Fresh air

I have been looking forward to spring this year like no other year that I can remember. I think it's a combination of the fact that I'm excited to do some gardening in our yard for the first time, there's lots of exciting things coming up - going to Florida, baby showers, brother's graduation, hosting my first yard sale, parents and sister coming to visit, and oh yeah, a baby due in the summer - which means we have to have spring first! :)

I normally love all of my pink Valentine's decorations (I'm a teacher, and yes, I decorate our house for minor holidays and the seasons!), but I've already taken them down and put up the few spring decorations I have. A few ceramic eggs, a wire chicken, some cool bendy willow tree branches from last year, fresh new Target towels for the kitchen (on clearance for $1.48 total!) and a few other things. Looking at these fresh, springy things in my house is helping me to stay positive - it will come!!

Drama, Drama, Drama

A few random thoughts from my big ol' comfy armchair in my living room. That's right, people! Living room is moved in! I am SOOOOOOO pumped to have this room basically put together - now my house really, really feels like home again. I am a definite picture person, and it was so soothing to have all of my photos and frames out again yesterday. Plus, it was kinda like an early Christmas to unwrap all of my things again - I forgot I had some stuff!

This afternoon, I spent two hours searching for my keys. It was a nightmare. Not so much because of my personal keys, but because I have about 6 keys on my ring that belong to school. And one of those happens to be a master key to the high school. I was bawling like a baby, but I couldn't help myself, because all I could imagine was that I'd get fired or at the very least, fined a huge amount of money to re-key all the locks. Do you know how many doors are in an average high school building?! Anyway, praise the LORD, they were found in a box in the garage that we had already looked in twice. How we missed them the first two times, I have no idea, but I was a wreck.

I don't know if its the fact that my home feels homey again or because of all of the economic problems in the country (or a mixture of both), but I'm going to start getting into the CVS thing again. Kathy has been inspiring me to get my butt in gear again, and there are a LOT of great deals this week.

I'm going to make myself some decaf with my Vanilla Caramel creamer and cut me some coupons ;).

Thanksgiving is only 18 days away!!!!!!!!!!!!



P.S. I posted a video link on my Facebook site (99 balloons) - I found it from myheartismyhome.blogspot.com and seriously, seriously....you need to watch it.

ahhh....

just spent an amazing weekend with chris and 8 other couples at a couples' retreat up at spruce lake resort.  all of the couples were from our church, and we spent the time laughing and eating a ton, and just getting to know our spouses better.  it was such a nice change of pace from the monotony of going to work, making dinner, working on the house, and going to bed!  i loved it and i hope we can go back next year.  

just finished typing up the rest of the week's lesson plans (ugh) and now i get to help chris do the living room floor (lucky me!).  our ceiling was finally installed on thursday night, the walls have been painted, so all that's left is the floor.  then we can finally bring our sofas and chair in from the garage and have a place to relax at night that is not the dining room table or the bed.  i think i just might die of happiness when that happens.  

off to work!  

Wow.

Are you guys still out there?! :) I know it has been ages, but believe me, I've had good reason. I know you're all waiting for pictures of the house, and I hope to have those up on Facebook by Sunday night. So much has been happening in my life recently that it seems a little crazy to try to compress it into a blog entry! It's not that I haven't wanted to be blogging - it's that there's TOO much to talk about and I've been overwhelmed about where to begin.

So.

I'm going to start small.

First thing I wanted to mention: I don't know if any of you are still into the CVS thing (I know you're trying, Kathy! Whoo hoo!), but I have a good idea for you if you want to get into the the extra-care bucks thing but didn't want to cough up initial dough. For the month of October, CVS is offering 5 ECB for $15 purchase of assorted Starbucks products. I don't know about all of you, but there are TONS of people on my Christmas list who are coffee/Starbucks fanatics. This is a great way to get some shopping done early, and then have 5 left to spend at the store. With those 5 ECB, you could pick up some cute fall decorations that are on clearance right now or you could roll it over to buy something else that will give ECB.


