for the house i do not own.

we are officially supposed to close on the 18th. so i am now in constant “i need this for the house” mode. i need an intervention. i need to chill.

{read the rest of this post in my whiney, fast talking, but i need this, breathless voice. if you know me, you know what i am talking about}

For example: see the big fork and spoon bronze art? i need that. I showed them to kyle and he told me they were [and i quote] “very stupid” and that he [and i quote again] “good if we had a giant over for dinner”. heartbreaking. he is no fun. but i can picture it in my kitchen, on the wall next to the pantry. hanging just like in the picture. or maybe horizontally with the spoon facing one way and the fork the other. i feel like they’re funky and fun and will add character to our light, moss green kitchen [that will eventually be repainted]. and the fuddy duddy that is my husband can deal with it. But... with all that said, the one thing i know: i need them and will get them, eventually. mark.my.words.

and then this hutch. i mean. it is a beauty. i like that i can store serve ware underneath [and wine] and then put fun decoration on top. plus, i want something to put all our napkins and placemats in rather than our kitchen drawers. but at the sticker price of $1,099 this piece of furniture will not be in our future home. i know, $1,099 – gasp. shock. awe. – totally unattainable. and i don’t want to hear about “investments” and “having it forever” because $1,099 is a crap-ton of money. we will continue to look at target for a great buffet/hutch thing. plus, i don’t think it is dark enough wood. ideally – i would love to find a buffet/hutch thing to match the kitchen table we need to buy. but i want the shelving underneath and the drawers.

but as i look at kitchen art [aka the fork and spoon] and then furniture, i realize that i really love dark wood. and we currently have dark wood because kyle and i love the clean look of it. our cabinets, they’re white. we’re going to need to make them dark [eventually] to match the decor i am wanting to pull off.

one thing i know [other than that i need that fork and spoon art] is that i need to win the lotto or put bonus money to our eventual kitchen upgrade and semi-home painting [kyle and i may be misadvised, but we think we can paint 97% of the house on our own. stay tuned for pictures]. i like pretty things, it is a major downfall.

oh and another thing i know: i need to breathe and live in the house for like a week before i start buying things and decorating. for all i know, i am designing one of the other houses we looked at.

House Hunting Begins {for now}.

Honestly, I am still not 100% sure we should be house hunting. But. We went and looked at houses away. And house hunting is stressful. I think it is going to be like wedding planning. Something I hate. There is seriously nothing fun about this process {especially since all of Atlanta is home shopping and wants a deal. rawr}

And I feel like it is going to be like buying a wedding dress – you have that ah ha, this is the one moment and i just have not felt that. boo.

This house is honest to goodness gorgeous. Still our #1 but we were not able to see it. It has an offer on it, but it is contingent/kick out so I have made our real estate agent dig and find more dirt on it because i want to see it. seriously.

Another house on the list we didn’t get to see but it is our #2 – I have our real estate agent stalking the listing agent so we can see it.

This house it utterly gorgeous, everything about it. The kitchen. The layout. Everything. The only downfall is the backyard, it isn’t as big as we would like. Not just for our dogs but for future kids. And this isn’t a deal breaker, but the driveway is REALLY steep. This one is not no, but not a oh my gosh must have.

This house has been a favorite of mine for months. After seeing it, I think it is a no. The backyard situation is just too small and we would have to let the dogs out through the basement every time they wanted to go out. The basement? it isn’t even finished so we can’t hang out down there to make it easier. blah. And, the owners of the house have let their kid draw all over the walls. But the kitchen and layout was AMAZING!

Kyle loved this one – me not so much – I loved the backyard and the kitchen and the bedroom size, but there was just so much that needed to be done to it. Paint, wallpaper removal, repainting cabinets. And then our real estate agent basically said it would be A LOT of money since she spotted wood rot and all the jazz. So, this is a no. We don’t want to be shelling out money form day 1.

 

There was just so much that I did not like about this house – there were janky old yellowed looking security systems on the walls and tattered surround sounds speakers. The backyard situation is a big question mark. but... the kitchen was nice and the size of the size of the master bedroom was good. i just didn’t see thing place as home.

