To be or not to be...Grateful :)

The Way I See It it is good to be grateful. I have so many things to be grateful for and I hate how I let little things or life get in the way of recognizing how blessed I really am. I am trying a new thing where on my way to work I go through a mental list of all of the things I have to be grateful for. I always think of my husband, family, friends, dogs, the house, my job, money…you know the bigger things. Then I try to think of all the everyday things that we take for granted like the sunrise, or the chill of winter, breathing, waking up, sleeping in and smells like fresh cut grass, coffee being made or breakfast being made. Since I have been doing this I actually feel better and have a better attitude towards the day.

So today I encourage you to be grateful for something, no matter how big or small, just be grateful for all that you have and can do. It may just make a difference in you.

Business Extravaganza: Part 1

The Way I See It I have been talking about making a change for a long time now and I am finally setting up my plan to put into action. I have always had a real desire to start my own business and be my own boss. I have always hated having to get up in the morning and it gets worse when you have to go to a job that may not be for you. Don’t get me wrong, I am extremely grateful to have a job especially in this economy. BUT there has always been something missing in teaching for me and it has never really been my passion, but something I happened to fall into that I was actually very good at. The money isn’t the best, but it could be much worse and the benefits are amazing. Summers and holidays off aren’t bad either ;) My mother always said don’t do something that you wake up hating everyday no matter how much money you make or how good the benefits are, it’s simply not worth it. I know I should heed this advice and so now I am taking steps to get me to where I want to be. I love working with animals and I love getting time to do things in my home like make home cooked meals, clean and organize and have time to myself to do what I need to get done. We want to start a family and if God blesses us with a child I want to be able to stay home and raise them too. So I have decided to start my own business. Maybe not in the traditional way, but in my way. I have decided to blog a bit about it because I need other people to hold me accountable to what I say/post and to keep me on track and provide me with necessary feedback. I really want to know what you think and please give advice as you see fit. Please note I will not always heed such advice but I will take everything you all say into consideration.

The plan…

…has many parts to it and some aren’t as thought out as others. Here goes nothing. I want to get back into the dog sitting world again. Chris and I did this when we lived in the other house and I absolutely loved it. Chris wasn’t as into it as I am but he still helped out a lot because teachers take home a lot of work and we don’t get out when the kids do, despite what you may think. So he helped but this is not his dream or passion, it is mine. So the plan is after this school year to stop teaching and do dog sitting as my career here in my home. I need to get rolling on the whole fence thing in order to make this a feasible business to do. I also want to do some other things like make doggy treats and hook up with local groomers/businesses to put some of my businesses goodies in their stores and then in return I will send business their way from my clients. I only want to do business with places I like and have checked out thoroughly before I send a client there. I also want to look into the world of organizing. For people who either hate to organize or don’t have the skills, time or patients to do so that is where I would come in and do it for a fee. Yup, three businesses in one and 1 out of 3 is from left field, I get this and I still want to look into doing them all. On top of all this by staying home I’ll be able to coupon more and save more money on top of everything, YAY!

The List…

1. Contact a land surveying company to survey our property. (No for some reason this wasn’t done when we closed on our house.)
2. Set a date and get the land plotted out.
3. Fill out the fence request to build form for our HOA.
4. Price fence materials to see if we can do it cheaper than the quotes we have.
5. Plot where we plan to put the fence and get rid of any obstacles that may be in the way. Ex.Trees, brush, who the heck know what else we live with woods outback ;)
6. Set up my business plan.
7. Look into making it a registered business with a name. May or may not be done.
8. Pick out a name for the business. (I really already have this I just like checking things off of my list, haha)
9. Make up a liability form for my clients to sign, you know so I can’t get sewed and lose everything if say a dog runs away or gets bit by another dog I’m watching. (Please pray none of those things ever happen here)
10. Set up rules that the clients must follow. Ex. All dogs must have all shots up to date and flea and tick meds.
11. Set up a filing system for said rules and dog files.
12. Save money for the fence and all materials.
13. Contact our old clients to see if they would be interested in using us again.
14. Print out a fence plot map for our HOA to approve with the form from #3.
15. Start making treat recipes and seeing how our dogs like them.
16. Find package material for the treats and labels
17. Work with local store owners to sell my treats in their stores or to use for advertising space.
18. Advertise in our community newspaper about the organizing and dog businesses.
19. Find out if I need a kennel license to run such a business since I only want to do this when people are out of town not like a doggy daycare runs things with dogs everyday being dropped off and picked up in the same day.