Second thing I wanted to mention: One of my all-time favorite blogs, 4 Reluctant Entertainers, is doing another giveaway. I'm mentioning her here because she will put my name in twice in the drawing and she gives away the most amazing gift baskets! I have entered quite a few of her giveaways but haven't one yet. However, this one is a fall giveaway and since I am a fall fanatic (ask my husband), I would LOOOOOVE to win it! If you've never checked out her website, well...you're crazy. It's awesome. So go! Hurry! :)

That's all for now. Valspar's "Churchhill Hotel Maple" is calling my name (we're going to paint the living room tonight! Gooood times.....)

Hellooooooooooooooooo bloggy world!

I have been meaning to update for a while but my life has been whirling out of control (yet in a good way, lol).  We officially got our house on Aug. 15th, and have spent every day since then working on it! Chris and I like to joke that in 3 weeks we have brought the value of our house down about $30,000.  haha  This is because that a lot of people in our area (I'm not trying to be mean, but socioeconomically it is a little lower here) would have just moved right in to this house, paneling and smelly carpet and office-tiled ceilings and all.  We just had a big vision for this place, and so a ton of stuff has been ripped out and thrown out and changed around.  

We actually moved in on Saturday night.....it's really more like camping out, because we have two functioning bathrooms and our bedroom is liveable but we don't have any appliances.  No fridge, no oven, no washer, no dryer! Oh, the things that get pushed out of your mind when you're a first-time homeowner working night and day on renovating your house! lol  We went in Saturday to buy our fridge, thinking they could probably deliver on Saturday.  Oh, no - it's definitely back-ordered til Friday! It's okay, you can laugh...we laughed at ourselves and our stupidity! haha

So we are living out of a cooler, a microwave, and a toaster.  Did I mention we haven't moved our kitchen table in yet?  So we eat on the floor.  And did I mention our kitchen is completely being overhauled?  So we can't currently use the sink.  So we use paper and plastic for everything.  (Yes, I do feel a tiny bit guilty about that).  

So, besides living in chaos right now, we've both also been working full time.  I also got a cold for four days over Labor Day weekend, which really added to the fun! hahaha 

Honestly, yes, it is a little overwhelming, but each day we see progress and thankfully we have a large house with a garage to store most of our things.  As soon as the kitchen is put together (hopefully by the weekend), life will be a little less weird.  

So............THAT'S why I haven't been posting! 

Pictures will come after my kitchen is fixed! :) Stay tuned!  

And I currently have 3 gray hairs in my head....so maybe pray for me! lol :)

I am a happy homeowner! :) We closed at 3:00 today, and let me tell you, I think Chris would have driven home on two wheels were I not in the car - that's how pumped he is (and me too). We worked on the house as soon as we got back, took a quick dinner break, and then went back until about 9;30.

Our house was fully carpeted (except the kitchen and bathrooms), and there were hardwood floors underneath (Chris and I love wood floors, so to us, it's just stupid to cover up all that beauty!). We spent most of tonight ripping up the carpets throughout the house, and it's pretty ridiculous that now the house looks about 200% worse! hahaha Things just have to get worse-looking before they can get better, unfortunately.


I'm not sure how much I'll be on in the next two weeks....I might have time and I might not, between the house and school starting. I will definitely be posting pictures, so keep checking back! I love blogging and I promise, I will be back.

Have a great weekend, everyone!



P.S. Did you all see Michael Phelps's crazy win tonight?! I seriously got goosebumps. :)

I Really Should Play the Lottery.....

.......because Chris and I are also going to be closing on our first house on Friday! Our loan came through and everything's all set now! We are so thrilled with this good news.

It is funny how my life usually tends to end up.....it's generally all-or-nothing, and this is definitely no exception. This house has given us a bumpy ride, but we are SO thankful that God chose to see it through for us and it really seems to be His plan, given all of the things that seemed to go wrong at first with excess paperwork and needing to fire our initial realtor (long story, but it was definitely merited).