I feel like we were bamboozled. I feel meh and not optimistic about this. There really is not a lot of inventory out there. The good stuff goes in like 2 days and REALLY who has the time to drop everything and who can drop everything to go see a house that lists on a Tuesday afternoon at 1:08 PM?? Because I will email a house to our agent and then they literally FLY of the market.  Granted, I don’t think our agent is asking all the questions (since our #1 house we were told had a “solid offer on it” and then I learned it was “contingent with a kickback clause). I feel like when I see a house I like I am going to have to immediately email her and ask her to get back to me and schedule it. It is exhausting to find houses, get excited about them, and then find out they’re gone – especially when they’re gone SO fast. 

Oh well... we’re supposed to go back out again this weekend, but as of right now, I cannot find anything that I like that is within our price range, location range, and something i would want to live in for the long haul.  We like our real estate agent – she seems to be really good with first time homebuyers and really knowledgeable. Granted, I didn’t love that she didn’t start planning our visits until 9:00 PM last night. But... I think she is good – has our best interest in mind – and is honest ... which all matters

I am willing to bet $10.00 that we don’t find a house and that is kind of depressing since our rent is about to go up and the interest rates are so good right now and going up.

yeah. sorry. this was a venting post.

{the house hunt begins}

we are starting to house hunt this weekend and we have like 401 houses to see. ok. that is a stretch. but we do have a lot.  The pictures are listed from top choice to last choice {obviously} and you would think these houses would be EXPENSIVE but thanks to it being (1) Atlanta with cheaper homes and (2) a buyers market we will be getting a d-e-a-l. now. readers, don’t steal any of these houses... especially the top 4 or we may have issues. got it!

We have high high high hopes for the 1st house. basically new, amazing price, and it is already fenced. but we also love #2 and #3 and #4 {but there is some odd stuff going on with that one}. honestly: this whole process makes me nervous. i am scared someone will steal these houses that i am already emotionally attached to but have not even seen.

Kyle and I want a house that we can buy and then stay in. We don’t want to be house hunting again in 7 years or 10. We like stability.

 

Wish us luck!! I will blog all about the hunt. :)

we survived another week {victory}

 

this week was not bad. i cannot complain. i am without a doubt counting down the days till i board a plan and leave my life for 4 short days and go to the beach. but my life lately has been good.

i started running again and made myself a plan. this week, every day that i hit the gym or the path my by house I am running 2 miles. just 2 miles to get my legs back to it. from there i will up to 2.5 or 3 miles {still undecided} and will focus on my sub-30 5k goal. at this point, I am not running for the medals, i am running for me.

Oh my gosh. Total Win for me. Sunday, I went to my typical 10:45 AM Flywheel class {come ride with me!! it is amazing!!} and one of the local Lululemon girls was there too with 5 goodie bags. Well, I got lucky and got one of those goodie bags and got a FREE lululemon tank top {retail: $52}. But of course, it now ranks HIGH on my favorite running top list and i need/want more.

sadly, my headaches are back and they have brought an eye twitch/spasm with them. and my body just CANNOT handle muscle relaxers {i could never be a pill popping druggie}. which means i will be having a CT scan to make sure there is not any weird brain issues going on. honest moment: the whole thing is kind of annoying. i have re-worked and re-managed my work/life balance stress and i have been feeling good. so why are the headaches back?!

Kyle’s Mom and Step Dad are coming in town this weekend. Who knows what is on the agenda, but we will keep and stay busy. I am hoping they are not coming to lecture me about how I stole their baby away and made him move to Georgia with me and then REALLY stole him away since we’re going to buy a house. {the plan had always been to move home to VA}

Sunday I am excited because I am heading to the shooting range with my friend Afton and co-worker Fred to shoot some guns. Not really sure how it will go and if I will enjoy it, but it is on my 30 before 30 list and it seems like an experience. honest moment: i am a little nervous. and yes. there will be a blog post.