That is what I have so far. What am I missing? I know a lot of you have started your own businesses and I need your help. We are going to try to set this up without a lawyer, what is your advice on that? As always thank you for reading I hope you enjoy the ramblings of my life ;)

So I Am Giving It To GOD

The Way I See It right now I am in a time of reflection. There are some things that I am not happy about right now but also they are things I cannot control. As I talk with my wonderful friend Hollie she always has a way of putting things into perspective. “You’re in this season to learn something and until you learn it, you are just going to stay there no matter how much you don’t want to or how hard it is to be there.” I understand that philosophy and believe very much so in it, BUT I sure don’t want to believe it when I am in a spot I no longer want to be in, yet am stuck in. I feel stuck. As in, I’m not 100% sure what lesson I have to learn unless it is that I need to give things to God. Instead of always worrying about something, I just need to give it to God and let Him do the worrying for me. So tonight that is just what I did... I gave it to God.

The Bane of My Husbands Existence

The Way I See It, working on do it yourself projects can be fun, exciting, a learning experience, a sense of great accomplishment and pride when it has been completed. This project, the getting our driveway sealed so it doesn’t start to crack and turn to rubble project, has been in my husbands words “the bane of my existence.” and he wasn’t joking. We had been “planning” on getting this driveway done in May, but with all the rain it was put off until June. With June came a plethora of people either staying here and visiting us or we were off visiting others every weekend. One weekend in June my in-laws came up to help with the driveway and we got the first half down without a hitch and it looked and still looks great. Since then the second half of the driveway has been sitting there begging to get finished so the rain could do it no harm. Finally Sunday night after a great and relaxing evening my husband decides tomorrow is the day to finish the driveway and we were going to get up early to do it. “Yeah you can get up early but I’ll be sleeping” was my response. Sure enough 9 a.m. came and my husband was up and at’em. Finally at 10 I decided it was time I got up to help and I did. It was hot as all get out. (So hot that you may see in the pictures how the lens was all fogged up just from bringing the camera outside.)

Chris working hard and the camera lens fogging up.

Finishing up the rest of the trim around the sidewalk with a sqeegy of course.

Sealer on my feet. Good thing I do my nails myself or I'd be o so mad.

5 ½ hours and a whole lot of sweating later we were done…finally.

We shower since we were covered in sealer and dirt, amongst other things and then we sat down out on our porch to enjoy some food. Not too long after that I hear It. No it wasn’t fireworks or the dragging of a trash can down a neighbors driveway, “it” was thunder. My first step since I don’t know how this is going to affect our newly sealed driveway is to do what most folks my age do, consult my facebook friends. Me on fb-“So how screwed are we if we just finished sealing our driveway an hour ago and now its thundering” A high school friend responds with if its not dry it will wash away, making the answer to my posted question to be pretty darn screwed. Then a call from my sister in-law to my husband. Stacey-I just saw Sarah’s post, you guys need to head to a hardware store to get some tarps to cover the driveway. Chris-The closest place is 30 minutes away and that doesn’t count heading into the store to find and purchase these things. Stacey via Neil-Have any big garbage bags you could use instead. The next thing I know we are running out to the shed to get the big black trash bags and lay them on the driveway. Since we didn’t have enough to cover the areas we felt were still wet we drag out the cover to our lawn furniture and get what we can. Thanks to my husbands need to extreme coupon all those Whisk bottles sure did come in handy when used as weights to hold down the bags. We used the empty sealer buckets and some miscellaneous things like branches and such and as the rain came down we ran back onto the porch where of course I grabbed my camera and snapped away. Now this was no rain storm, this sucker turned out to be the kind of rain storm where is comes down in sheets of rain so hard and so fast that you can’t even see two inches in front of your face. O yeah good times had by all. There was nothing to do but laugh at our luck, which I did hysterically. My husband didn’t appreciate that, haha. So this morning I got up to view the damage and damage there was. The whole put some thing down to keep the rain off didn’t work it just held the water on top of the spots that were covered until I uncovered them. This left lost of dirt and nice wavy lines of sealer across the back half of the driveway. I say well lets get some more sealer and fix it, my husband says I’m calling someone to hire to do this. I give up, the driveway wins…

Our attempt to save the driveway. It's this dark at 5 at night.