Some of you know Liz P. from school, and she's home from teaching in Korea for only about 9 days before she heads back. I'm going to Staten Island tomorrow to visit her for the day, and we're also going to the Korean Consulate! I'm sure Consulates are actually very boring, but I'm excited to be in the inside of one! lol Oh, and to see Liz again. haha

My days of relaxation are quickly coming to an end.... :)


But I think I'm okay with that.

Craaaaazy Times

Well, this is shaping up to be quite the week! On Thursday (our home phone had conveniently bit the dust Thursday morning) I received a call message from the superintendent of the school district that interviewed me two months ago. He said that there had been a job opening with two applicants, and I was one of the applicants (I didn't understand at first, either) and could I please call him back at the office or at home? Well, we hung out with one of our best friends from college on Thursday (and saw Get Smart, which was hilarious), and bought a new phone on the way home (late that night) and plugged it in when we got home.

Early the next morning, our new phone rings while I'm eating breakfast. It's the superintendent, asking if I got the message! I explained about the phone dying, and he proceeded to tell me that the position I had previously applied for was now open and that he wanted me to come in and have a second interview. He mentioned salary and how he could make me "very happy."

So, I went in for my intereview today. Of course I was terrified! :) My head knows that God is totally in control of this whole thing (after all, I had already put it out of my mind), but that didn't help the butterflies in my stomach. I think the interview went well, and he told me that the board members had all given me excellent ratings on my past interview and that he really liked me. He also told me the salary, which is lovely. At least in my opinion. For a teacher. :)


Unfortunately, my competition (lol) is interviewing again tomorrow, so I won't know their decision until sometime after that. So if you feel led to pray that she oversleeps her interview or decides not to show up or something, feel free. hahaha

But seriously, if you want to pray that God leads this man to give me the job, that would be much appreciated!!!

Oh, the other news: At 2:00 today, Chris is signing the new contract for the house we've been looking at. He's bringing it home, and I'll sign it tonight, and our realtor thinks Fannie Mae will be willing to close by August 19th!!!! I could be a homeowner in two weeks or less! Which would really be amazing, because I haven't shared a fraction of all the troubles we've had with the search for a house.

So, by the end of this week, I could have a brand-new house coming and a brand-new job to start!!!!!

(Or I could potentially have neither. Which would be a real mood-killer. lol)

I'll keep you "posted"!! (Aren't I hilarious?!)

Accepted Offer!

Well, we finally got an accepted offer! They accepted yesterday and we signed more paperwork last night. We have our inspection Tuesday night - which is the part that I'm really scared about (where things broke down for us last time, remember?). At least things are finally moving! Thank you God! :)

We're off to buy a new camera today for our trip to the D.R. Mine is from 2004 and is basically a great-great-grandpa in the camera world. Isn't it crazy that a four-year-old camera is considered ancient in the technology world? lol Anyway, those of you who know my brother know that he is an amazing photographer, so I called him this morning to ask his advice. He said that Sony makes really good cameras in the $250 and under range, so I think that's what I'm going to set out to look for. Does anyone have a camera that they love/hate? I'm not sure I'll actually purchase one today, so I'm open to suggestions!

Happy Saturday!

Sweet summertime

Well, sorry about the lack of recent updates this week! We have been having a lot of house drama - too much to list here - and I won't bore you with the details. Suffice it to say that we are still waiting on the bank to accept/reject our counteroffer so that we can hurry up and get our inspections done before our 10-day time limit is up. This wouldn't be a problem, except that the time we will be in this country is quickly drawing to a close. We leave for our 10-day trip in the Dominican Republic on June 30th. Technically, we have internet in the mission dormitories, but I really just wanted to be completely focused on this trip and the people I was serving and not be stressed out everyday about the house.



So if anyone from Fannie Mae is reading this, could ya hurry my house along?!



Thanks.