Kyle J and I still have not started the home buying process. We have decided that we’re going the 1st weekend in November to get pre-approved and will start the hunt from there. But, leave it to me to find my legit real dream home. {The other one I posted... had an offer on it 2 days later. Y’all better not have stolen it}

Keep your fingers crossed on this one – it is a potential short sale, still not approved by the bank which means it could 100% work in our favor and timeline or 100% not work in our favor and timeline. But for real. I could live her and be happy about it.

But I think that was my week. Uneventful. Not bad. 100% manageable. Just the way I like them! :)

Have a very happy weekend and BEAT TENNESSEE – ROLL TIDE!! :)

:: foto friday :: 2011–Our Year. The Recap.

I saw this floating around on different blogs last year so I wanted to steal it and do it here.  This year has FLOWN by.  Even though wedding planning was a big part of this year, we tried our best to mix in things that we’re unrelated to wedding planning and just enjoy each other’s company.  I tried to include pictures as much as I could…. but Kyle hates cameras and is not photogenic so it made it harder than I thought.

January:  Um…. I am not so sure if we really did anything in January other than house hunt and look at 4 million houses and decide to not move into a house with a pool (which I regretted once the southern summers came), we packed to move, played the Wii, and watched Auburn unfortunately win the National Championship. 

February:  We moved into our 1st house.  Yeah… it is a rental house, but it is still our 1st house.  It has a great big backyard for our dog, with doggie doors so Mulligan can come and go as he pleases and it feel great to have so much space and not be on top of each other.  Our neighbors are nice (even though they’re Auburn fans) and the neighborhood is nice and quiet which is a good change for living right off of Peachtree.  We signed a 2 year lease so it is a good thing we like it. HA!

March:  I got my wedding dress and probably kept it on for close to 45 minutes.  I love it.  It is gorgeous and in 3 months everyone gets to see it.  YAY!  It has the vintage, romantic feel that I wanted, but it has a touch of youngness to it.  I ended up getting a veil since my mom wanted it, but that is fine.  I plan on ditching it right after pictures and only wearing it in some pictures.

We also celebrated our “365 days till we’re married” day.  And we of course went to Medieval Times because we (or me) love that place and because that is where we got engaged.  Once again, our knight lost. We always have the yellow knight and he always loses.  What a let down.  We kind of talked the whole way through because if you have seen it once you have seen it a million times, it does not change. So we have decided to not go back for a few years or until we have kids old enough to go and appreciate it.

April:   ….I cannot think of anything we did in April. (Yeah… I started this midway though the year – that is why January and April are LAME!!)  OH – we did get a minister.  That is exciting right?! 

May:  Kyle and I LOVE Zac Brown and I had always said that I would love to see him in concert.  Well, I was given the opportunity to go see him and sit in a VIP box from one of our vendors.  We went with 2 other couples from my office.  We of course had a good time, but it was a total bummer that we had to leave early.  Note to self: once we have kids and go out with friends who are kidless, don’t suggest to go home early… the kidless couple won’t want to bow out early, but they will. =)

Kyle and I also took a trip to Tuscaloosa to help with tornado relief efforts.  We helped with the animal shelter and sorted donations in a warehouse/distribution center.  Though we felt like we did a lot and accomplished a lot… in the grand scheme of things, I feel like we did very little.  It was a great trip and a great experience.  That town needs a lot of support and help and will need it for awhile.  I hope the volunteers continue to flow in.

Oh. And we started our wedding registry at Crate and Barrel.  Kyle acted like a child because he got bored and I realized that registering for wedding gifts is a lot more overwhelming than I thought it would be.  Plus it is kind of weird asking for SO many things.

June:  Kyle and I got dressed up all fancy schmancy and went to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Man and Woman of the Year Gala. It was fun to get dressed up and go to a big charity function to support a cause that means a lot to me …. and we were celebrating my friend Mitzi being in remission for 10 years!  YEAH!  We participated in the silent auction (and didn’t win anything), people watched, and I learned that the dress I chose for my bridesmaid can be worn again.  There were about 4+ girls in the black version of it. 