 The aftermath.

 Big Booooooooo :-(



One Thousand Gifts

The Way I See It, there are so many things that I am grateful for. This is where my One Thousand Gifts will be updated each week. My goal is to write down at least 5 things that make me happy, that I am grateful for. And so it begins…

1.       The sun. I love sunny days no matter warm or cold there is something about the sun that is just mesmerizing.

2.       Our dogs. Each one with a unique personality that you can’t help but love.

Chester

 Tippy

 Miyagi

 Tyger Lilly

3.       Our screened in back porch. No bugs and a roof over your head in case of bad weather. I think this is the most peaceful place in our house.

4.       Flowers. Everything about them makes me smile. I love the colors, the smells and how they make me O so happy.

5.       Gardening. Although its in pots, I love to grow fresh produce I can use for different things.

My mint plant

6.       House plants. I love house plants, which is probably why I have so many.

7.       Rooting plants. There is nothing like bring something back to life to make a whole new plant.

8.       Purple plants. Purple (my FAVORITE color) + plants = Fabulousness ;)

9.       My husbands love for Auburn Football. There is just nothing like the look on his face while watching a game.

10.   Art. I love to get lost in a photo or painting. This is something we need more of in our home.

11.   Our Military. Those who have served and continue to serve in our armed forces.

12.   Plug Ins. I love getting to pick out scents to fill my home.

13.   Photos. I love to take them, post them and hang them in my home. I love the memories they keep and the art they can be used to create.

14.   Lying out in the sun. Enough said ;)

15.   Kenji Sushi. The best place with the best food and the best people around.

16. Fall or Autumn however you like to say. To me it is the best season :)

17. Apple picking

18. All the delicious baked goods you can make from apples. Apple Crisp, Apple Bread, Apple Cake, Apple Jam, Apple Dumplings...

19. Decorating my house for the seasons and holidays.

20. Cleaning my house. Yes I am that neurotic that I do enjoy a clean house and feel a great sense of accomplishment when it is done :)

21. My mom. She is simply the best :)

22. My husband. He puts up with me...enough said.

23. My nieces and nephews. It is crazy how fast they grow up and what amazing people they are.

24.Warm rain storms. Nothing like playing in the rain.

25. When the power goes out. With all that technology brings that is positive its nice to get away from it for a little while.

27.My Dyson Animal Vacuum :) If you own one you so know what I am talking about.

28. Walks with my Ched and my husband.

29. Hiking through the different parks we have near the house.

30. Meeting new people.

31. A nice glass of wine after a long week, or day.

32.The squirrel's that chase each other around the trees out back.

33. Sitting on the roof, gazing at the stars.

34. Wishing on stars.

35. Being able to see Pastor Buddy's message through the Internet since I can't view them in person.

36. Reconnecting with old friends.

37. Picking up where you left off with friends you only get to talk to once every few weeks.

38. Learning from my mistakes.

39.Positive people. They bring you up and never let you down ;)

40. Improving our home with our own two hands.

41. Seeing God's grace in the life of a friend.

42. Learning to let go...

43. Long phone chats with good friends and family.

44. Advice...the good kind that is.

45. Baking

46. Seeing the leaves change colors and the airs getting crisper.

47. All the "smells" of fall.

48. Slow cookers. It's like the meal magically produces its self ;)

49. Hugs from former students letting you know you have touched their lives in some way.

50.Pumpkin patches, apple orchards, hay rides and corn mazes.

51. The crisp morning air that takes your breath away.

52. My little brother. I am so proud of him and all that he does to take care of his family.

53. The wind on a hot summer day.

54. Washers

55. Dryers

56. My laptop, without it I wouldn't be as in touch with my friends and family back home.

57. My health.

58. Getting up every morning and being able to do so with ease.

59. Snooze buttons.

60.Curtains, they have the ability to change a room.

