So, here's the skinny on our house hunting process.
2/4/11 - Date in which we first met with our realtor to discuss our finances and see if we really could afford to buy a house.
13 - Number of houses we walked through and jointly said, "nope."
2 - Number of houses we entertained putting an offer in on, but decided not to.
3 - Number of separate trips we took with our realtor to look at houses.
7 - Number of days that the hubs and I completed an awkward dance around each other as we were both completely baffled how the other person could love a different house. It was awkward. There was even a conversation of, "what does this say about our marriage if we love different houses." Yeah, I'm an oral communicator and over-talk everything.
45 - Number of days in which we decided not to look at our house even though during our first trip out with our realtor we looked at a house literally the next street over. No worries, that visit is what led us to fall in love with the neighborhood and really focus our hunt.
147 - Number of days our house sat on the market before we decided to stop on by.
5 - Number of crappy, cell phone quality pictures that were listed online for our house. Seriously, we couldn't even make out what 4 of the 5 pictures were trying to show. The listing agent should have been ashamed.
8 - Number of minutes we planned to spend in the house. It was the last house visit of the day and we were thinking, "the price did just drop another $15k, let's just look and see if it's liveable."
12 - Number of minutes it took us to walk around the house and yard. Finally, in the basement our realtor asked, "what do you think." The hubs didn't even look at me and said, "I'm done." I was already saying, "this is our home." It was perfect. There was no need to discuss it because it was everything we wanted, except for a garage!
35 - Number of minutes it took our realtor to call us after we left the house and informed us that there was a counter-offer already out on the house.
Eternity - Number of minutes the hubs and I just looked at each other and thought, "why didn't we go see that house sooner! It was right there!"
4 - Number of sleepless nights I had waiting for the damn bank to accept our offer! It didn't help that I was out of town and was getting very little updates via text from the hubs.
60 - Number of days we requested for the closing period.
67 - Number of days the bank counter offered for the closing period. That should have been the first hint.
11 - Number of days it took to get a signed contract back from the bank. Grrr!!!
20 - Number of days prior to our closing date in which the water was finally turned on. Double GRRRR!!!
6 - Number of days prior to closing in which a plumber was finally allowed to go into our house and fix a leak in order to gain FHA clearance for our house. At this point we were thinking we might be house-less very soon and getting extremely frustrated.
2 - Number of days prior to closing in which we received our final closing cost numbers.
16 - Number of hours prior to closing in which we received the final time for closing. Nice!
35 - Number of minutes the closing agent showed up late to the closing.
1,000 + - Number of pages of paper it felt like we had to sign at the closing.
I made the joke again and again during this whole house buying process that I finally felt like an adult. You can be a teenager or a drunk in Vegas and get married. However, having a bank verify that your qualified to buy a house felt much more adult-like.
Buying a foreclosure was incredibly frustrating. I never seemed to fathom why the listing agent and/or bank was so slow in their responsiveness. I understand that they both had a lot of volume, however the hubs and I were highly qualified buyers trying to take a foreclosure off of their books. It was really tiring and wore us down towards the end. We closed on our house over 30 days ago and there's still a lock box on our front porch. The key inside it has been removed, but the box is still there. That just says how lazy and unresponsive the listing agent acted from day one. I'm taking bolt cutters to the box this weekend and getting rid of it.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
San Juan, Part Dos
Let me first say that my Spanish is absolute crap! Seriously almost a week in San Juan and I got by with a warm smile and four simple things:
"Hola!"
"Gracias"
"No hablo Español."
"Cafe con leche."
Yeah, that's about the limit of my Spanish speaking abilities, which means I really need to dig out the Rosetta Stone CD and dive back in. However, all those of years of taking French were not wasted in vain because I was able to read plenty of documents written in Spanish and ascertain enough information to finish my work.
And next time I need to figure out how to buy more than 2 bags of espresso and 1 can of coffee beans to take home with me! I love dark coffee and being back in Puerto Rico was like a flashback to honeymooning in Brazil where the coffee was divine.
Besides working 10-plus hour days, I was able to enjoy a few moments of fun in San Juan.
Amazing celebration for Noche de San Juan celebration in the hotel's pool area. There was a beach chic fashion show that started at 11:30pm, which meant I drank even more coffee the next morning after being up until 1am. I'm way too old for that behavior on a work night!!!
"Hola!"
"Gracias"
"No hablo Español."
"Cafe con leche."
Yeah, that's about the limit of my Spanish speaking abilities, which means I really need to dig out the Rosetta Stone CD and dive back in. However, all those of years of taking French were not wasted in vain because I was able to read plenty of documents written in Spanish and ascertain enough information to finish my work.