We also continued registering for wedding gifts.  This time at Target.  It was chaotic and Kyle as on horrible behavior so he became uninvited for future wedding registering events.  Rawr. But we registered for a lot of useful things and things that will be much needed.  And I really hope someone gets me the Magic Bullet {{update :: i got it for christmas}}.

AND!!  We sent our save the dates out to all our wedding guests (with a little bit of panicking thanks to them being magnets and mailboxes being metal). This was a total accomplishment since we (well, I) had been dragging my feet on them since I couldn’t decide on what picture to use. I knew which save the date I wanted, but I couldn’t decided on a picture. But, with Kyle’s help I made a decision they came in, and they got mailed out.  When they came in the mail I was so so so excited with the final product and so excited to send them out to our guests that I sent them out a month early!  Whoops! And I was really excited about the custom cupcake stamps and the personalized Kyle and Barbie return address stamp. I was so excited to hear the positive feedback from so many of our guests (and to know they were not stuck in USPS purgatory)! We hope everyone liked them and that they’re still on your refrigerator!

July:  We took a REAL quick trip home to Northern Virginia to see Kyle’s parents and mine.  It was a good break from reality and it was good to see Kyle’s parents since we rarely get to see them.  Lots of chatter about wedding decisions – didn’t share my dress with them – and the wedding in general.  I got to go run Burke Lake which could be one of my favorite running spots.

We spent part of a Sunday knocking more things off our knot.com “to do list” – my parents came down from Northern Virginia and we all headed to the venue for a “Bridal Extravaganza” to taste food and cake.  We also headed back to McDonough for some major wedding planning and decision making. 

August:  Kyle brought home a cute little dog that had been abandoned by its parents (car drove into neighborhood. neighbors heard a bark. saw car drive off. spotted new dog. sad. some people do not deserve pets) one Monday and left the decision to ME on what to do with her.  I could not put her at animal control knowing her family was not looking for her and knowing that in 5 days she would be put to sleep so we got our 1st and only foster dog and named her Kennesaw (after where Kyle got her). I of course got super attached and cried for hours when I learned that she was finding her furever home and was a hot mess the day I had to hand her over to her new mom.   But not even 24 hours later I got a call telling me that Kennesaw was not going to work out & that she was not getting along with the cats on the farm; therefore, she would have to come back to Atlanta.  Kyle and I just decided to just keep her and make her a permanent member of our family because I couldn’t handle the handing her over again and we both didn’t want to put her through the adoption events again.  So… as of August 30th we are a 2 dog house! =) 

September:  What a lazy lazy month for us.  We really just enjoyed each other’s company, got on each other’s last nerve, tried to get used to having 2 dogs, and watching a lot of football.  It was kind of nice to not really have anything on the schedule, but the month somehow still flew right by.

So many wedding details came together – welcome bags ordered and came to my house.  All the apothecary jars for the candy buffet were bought.  Candy was starting to collect.  Match books bought.  Koozies bought and delivered.  Wedding gift for Mom chosen. Wedding day gift for Kyle chosen. Bridesmaid’s gifts completed. Invitations selected.  September was a REALLY successful wedding planning month.

October:  My good good friend and one of my bridesmaids got married in early October at a gorgeous gorgeous church and the Fabulous FOX Theater here in Atlanta.  I was SO excited to be part of Chrissy’s big day.  She looked fabulous and the wedding was amazing and of course I cried when her dad handed her off to Matt.  Chrissy seriously has the nicest friends and Kyle and I buddied off with another engaged couple.  Kyle and I had a great time dancing and laughing at people and we realized that this is our last wedding until ours. By 11:00 we were EXHAUSTED so I can only imagine how tired we will be on our wedding day.  But…. Yay for Chrissy & Matt – we wish them many years of happiness!!