Anyway, I did get to go strawberry picking on Friday, and it was great! I got nine pounds of strawberries, and only have about two cups left. Yes, we love us some strawberries up in these parts. ;)



Two of my favorite things to do with this most delicious of all fruits:

Strawberry "shortcake" (on biscuits is the way I really make it):

And strawberry jam.....(disregard the clutter on my counter - everything once again had to be pushed back from the wall since we found more ants last night! ahh)

The thing about jam: my sister-in-law and I made freezer jam on Saturday, and it really, really is SO easy. Anyone can do it. Freezer jam doesn't require any kind of special seals or boiling. And it is soooooooooooooo good. You will want to eat it plain. By the spoonful. Trust me on this.




Hope you're enjoying warmer weather and strawberries and sunshine and all of that good stuff that June brings. ;)

Tonight we put an offer in on house number two!!! Here's hoping! :)

Oh and I got a 101 on my first test in my math class! Good day, good day!

Thanks for the tip, Mary! I guess I would need to get an egg slicer first though (and thanks for that hint about the dishwasher...did you all read that?). Another thing to keep my eye open for at yard sales....lol as if I need another excuse to go....

You all are just lovely - thank you SO much for all of your encouragement! Chris and I spent about an hour and a half today driving around looking at houses, and getting out and looking at a few unoccupied ones. We definitely still have houses on the brain. Somewhere out there is the perfect first home for us (at least that's what I keep telling myself over and over when I start to get depressed about it again!).

If I have learned anything from this, it's a) a thorough home inspection (even though it's pricey) is SO worth the investment, and b) get the appraisal after you get the home inspection. Why pay money to find out the worth of a home you're not going to buy, anyway? Because this house was a foreclosure, we had a very short timeline to work with. But in the future, if we can delay the appraisal, we will.

I know that you guys live scattered across the country, but here in Northeast PA we're having some fabulous weather! Chris and I are going mini-golfing tonight - and I'm going to a big flea market early tomorrow morning before church with my friend Lindsay (I'm thrilled!). Have a great weekend!

Something Happy, Something Sad

I'm baaaa-ack! :) I have a lingering hacky cough with some congestion, and I think today I sprained a muscle coughing (no joke) because I'm in a lot of pain on my right side. STILL, I am a normal, functioning, non-streppy throat human being again! Hooray!

So as you can see from the title, I do have some sad news. We had the inspection on the house today, and it did NOT go well. I mean, there are a LOT of problems with the house that we just simply couldn't see without the trained eyes of a professional. Mold in the attic, multiple pests (including mice!), serious foundation issues, plumbing issues, serious sewage issues....I could go on. For a house that looked like it was well-taken care of, those two guys helped us see a lot of issues and helped us to realize that this house would be a money pit. When all is said and done, you can't truly fix a house that's on a bad foundation - you can only put a band-aid on it. We are still waiting for his official report, but it's pretty much a no-go.

So, besides being out about $625 dollars (between inspections and paying for a professional appraisal, which we needed to get our mortgage), it also hurts emotionally. I know that sounds corny, but I had already moved myself into that house, you know? I was planning parties there, decorating, landscaping, all in my mind. It was pretty devastating to stand there and hear all the things they were saying about my house.

Except it isn't my house, thankfully.

Although I have cried a LOT over this house today, at the end of today what I mostly feel is relief. Sure, I'm gonna miss that money, but we can make it back.

But praise God, I am not going to be throwing thousands and thousands of dollars away on a home that I know now would never truly be fixed.

It's still pretty depressing, but not a black-hole kinda depression. It's weird to feel regret, sadness, disappointment, and relief all in one big package.

---

But, since I promised something sad and something happy, here is a little treat that got me through all those strep-throaty days that I wanted to share with you all. Maybe it will cheer YOU up!




I modified this from my Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook:

• 1 6 oz. cup of Dannon Light 'n' Fit Vanilla yogurt (so good!)
• 1 banana, sliced
• 1 3/4 C frozen blueberries
• a splash of whole milk (count to 3 - lol!)