And next time I need to figure out how to buy more than 2 bags of espresso and 1 can of coffee beans to take home with me! I love dark coffee and being back in Puerto Rico was like a flashback to honeymooning in Brazil where the coffee was divine.
Besides working 10-plus hour days, I was able to enjoy a few moments of fun in San Juan.
Amazing celebration for Noche de San Juan celebration in the hotel's pool area. There was a beach chic fashion show that started at 11:30pm, which meant I drank even more coffee the next morning after being up until 1am. I'm way too old for that behavior on a work night!!!
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Why hello there San Juan
I've been racking up the air miles as of late with quite a bit of work travel in the past few months. Some of my destinations haven't been that glamorous, such as Detroit, but this past week I've been holed up in West Palm Beach, FL and San Juan, PR. It's a rough life.
However, I have some very over-protective family members when it comes to living out of a suitcase. Back when I first started traveling for work, I had three quick trips in succession to Denver, Fort Lauderdale, and Newark, NJ. While having a celebratory birthday dinner with my parents in Newark my dad leaned over to me and said, "if I find out you went for a run in downtown Newark like you did in Denver, I'll beak your legs." He may or may not have repeated the same warning when I've went to Detroit, but you get the picture.
To add injury to insult, when the hubs found out I was going to take a train to go from West Palm Beach to the Miami airport so that I could catch a direct flight to San Juan he immediately responded with, "wait, you're going to go to Miami by yourself, in a suit?" My other option was to take a non-direct flight that had me backtrack to Atlanta and then fly to San Juan. I picked a train ride over the chance to have to run through the Atlanta airport and hope not to miss my next flight. Gesh!
Goodness gracious! I'm a big girl, I can handle myself on these trips.
And here's my hotel in San Juan.
It's not like I'm staying in a motel that rents out rooms by the hour here people. I just need Hilton and Marriott to like each other and let me combine my points total for a sweet vacation stay. Or, the hubs needs to tag along on a work trip.
However, I have some very over-protective family members when it comes to living out of a suitcase. Back when I first started traveling for work, I had three quick trips in succession to Denver, Fort Lauderdale, and Newark, NJ. While having a celebratory birthday dinner with my parents in Newark my dad leaned over to me and said, "if I find out you went for a run in downtown Newark like you did in Denver, I'll beak your legs." He may or may not have repeated the same warning when I've went to Detroit, but you get the picture.
To add injury to insult, when the hubs found out I was going to take a train to go from West Palm Beach to the Miami airport so that I could catch a direct flight to San Juan he immediately responded with, "wait, you're going to go to Miami by yourself, in a suit?" My other option was to take a non-direct flight that had me backtrack to Atlanta and then fly to San Juan. I picked a train ride over the chance to have to run through the Atlanta airport and hope not to miss my next flight. Gesh!
Goodness gracious! I'm a big girl, I can handle myself on these trips.
And here's my hotel in San Juan.
It's not like I'm staying in a motel that rents out rooms by the hour here people. I just need Hilton and Marriott to like each other and let me combine my points total for a sweet vacation stay. Or, the hubs needs to tag along on a work trip.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
We're homeowners!
As you may or may not have noticed, I've taken a nose-dive from posting and this little ol' blog has been collecting dust much of the past year. Well, I've had my reasons, but the main one being that the hubs and I were in full-on house buying mode. It seems every waking second has been consumed with house-buying relating things since January. The past 65 days since we put in an offer on our house have been exhausting. I'll go over everything in greater detail in the future, but for now I'm busying packing up and moving to our home.
Our home.
House.
Casa.
Maison.
Permanent place of residence for the next 12-20 years.
Like already bought a mailbox and cemented that bad boy into the ground. For the record, I was completely against the cement aspect, but the hubs went a head and did it while I was out of town. You win some and you lose some.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
It's a cinch!
One of my "goals" this year is to take more risks with my personal style. I'm a big black/grey/beige person when it comes to my office wardrobe. Sure, I have a few polka dot pieces that I like to mix in from time to time, but overall I'm pretty bland.
With this amazing bland outfit I did three things I don't usually do. And yes, my legs are that pale in person!
Cardigan - Banana Republic
Dress - Target (I've had this since college and wore it to both my undergraduate and college graduation ceremonies!)
Belt- Target
Shoes - Nine West
1. I wore a non-black, non-J.Crew cardigan! Yeah, you think I'm kidding, but I own the J.Crew Jackie cardigan in four colors: black (obviously), white, grey, and mint green. I'm twitching because I haven't purchased one yet this spring and I feel like I'm so far behind. And that's just the Jackie cardigan. I don't want to count the additional number of other black or J.Crew cardigans I own.
2. I belted my cardigan. I'm struggling to find skinny belts that work and the hubs keeps taking his darn braided belt back from me. The nerve of that guy! I'm not sold on the whole "high belt" look yet because I feel it just amplifies my already short waist and makes my top look even more stumpy.