I also wanted to find a pumpkin patch, so we could carve pumpkins for our house and because when living in Virginia we went to a pumpkin patch and had a lot of fun.  Well, I found one down in McDonough and it was GREAT! It had an awesome corn maze that Kyle ruined the fun in (kidding. kinda) by telling me that you take all right turns. At first we were rock paper scissoring it at each turn to decide who chose the next turn, but since I dressed like “fall” in a sweater and boots I was getting hot. We rode the hayride and went down the slide and the best part was the corn cannons when you had to shoot corn out of a cannon. I hit the target and Kyle did not, so I had fun taunting him and yelling Champion! =D And we of course got 2 awesome pumpkins to carve!

November:  November was rather uneventful.  We went home, of course, for Thanksgiving to Northern Virginia. It was a quick trip as always, but it was sentimental for me because I knew next year I wouldn’t be at Thanksgiving dinner with my family.  you never realize how much your family means to you and how much you love them until you have to think about not doing a holiday with them.  It was the 1st trip home with both the dogs and it was really not that bad.

December: We celebrated our 1st Christmas in our house! And even thought it is just our rental house it is / was so nice to not have our whole living room taken up by a tree.  We of course celebrated our Christmas early (which is going to be weird not doing next year) and then we headed home to Virginia for the holidays.  This was our last holiday apart so it was all just bittersweet.  December was pretty boring as well, but we enjoyed wrapping the presents and decorating our house. 

Ok… I had planned for this to be cliff notes, but it was pretty much a play by play of our year (well, what I could remember of it before I started this in may). next year will be better. promise.

200. have i really blogged 200 times.

so i have entertained you now with 200 blog posts and this little thing has evolved from 100% running to a bunch of nonsence mixed in with running. for the 200th post i am going to share in the same fashion as blog number 100.  SO thanks for following and supporting me and being awesome.

10 random things about me
1. for awhile there i was overly obsessed with cupcakes. i think i overdid it - they kinda have lost their luster to me. put one in front of me, yes, i will eat it ... but no longer will i go out of my way for a little cake.
2. i got engaged in july. yay. my ring has always been a little big. i really need to get it sized. it fits perfectly on my index finger... but it just looks funny when i wear it there. :o)
3. at some point i became boring and have learned that i like staying in on a weekend and realized that i love all things crate and barrell and love kitchen accessories. i am 26. i need to find my young side gain.
4. if i could, i would leave my christmas tree up 365 days a year.  ...but i REALLY need to get a christmas tree skirt!!
5. i am perfectly content sitting on my couch watching old episodes of TV shows. I love discovering shows that I had heard about but never really watched. Gilmore Girls for example... sucks me in.
6. i do not wear my engagement ring on the weekends unless i am going somewhere. i have no idea why i do this, but i do.
7. medieval times could be one of my most favorite places. it could be my disney world. not only did i get engaged there, but the whole production is just fun.
8. i have the oddest obsession with wrapping paper and i love wrapping presents. sometimes when i get bored, i reorganized my wrapping paper storage bin thing.
9. i always thought that my to do list book journal thing was something only i did.  i carry it everywhere with me and the list grows by the minute. then i learned my mom does the same thing. ....i guess you really do turn into your mother.
10. i often have to fight back urges to do cartwheels and forward rolls.


10 things I am looking forward to...
1. my wedding. march 24, 2012 :o)
2. registering for wedding presents, getting grown up things, and getting to donate all our cheap cups and stuff to goodwill
3. june 22 2011 - new kids on the block / backstreet boys concert.  the last new kids concert i went to was amazing ... add BSB, oh it is going to be SO much fun.
4. buying a house (not renting) with an awesome kitchen so i can buy so many awesome kitchen things with a good backyard for my demon dog.  {i have settled for now, on a cute rental house with both awesome and awkward qualities}
5. having babies! or baby ... depending on how painful the 1st one is!! but no kids till at least 2014!!
6. My bachelorette party in Savannah over St. Patrick's Day weekend. 
7. The holidays.  I love Thanksgiving and Christmas and the holiday season.
8. Finding a work life balance and the motivation to workout.
9. going home in july and being able to actually take a vacation.
10. my honeymoon. hopefully to costa rica.