61. My husbands determination to build his poker table and he did.

62. Snuggling with my pups.

63. A warm fuzzy blanket.

64. Our fireplace in the family room.

65. The internet, without it I could not do as much research as fast.

66. Recipes

67. Homemade banana nut bread.

68. Hot chocolate on a cold morning.

69. Waking up to the smell of your favorite foods cooking.

70. Pumpkin spice coffee from Starbucks.

71. Swagbucks it takes no effort at all and I get free amazon gift cards.

72. Free samples

73. God

74. The Secret, even though I am still trying to master that.

75. The power of positive thoughts.

76. Being able to read a book for pleasure.

77. Mindless TV when you just don't have the energy to think anymore.

78. My home.

79. Having no car payments right now, yet still have a car for each of us to drive.

80. Pregnancy tests

81. Ovulation predictor kits

82. Doctors who know what they are doing.

83. Fabric spray

84. Candles

85. Christmas cards

86. Happy Birthday wishes giving them and recieving them.

87. Homemade meals of all kinds.

88. Guacamole

89. Watching your friends children growing up so fast.

90. Have a core group of fabulous friends.

91. Learning to let go and be ok with letting go of friendships that have run their course.

92. Standing up for myself when I need to, even if it may not look like the best idea/plan to others.

93. Learning to be my own person.

94. Being happy with myself.

95. Changing what I am not happy about with myself.

96. Reading outside.

97. The warmth from the sun on your skin.

98. Fire pits and cool evenings.

99. Entertaining at the house.

100. When everyone leaves somewhere having had a GREAT time.

101. Gaining new friends.

102. Learning something new about someone you have known for a long time.

103. Learning DIY tricks and tips.

104. Creating a craft myself.

105. The sounds of childrens laughter.

106. Being able to eat what I want, when I want and it not making me huge.

107. Being able to exercise.

108. Comfortable shoes.

109. The feeling of just cut hair and how weightless it makes you feel.

110. Coats for cold dogs.

111. Dreaming dogs and the sounds and movements they make.

112. Being able to type faster than most.

113. Realizing you made a mistake and owning up to it.

114. Saying I'm sorry.

115. Forgiving.

116. Decorated Christmas trees.

117. Decorating for the seasons.

118. Giving to charity.

119. Feeling good after giving to someone in need.

120. Being a mentor or good example to the people around you.

121. Pinterest.

122. Learning how to dress better from pictures.

123. The feeling of freshly cleaned sheets.

124. Taking a mental health day to recharge.

125. Having options.

Coupon Crazy Train???

The Way I See It, my husband has taken a ride on the coupon crazy train and he isn’t getting off anytime soon. Yes, I am perfectly aware that I am the reason he is doing this since I started “normal” couponing about a year ago now. Then Extreme Couponing on TLC came on TV which I forced my husband to watch and that is when he decides that is how to do couponing. Ever since he has been off and running and there is no stopping in site. Now I may be making fun of my husband’s new “thing” but it has saved us quiet a bit of money I must say. He got 60 bottles of Propel water and they paid HIM 50 cents a bottle to take it out of the store. We have numerous rolls of paper towels that he got for free as well as 41 Minute Maid juices for free. Then there are the multiple boxes of cereal and pasta that we are still trying to plough through that he got for all of 37 cents. Here is just a taste, in pictures, of what this crazy train is starting to look like in my shed and in the spare bedroom that will someday (hopefully soon) be converted into a nursery ;) Meaning the stuff needs to find a new home, lol.

I found these hiding in the trunk.

This is in the shed.

And here is the left overs of the 60 propels in the spare bedroom.

And what is left of the cereal and pasta, again in the spare bedroom.