3. I started my "new" job in October 2009 and this is the first time I've worn open toed shoes to work. They aren't explicitly outlawed in the company dress code, but I'm quasi-old school and I just don't like open toed shoes at work. However, it's been ridiculously hot this past week and peep toe shoes sounded amazing.
I'm also going to try to post more outfits here on a routine basis for a variety of reasons:
- there's enough daylight when I get home to take a picture. Taking a picture at 6:30am is just not going to happen.
- allow me to see just how much black I actually do wear.
- give me something to post on a routine basis
- get feedback on my outfits. The hubs is king of Mr. "you look great in that!" I'd like to believe he's telling the truth, but I know on some days he's totally full of it.
With this amazing bland outfit I did three things I don't usually do. And yes, my legs are that pale in person!
Cardigan - Banana Republic
Dress - Target (I've had this since college and wore it to both my undergraduate and college graduation ceremonies!)
Belt- Target
Shoes - Nine West
1. I wore a non-black, non-J.Crew cardigan! Yeah, you think I'm kidding, but I own the J.Crew Jackie cardigan in four colors: black (obviously), white, grey, and mint green. I'm twitching because I haven't purchased one yet this spring and I feel like I'm so far behind. And that's just the Jackie cardigan. I don't want to count the additional number of other black or J.Crew cardigans I own.
2. I belted my cardigan. I'm struggling to find skinny belts that work and the hubs keeps taking his darn braided belt back from me. The nerve of that guy! I'm not sold on the whole "high belt" look yet because I feel it just amplifies my already short waist and makes my top look even more stumpy.
3. I started my "new" job in October 2009 and this is the first time I've worn open toed shoes to work. They aren't explicitly outlawed in the company dress code, but I'm quasi-old school and I just don't like open toed shoes at work. However, it's been ridiculously hot this past week and peep toe shoes sounded amazing.
I'm also going to try to post more outfits here on a routine basis for a variety of reasons:
- there's enough daylight when I get home to take a picture. Taking a picture at 6:30am is just not going to happen.
- allow me to see just how much black I actually do wear.
- give me something to post on a routine basis
- get feedback on my outfits. The hubs is king of Mr. "you look great in that!" I'd like to believe he's telling the truth, but I know on some days he's totally full of it.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
One of those little moments
Life is full on crazy right now. I feel like I can't get my head above water to share anything, but hopefully soon all will be revealed.
No, I'm not pregnant!
In the meantime, I can sit back and laugh at my two dogs who are like crazed, mini Tasmanian Devils, fly to a complete stop to watch the hubs eat a Klondike Bar. It's the little things in life.
No, I'm not pregnant!
In the meantime, I can sit back and laugh at my two dogs who are like crazed, mini Tasmanian Devils, fly to a complete stop to watch the hubs eat a Klondike Bar. It's the little things in life.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Miles run in April
24.8!
Yucky! I actually decreased my pathetic mileage total from March. The really sad part is I ran a short leg in a marathon relay over the weekend and I had a blast. My team actually was the first mixed relay team (girls and boys) in our age group. Out of 54 mixed relay teams we can in 7th overall!
My four person team had a team member drop out the week before the race and my bestie ran a full half-marathon rather than doing a measly 8 mile run. That's my goal. To be in the shape and conditioning needed that I could have a week's notice and run a 1:50 half-marathon. Considering I haven't even come close to running a 1:50 half-marathon, it's safe to say I have a lot of work to do.
The frustrating thing is I know I can run quasi quick. I busted out a 7:36 mile during my race, so I know the speed is in there somewhere. I just really need to focus and start running on a more consistent basis.
I need to sign up for more races because those seem to keep me somewhat honest in my running. I have a ton of excuses, again, for why I didn't run this past month. I really need to pocket those and just head out for more runs.
Yucky! I actually decreased my pathetic mileage total from March. The really sad part is I ran a short leg in a marathon relay over the weekend and I had a blast. My team actually was the first mixed relay team (girls and boys) in our age group. Out of 54 mixed relay teams we can in 7th overall!
My four person team had a team member drop out the week before the race and my bestie ran a full half-marathon rather than doing a measly 8 mile run. That's my goal. To be in the shape and conditioning needed that I could have a week's notice and run a 1:50 half-marathon. Considering I haven't even come close to running a 1:50 half-marathon, it's safe to say I have a lot of work to do.
The frustrating thing is I know I can run quasi quick. I busted out a 7:36 mile during my race, so I know the speed is in there somewhere. I just really need to focus and start running on a more consistent basis.
I need to sign up for more races because those seem to keep me somewhat honest in my running. I have a ton of excuses, again, for why I didn't run this past month. I really need to pocket those and just head out for more runs.
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