10 thing i covet and want so badly... and what i want to do with it
1. a little more time in the day. i would hang out with kyle more, run more, read more, enjoy life just a little bit more.
2. a personal trainer, a chef, and a personal shopper so i can be utterly fabulous all the time.
3. a pair of alabama boot slippers. big gaudy and awful but so amazing at the same time. our floors are cold. my feet freeze.
4. awesomely amazing patio furniture for our screened in porch. i would love to sit out there and drink wine, listen to the rain, and read ... and to have dinner on the porch!
5. a new toyota 4runner or jeep grand cherokee. black please. 4 wheel drive is a must. to drive. duh.
6. a pair of burberry rainboots and i want to wear them to the office on jeans friday with skinny jeans when it rains. nothing screams professionalism like nova check rain boots. i die.
7. a $3000 treadmill. (which for the record, i will never ever own). these are super similar to the treadmills used at blast900 and i love the ease of the inclines and i LOVE how this one connects to real life trails.  (it was on sale for $2000 around the holidays...)
8. a pair of hunter rain boots (yes i want 2 pairs of rainboots) ... and i want to wear these to the office too on rainy days. but i cannot decide on a color.
9. season tickets to alabama football. this needs no explanation.
10. a vacation. to the mountains. where there is no cell service. so i can disappear and decompress.


10 things i am super thankful for
1. my super supportive and awesome family
2. kyle j. and his carefree personality
3. waking up every day. the sunrise and sunsets.
4. that my parents paid for my college education. i hear about people and their student loans all the time, i could not imagine having that sort of burden. i like that i am 26 and debt free.
5. our awesome neighbors, even though they are supporters of the university of auburn (as nick saban likes to call auburn).
6.  my crazy awesome friends and their raw honesty
7. that i understand the concept of a dollar and not living outside my means.
8. the company i work for, the people i work with, and that i love coming to work every day.
9. good runs and bad runs. long runs and short runs. hard workouts on bad days and easy workouts  ... each one is my moment to be alone and clear my head.
10. 5:00 PM on Friday.

10 pet peeves/things that irk me
1. people who create their own parking spots
2. vanity license plates (i once saw a plate that said "atthelake" and my thoughts were no sir, you are not on the lake, you're in rush hour traffic on peachtree)
3. speaker phone and people who take their calls on speaker phone
4. slow drivers in the left hand lane. slow drivers in general.
5. voicemails that are longer than 30 seconds
6. spam emails and eblast marketing emails... don't email me unless it is important.
7. inconsistency.
8. when the weather gets nice and then gets cold again and then it is nice and then it is cold. weather, make up your mind.
9. people who think they're entitled to anything and everything.
10. when people copy & paste other people's tweets for facebook statuses.  they think they're all funny and witty, but really they're lame and unfunny.  if see your status or tweet and think where have i seen that it does not make me laugh again, but go on a scavenger hunt to see where you stole it.  you plagerizer.


10 things i really really want to do
1. go to costa rica and zipline over the rain forest and hike next to the waterfalls.
2 ride in a hot air balloon
3. watching alabama win a national championship.... in person.
4. own a house with a great backyard and kitchen
5. swim with dolphins
6. know that i have touched just 1 person's life in a positive way
7. take a running tour of washington dc ... or any city for that matter.
8. volunteer with habitat for humanity
9. take more time for myself to do whatever. sleep in. read a book for hours. run.
10. be so good at the wii that i do not always lose to Kyle!!!

10 things i love
1. my little family and our little house on the hill.   ....and my big family in Virginia
2. websites like groupon and half depot. $15 for $30 worth of sushi. $35 for 2 rooms to be professionally steam cleaned. $7 to for 2 rounds of mini golf. don't mind if i do.
3. long dinners and happy hours with good friends
4. a good mind clearing, soul searching run.
5. my bridal party.
6. tuscaloosa on a game weekend. the excitement, the energy, all the ROLL TIDES and the food.
7. good quotes that make you think and make you write them down
8. random phone calls from friends i have not talked to in awhile and long phone conversations with good friends
9. my wedding dress.
10. when a guy opens my door.  it makes me think that chivalry is not dead.

and there you have it. i am now even more of an open book than i was before.