double checking my calculations to make sure we could afford it (I couldn't believe how well it fell into our price range, I'm obsessed with it), we put in an offer.
Last night the house officially became ours, as we signed the final documents. We pushed out the closing date as far as possible, and landed on May 5th. We are so excited to finally be making progress in the adult world, and I'm just happy that life didn't let me down after getting my hopes up so high. Less than fifty days and we will officially be home owners!
Monday, March 2, 2015
Monday sap.
We ventured down to Logan over our three day weekend so spend some much needed time with Brandon's family and our friends. It was so nice to see everyone and interact with people our own age for a change, and spend time catching up with Brandon's parents and siblings.
Brandon's family tried to make this weekend my birthday celebration weekend, and they did a pretty great job! We went to my favorite Mexican restaurant for dinner, followed by Big Hero 6, candy, and brownies. The next morning we all went to The Creperie for breakfast and it was amazing! Afterward we played Heads Up, and it was hilarious. It took a little bit for everyone to warm up and be comfortable being crazy, but by the end we had James jumping over imaginary hurdles, and Caroline and I tag-team charading the words. Brandon's mom made me a ginormous quilt for my birthday too. She told me it would probably take her a few weeks to finish, but she, Caroline, and Candis busted it out in less than a whole day! I am in love with it.
On Saturday we went to lunch with the same friends that we went to Florida with. We love that any time we spend together just never seems like enough. It is seriously always that way. We saw them Thursday night for fifteen minutes, and it about killed us to leave. We spent 3 hours with them at lunch, and even then we could have kept talking for hours. Brandon has this coming weekend off, so we invited them up to Boise and they said yes without hesitation!! We are looking forward to a fun weekend with them, and probably will end up holding them captive so they can't leave.
That same night I went to dinner with my friends (I don't think I will be hungry for the next week, all I did this weekend was eat). It was fun to catch up with the three of them; I feel like so much has changed in the last six months! We ate, laughed, and gave the waiter a hard time about the milkshake machine being broken. It's always hard to say goodbye to my friends, but I know we will for sure be seeing each other at Chelsea's wedding! Let's not wait until then though, okay guys?
I love Boise, and it's always kind of hard for me to go back to Logan, but there are a lot of people I love down there that make the trip a little bit easier. I'm thankful for Brandon's family for making me feel like a part of their family, and for my sisters-in-law who seriously could not be any cooler. I love all our couple friends, who always make me laugh and who make our marriage an adventure to be shared. I'm thankful for my friends, who have loved me at my worst and supported me through hard times, and never fail to be there when I need them the most.
I'm only a little bit sorry for the sappiness, because when life gets hard and I feel a little lonely, I get a strong reminder that there are people that love me, and that I get the privilege to love them back.
Brandon's family tried to make this weekend my birthday celebration weekend, and they did a pretty great job! We went to my favorite Mexican restaurant for dinner, followed by Big Hero 6, candy, and brownies. The next morning we all went to The Creperie for breakfast and it was amazing! Afterward we played Heads Up, and it was hilarious. It took a little bit for everyone to warm up and be comfortable being crazy, but by the end we had James jumping over imaginary hurdles, and Caroline and I tag-team charading the words. Brandon's mom made me a ginormous quilt for my birthday too. She told me it would probably take her a few weeks to finish, but she, Caroline, and Candis busted it out in less than a whole day! I am in love with it.
On Saturday we went to lunch with the same friends that we went to Florida with. We love that any time we spend together just never seems like enough. It is seriously always that way. We saw them Thursday night for fifteen minutes, and it about killed us to leave. We spent 3 hours with them at lunch, and even then we could have kept talking for hours. Brandon has this coming weekend off, so we invited them up to Boise and they said yes without hesitation!! We are looking forward to a fun weekend with them, and probably will end up holding them captive so they can't leave.
That same night I went to dinner with my friends (I don't think I will be hungry for the next week, all I did this weekend was eat). It was fun to catch up with the three of them; I feel like so much has changed in the last six months! We ate, laughed, and gave the waiter a hard time about the milkshake machine being broken. It's always hard to say goodbye to my friends, but I know we will for sure be seeing each other at Chelsea's wedding! Let's not wait until then though, okay guys?
I love Boise, and it's always kind of hard for me to go back to Logan, but there are a lot of people I love down there that make the trip a little bit easier. I'm thankful for Brandon's family for making me feel like a part of their family, and for my sisters-in-law who seriously could not be any cooler. I love all our couple friends, who always make me laugh and who make our marriage an adventure to be shared. I'm thankful for my friends, who have loved me at my worst and supported me through hard times, and never fail to be there when I need them the most.
I'm only a little bit sorry for the sappiness, because when life gets hard and I feel a little lonely, I get a strong reminder that there are people that love me, and that I get the privilege to love them back.
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