Blend and top with whipped cream. Makes 2 servings. De. Lish.

I really and truly have not forgotten about my little blog; I am getting sick (again -in less than a month!) and have been feeling wretched, plus I'm trying to work as much as possible, like picking up weekend shifts, to save up for the house. Which, by the way, we signed papers saying we agreed with the bank's offer, and now we're just waiting for all sorts of very expensive inspections. SO. I will write something more fascinating on here sometime very soon. In fact, sometime this week. Promise.

I think it's sufficient to say that I am basically obsessed with yard-saling (doesn't that word look ridiculous?) I'm not sure why, but somewhere in my genetic make-up I have been programmed to get a rush of adrenaline and a large dose of whatever-it-is-that-puts-you-in-a-good-mood (epinephrine?) when I see those magical words on a (usually) bright neon sign. It calls my name.....piles and piles of junk delights, and who KNOWS what you will find?! What's not to love?!

Tomorrow I'm going to a church rummage sale (I went to one last weekend, also). Every other morning it is a struggle to get out of bed, but when my alarm goes off on a yard-sale day, Bam!, I'm off and running - and there's no turning back. If I get anything good, I just might have to show ya tomorrow. ;)




*The house saga: the bank gave us their final offer today! $8,400 less than their original, but $13,500 above what we had counter-offered at! Ahhhh!! Where's my fleece when I need it? Gideon had it so good......

Update on la casa

We put the offer in, and they counter-offered with a price $900 less than their asking price. We resubmitted our offer, this time $3,000 higher. Chris said we're going to keep playing this game until we "meet" or until they tell us they have a final offer. I agree with him now. I mean, why not? They're a bank, and we really don't have anything to lose besides money! ;) Tonight we went to the house again with one of our realtors and Chris's oldest brother, who is a contractor (and built his own house), so he could look at the house from a technical perspective. He said it looked good. (Of course, we still have to have a licensed inspector come to check out stuff like mold, pests, etc.) We are waiting to hear about another counter-offer from the bank, hopefully tomorrow! Being there again tonight only made me want it even more! It isn't extravagant or expensive. It will be a great starter home for a few years and it will get us out of our apartment we're in right now, which has had some very serious problems with mold (read: unhealthy!!!!!!) this year. I just keep praying!

butterflies in my stomach....

Edit: We put our offer in last night - it took almost THREE hours, ugh! - and were pleasantly surprised at how upbeat and encouraging our realtors were, considering that we offered $18,900 less than the asking price! It was an insane amount of paperwork, and we're nearly 100% positive that we'll have to put in another offer once the bank counter-offers, but thankfully it's only minor corrections each time the price changes. I will keep you posted!!!


...so i think i mentioned last week that we were trying to get into a house. well, we were able to see it on friday, and we are putting an offer in TONIGHT! in case you were wondering, i'm perfectly calm terrified about it. it is a foreclosure in incredibly good shape, yet my darling husband is intent on low-balling the number when we make the offer tonight. his point is, why not try low since the bank is already desperate to have it sold? he figures the worst that can happen is that we get rejected and put in a higher offer. i see his point, but maybe it's the girl in me that feels that somehow that's not polite. i'm gung-ho about paying less if we can get away with it, but slightly terrified to see the looks on our realtors' faces when they hear what we're offering (aka their commision). the only thing that makes me feel better about all of this is the fact that this technically isn't "their" house (realtors can show you any house in the market, even ones not listed through their realty company - a fact i didn't know until a few months ago). so, i'm hoping they just see this as a bonus - the only way they're getting any money out of this is because we sought it out and asked them to show it to us.


*phew* anyway, i certainly do have butterflies in my stomach. we have been praying earnestly about this house, because it is in such good shape and the price can't be beat (well, according to Chris it can! lol). our meeting isn't for 3 hours! what in the world will i do until then?!