Yea welcome to my crazy life ;)

Summer Lovin

The Way I See It, there are a lot of things I want to do with my summer vacation along with taking vacations ;) Just a few of the things to top off my list is to do some more landscaping with some pretty hosta plants (finally some great looking shade plants) and any other plant I can find to spruce up the place. I want to get more decorative pots for my inside plants as well. I find that I am having trouble realizing that we own this home and I shouldn’t do things the cheap way because we will be here for a long time and I want it to look nice. I want to take more pictures since I have really fallen behind on that and everyone that knows me knows I LOVE me some pictures!!! I don’t even care what the pictures are going to be of just as long as I like them that is all the matters. I may start tonight with our sushi dinner my husband is bringing home for me. Mind you my sushi and most people’s sushi is very different and to meet my last goal there will be pictures to come.

Cream cheese, avocado and cucumber rolls with some Miso soup, yum ;)

 I also want to concentrate on not only finding furniture for our house, my main priority being a dinning room set, but to also find some front porch furniture and decorations like the spiral topiary trees I just need to break down and either buy or make. I also want to take my husband up on the getting up early to exercise like he has been trying to get me to do. I think I’ll start that tomorrow ;) There are some crafty things I would like to try out as well. I would love to do more pictures as mentioned before and I think I am going to try to make the topiary tree and see how that goes before I drop some money on pre-made ones. I want to do and see more things around VA. I feel like we go to the same spots all the time and I would like to go to at least 2 new places a month with my husband and our friends. I need to be a more positive/optimistic person and will be working on that as a little summer project as well. I am going to start doing my One Thousand Gifts where I will be posting the little things that make me happy and that I am thankful for. Other people in the blogging community are starting this due to a book called One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp and it seems to fit my summer goal just magically. My plan is to post at least 5 things a week I am grateful for which will help me with my last goal to blog more. I might want to add reading the book to my list too, hehe. Lastly I love to read other peoples blogs. It doesn’t matter if I know you or not I like to read about what other people are doing and enjoying. So I have decided to set some time aside to read more blogs and write more blogs. Now writing more I have found is easier said than done but I’ll hopefully have more luck, at least during the summer.

We already have a few trips planned that we are looking forward to. This weekend we will be in Savannah, Georgia visiting with Chris’s family and then at some point in July I’ll be off to NY to visit my family and friends. I also plan to take full advantage of our pool either for a relaxing time to myself or with our friends. We absolutely have more home improvement projects to do like finishing the back half of the driveway and putting up the dog run. Other than that who knows where else life will take us. I guess we’ll see…

Life Lately

The Way I See It, life is too short and we don't take advantage of it often enough. There are too many times I find myself plopped on the couch in front of the TV or even more so the computer, just staring at nonsense. I am trying to cut back on those things since I really only watch mindless TV and end up checking facebook 25 times while trying to earn more swagbucks or trying to find ways to save or eat better on blogs. I don't think there is anything wrong with checking fb or blogs or earning swagbucks unless it ends up being all that you do. I am trying to get out of my spending too much time with technology so I have bought several books. Now by several I mean 6. A little excessive I know, but I really wanted all of them. I find that I am trying to find myself spiritually lately, so those books pertain to those sorts of things, plus some bettering myself and my marriage books too.

Now as I continue my venture to live healthier and exercise, which I might add I am really doing well at. (I am eating much better and exercising at least 3 x per week, YAY ME!!!) I find that I need to cut back on my mindless activities that I have a love/hate relationship with. I love mindless TV where you don't have to think you just watch. Something about that calms me during a stressful day which I have many a days, but I could be doing so much more with my time. I find when I am not engaged in such mindless activities that I will give myself a to-do list or a making a list of ways to better myself that can end up stressing me out. So here I am on here rambling to you about my quirkiness.

My new goal is to cut back on computer and TV time and focus more on preparing homemade meals, reading good books, spending time with my family (dogs included) and friends, finding a church to call home and joining different activities through the church. Those are some things that I think can be productive instead of mind numbing. Have you noticed yourself spending too much time doing mindless things that lead to nothing? What would you like to do instead to benefit yourself, your family or both?

Healthy Living: Day 6

The Way I See It, I have to start this eating and exercising thing off on the right foot.

