T is for Tulip

I haven't updated you guys on my house recently.  We are still trying to get settled and find places to put everything.  Brian has been working on finishing up the basement.  He has just about finished a sanctuary for himself to put his exercise equipment and hangout (it is affectionately known as the man cave). He is currently working on the bathroom for down there.  And as it is getting warm we are going to start sprucing up the backyard.

Put there was something that popped up that I didn't have any idea we had!

These were the first ones that bloomed.

These ones started first...the green shoots came up first

Then these orange touched ones bloomed and they were beautiful!

See how pretty they are!

Thankful Week Day 2: My House

So to continue with this week, I thought that I would talk about how I am glad that we have a house all to our own.  I have been renting for the past eight years, and it is nice to know that this is all ours.  We can fix it up the way we want, I can change the carpet if I want to, etc.

I am still trying to organize our house so that it feels the way I want it to---it is a super work in progress--but it is also super nice to know that as I unpack boxes, I am unpacking them for a while instead of worrying that we will have to move soon or something. I am also liking that I can buy things to decorate or make things easier and not wonder how I will use it in the next apartment.

So I am grateful for a house I can call my own.

Nice pretty spring time shot...its too dark outside
or I would show you how it looks in the winter

Today has been a weird day...

I have debated a couple of different posts for tonight....but I have decided to just kind of vent about the day. It has been a weird day.  This morning I woke up and I had a feel today was going to be a bad pain day....and sure enough I was right.  I struggled climbing the stairs at work and I knew it was going to be a long day.  I managed to survive work through the pain...and I actually felt pretty productive.  Yeah I still have a lot to do with parent-teacher conferences coming in two weeks....but it is nice when I can come home and feel like I don't HAVE to do anything.

I then was hit with two different pieces of bad news from friends...and it just sucks. Sometimes life throws people really hard curve balls....and sometimes we're glad that we dodged and didn't get hit by the pitch.  But other times we were hit hard with the pitch....and yeah we get that free walk to first and that might be great for the game...the bruise still hurts and stings.  Maybe it even takes us out of the rest of the game until we can get back on the horse tomorrow. It is moments like this when I wish we could just all have magic wands or fortune telling ball thingys....just so we knew that everything would be okay eventually.

Then there comes the weird part...I am cheered up by my awesome St. Louis Cardinals winning their game and we are headed back to St. Louis to win this last game!!! And then I am super excited that I unpacked some more of the kitchen...and I figured out a great way to keep my towels for the kitchen.  I don't have a drawer to put them in so they end up in baskets all cute like :)

Brand new towels are awesome!

And then now we have all of the clothes in the house clean.  Yes to mothers with children this is not that big of an achievement.  But for me this is huge.....never at one time are all of the clothes clean at the same time.  I feel very accomplished and proud.

So get what I mean about the weird day....it was like a roller coaster.

blog.lifeway.com

Reflection on July

This month has been crazy!  The biggest thing this month has been participating in the To Kill a Mockingbird read-along...though I still want to give you an actual review of the book...it has been great fun to read most of it and share some of my ideas.  It has also been the month of traveling, packing, and moving!  So it makes sense that my top three posts this month have to do with that.

#3: TKAM Part 2 

#2: TKAM Reflection Part 1

#1: Homeowner

This month has two challenges in mind for me....the Austen in August and Bout of Books so I am excited to do some more reading this month!! I am going to add Pride and Prejudice to my current read list!

Trash

There is the saying, another man's trash is another man's treasure.  Not at my house right now....we have thrown so much away--I swear that we have completely filled that dumpster on our own!! We are still moving....yesterday was big day and then we had all of the little crap left! That has been today and last night...writing really fast to get back to it!

Decisions, Decisions

So many people make a lot of decisions everyday.  Some decisions are small--like what to wear, what to eat for dinner, etc.  Other decisions are a little bit bigger: what to do with your day, what to say in a tough situation, etc. And then there's the big ones: buying a house, a car, getting a new job, etc.  It is interesting to thinking about how we make these decisions.  Sometimes it is really hard and agonizing to make the decision. You have to stretch and get out of your comfort zone.  Others just seem to make sense because they just fall into place.  That's my "favorite" kind of decision because it just makes sense.  But there is always the waiting game as you wait for the things out of your control like closing on the house or getting the offer on the job.

So what do you do to make these decisions?  I am personally a bit of a pros, cons person. But also a little bit of following my gut--does it just feel right?  If it feels right, then I am very likely to do it.  Some people find it funny but when I bought my new car--I had to see if it felt right to me....same thing with the house.  It is such a gut thing.

What unique things do you do?

From bizzbangbuzz.blogspot.com

Homeowner

Today I became a homeowner.  Eeek!! But we managed it....we figured out all the paperwork and got the keys tonight.  Brian is so excited to do the work on the house.  I am not excited to pack the boxes, but it will be nice to get all settled in the house.  After we got the keys tonight, I got my phone out to do a tour of the house for you.

***A minute later***

Well I was going to post those videos but I was watching them back and apparently it didn't record my great commentary....sad!! That was the best part.

***So a little while later***

Brian was like go back to the house and make a new video....so this is the second version.





I will do a little bit on the backyard tomorrow :) But we're pretty excited.

H is for House

So...I was thinking earlier today what to do for H--nothing seemed obvious until Brian and I went and looked at our first house option today.  EEK!  I can't believe that I am really thinking about buying a house.  We have talked about this on and off for the last six months or so.  We have really been thinking about this because of how much money we have been putting into rent for the last 4 years we've been married...and our time before that too. So it is hard not to think about how much money we could have been putting into a house.  I mentioned once on here before that last year was the first time I had never actually moved...so I think that's another reason we are looking at our options.  We've been in our little town almost three years now so that seems to be a bit permanent.  BUT....!

Buying house=SCARY!!!

So seriously I know like nothing about buying a house.  People throw out these fancy words like escrow...inspectors...offers... Realtor....closing costs...etc.  So that makes it really really scary.  Then there is the money thing--do we really want to spend this much money?  Do you realize that a 30 year loan won't be paid off until 2048! That's intimidating....and the fact that you need to be in the same spot for about 3 years to make it worth it....that is worry making too. I can't predict where I will be in a year....maybe I have just learned with my life constantly changing.  But seriously if I keep thinking that I will never buy a house.

So we are starting to stick our toes in the water...we might not end up buying a house but we might....stay tuned!

P.S. Any advice?