I consider this to be Day 6 of healthy living and so far in these six days the worse things that I had to eat were 3 chocolate chip cookies, 1 frozen meal and about ½ a cup of Hawaiian punch. Now let’s make this clear, I am not in any way trying to lose weight. I am simply trying to live a healthier life by eating less junk food like chocolate, fast food, packaged meals, etc. and to add in some form of exercise at least 3 times per week. I think I am doing a great job so far. On Saturday we went grocery shopping and we put no “junk” snack foods in our cart, it was mostly fresh veggies and fruits. I even bought 2 big bottles of low sodium V8 in case I found myself unable to build up the courage to chew any more veggies ;) Coming home Saturday I was so happy with myself. I did my squats that night and went to bed at a decent hour. Sunday we did about 5 hours of yard work all while still eating right. I consumed many bananas that day since they were easy to multitask with while eating. As the work week has come around I find that after Chester and I go for a walk I come home to eat some wonderful farm fresh organic granola (www.redtruckbakery.com) with yogurt and fresh fruits. Then when Chris gets home from work we have dinner and the left-over’s I get to take to work so I’m not eating frozen meals as much any more. I think my biggest challenge is going to be not overindulging when I do have a cookie or two. Yesterday when I had to make cookies for a coworker’s birthday, I found myself really REALLY wanting to eat as much cookie dough and right out of the oven cookies as I could. I surprisingly didn’t but after having the dough and a cookie I found myself at work thinking about candy and cookies and (I know this is weird) Dunkin Donuts jelly donuts constantly. So when I got home, before Chester and I went for our walk I had a cookie. Now every time I pass the bag on the counter I want just one more. So far I have avoided having another, we’ll see how after dinner goes…

Times They Are a Changin

The Way I See It, I started off very excited about saving money in order to get out of teaching and then I went and bought a house. Makes perfect sense, rrriiiiighhtt. After doing a lot of soul searching I know that I would much rather be paying for a house that will be mine than to be paying for someone else’s mortgage. I know that we are much happier in our new home where we can make decisions, do add ons, change where outlets are, paint and just have the freedom of knowing all the work you put in adds to the value of your own home, not someone else's. Now does the purchase of this home make it easier for me to get out of teaching? Uummm not even close. It does however, bring joy to my life and I love entertaining in it and changing things to make it just how I like it. As for my goal to get out of teaching, that is still there.

We are doing better on our grocery bill as far as using coupons. We have not yet met my goal of only spending $160 per month. I don't even think we are close. One thing I do need to take into consideration is the fact that we do shop at Costco and buy in bulk so the food and pantry items last for more than just a week or a month. Those costs I have to figure out, but even taking out the Costco items we are still not meeting my goal. It is hard because Chris does the grocery shopping so I can get other things around the house done and he doesn't see the real importance of shopping for just the items we are going to use for meals, using coupons and then buying nothing else extra. We are still working on it and every Sunday morning you will find me at my kitchen table cutting coupons, looking for deals and making my weekly meal plan. I read that it is better to only do your shopping once a month with the exception of fresh produce and I want to try that, but I need to find the time to get all of that together. I'm thinking in the summer when I don't have to work will be when all that comes into place.

Then my next goal is to eat healthier. Yep why not add something else onto my plate, I know. This is a need to do more than a want to do for more than one reason. First I have been so sick for over a week now and I think some of it could be avoided if I were healthier with my eating and exercising habits. Since all I eat is my three meals that can very in quality healthy ingredients and the rest of the things I eat consist of sugar and chocolate, I figure that is not the best diet to have. To improve my health I need to start eating better and adding in some form of exercising at least 3 times per week. Besides trying not to be sick all the time and get in shape, if I want to start a family soon I need to be healthier. Those who know me know I'm beyond skinny, I'm scrawny. If you saw my diet you would think I weighed in at 300 pounds, but as genetics would have it I can eat what I want and how much of it I want and I can't gain a thing. Most of you hate me now but it is just as hard to lose weight as it is to gain weight and both of them require eating healthy and exercising to improve, so easy on the hate.

My first step to eating healthy is to get this magnificent granola from Red Truck Bakery (www.redtruckbakery.com) that I first discovered at a restaurant called the Boathouse here in Richmond. It is the most amazing stuff EVER!!! It is hand made with farm fresh produce and best of all I don’t have to travel the 2 hours to get it, I can order it online. The plan is when I want a snack instead of chocolate I'll mix some of this granola that I love with some Greek yogurt and fresh fruit. So here I am all ready to get this stuff. So I place my order and it says my card was declined. So I try our joint card and it says the same thing. Then I try Chris's card and it says the same thing. Now before you think I’m weird for not being upset my card was denied, we just changed the addresses on the cards so I thought maybe it hadn’t gone through on that card yet, making it decline it because the billing address and shipping addresses were wrong. Thank goodness before attempting to put it on the credit card I check my bank accounts to see that the order has went through as far as the bank is concerned 4 times. So as of right now I have about $150 worth of granola coming my way. So I have to call in the morning to get that all straightened out, obviously. If this is any indication of how my new eating plan is going to go, I don't think it's going to be easy.

So I ask you, what are your healthy and most importantly tasty recipes that you are willing to share? How do you cut costs down on the healthy foods that we all know are more expensive?

Holy cow I bought a... HOUSE!!!

The Way I See It, it has been a very long time since I have posted anything and one reason would be the fact that I did indeed purchase my first home. I never thought this day would come especially not as soon as it did. It all started when I was sitting around looking out the window in our rental home and I noticed the house across the street went up for sale. I did some research, found out it was a foreclosure for only $130,000 and it was much bigger than the house we were in. So I thought "why not?" I talked it over with Chris and he called his realtor friend, who is amazing!!! (If you are in VA and looking to buy I have a wonderful realtor for you.) So she came over and showed us the place and before you knew it we were looking for our first house together. The cheap foreclosure across the street, well, that one did not work out, it had a bit of a mold problem, yuck. But in 3 short weeks we found the house of our dreams. Our realtor kept saying not to expect to find a house that had everything we both wanted on our list and boy was she right. I would really like a house and Chris would hate it. Then Chris would find one he loved and I would hate it. We were looking all over our area and his sister, who is moving to Chesterfield, kept sending us links to houses in Chesterfield where I did not want to live. So of course we found ourselves adding Chesterfield to the area of places to look for houses. As we were looking at the 15th or so house which I hated and he loved, our realtor said her co-worker had a house in the area that we might like if we wanted to take a look at it. We said it can't hurt, she called the owner and off we went.

As we pull up in the neighborhood the homes here are all big, NICE homes. Not little starter homes that we figured we would end up with. As we pull up to the house and we are walking up the driveway Chris and I both look at each other and said "Yea...we can't afford this." with some disappointment in our voices of course. Our realtor says this is on the high end of your price range, but it is defenitly an option. The owner was home with her unusually protective chocolate lab and they stepped outside for us to view the house. Now I spent more time looking at houses than Chris, so therefore I had spent more time with our realtor. I was always asking how do you know if it is the house for you. Jeannette-the realtor said about 90% of the people she has worked with just know its the home for them once they are in it, but at the same time 10% don't. She said but she thinks that I would just know since I know what I like and don't like and was willing to compromise on our list of "must have's" in a house. So here we are in the beautiful home and I find myself doing a happy dance upstairs in the dressing room (yea, you read it right a dressing room) She just laughed at me while my husband was trying to keep his cool. I looked into my husbands eyes and I could tell he loved it too. So extactic about this new house we litereally drove to the realtors office to make an offer that night. Mind you this house was not on our list and we did no research on this house before we say we want to make an offer. So after the excitement wore off a bit I frantically call my friend of 25 years and have her look up everything she can about the house while I drive to the realtor office 45 mins away. Thank God nothing bad came up or I probably would have cried.

So here I am 2 months later all moved into that house we thought we could never afford in one of those neighborhoods you dream about finding yourself in. It is a wonderful colonial, 2 stories, 4  bedrooms,  2 1/2 baths, formal living room, dining room, family room, eat in kitchen with a bay window, screened in porch with an attached deck, master bath in the master bedroom and of course, the dressing room. The only thing this house did not have that was on BOTH of our lists for our dream home was a fence, which we are in the process of getting quotes for now. Aaaahhhhh I must say, life is good...


                                                                Family Room

                                                                          Kitchen

                                                                   Screened Porch