We Found It.

A few days ago we looked at a few houses.  Tonight we looked at another.  And it was perfect.

Things we liked:
- awesome floorplan (4-level split)
- fabulous landscaping
- seemingly nice neighborhood
- nice community
- a big, heated garage for Ben
- pretty wood floors
- close to Renee's parents
- far enough away from the city, but not toooo far away
- 3M vanpool will bring Renee to work
- nice deck

Things we didn't like:
- no fence, and a hard yard TO fence.  But we can work something out.

With that said, we are submitting and offer tomorrow.  If it gets accepted, I will post some pics on here!

A Little More Color in my Life

The best part of today was that I got a brand new box of crayons.  It's the simple things in life that keep us going, right?

My friend Linda is on the committee for Woodville, Wisconsin's spring festival.  They have a coloring contest.  Linda drew the picture to be colored and sent me a copy. 

I colored it - it looks beautiful.  The age limit of the contest is 12, but I don't care, because the way I see it, you are never too old to color.  Enough said.

Houses!

Today we looked at two houses, both in Wyoming, MN... not to be confused with Wyoming the state.

One was totally junky and gross, but the other one had potential.  Going to check out some others on Saturday to see if we can find an even better fit.

House hunting is fun - it's something I've been waiting for, for many years now.  But, it's also quite stressful.  I'm going to need plenty of prayers during this process - for patience, peace and guidance.

As I type this, I'm witnessing a sun-shower outside - I love rain....so much nicer than snow, am I right?

Happiness!!!!!!!

We're going hunting!!!!

HOUSE hunting!

Just found out today that the nice people at US Bank have agreed to give us a home loan!

It's been a long road for us, and we are so completely overjoyed about this great news!

So long, overpriced rental townhome....  Can't wait to be homeowners! Yay!!!!!

Denver

I realize we haven't kept up on this blog as we had hoped to.  What can I say, life has just been.... busy, for lack of a better word.

Anyway, here's a quick video that has been making me smile lately.  I hope you enjoy it!

Oh Happy Day!

Today was a really really great day!

1) This morning, Bill at work handed me $25.00 and said "Happy Administrative Assistants Day!"   I tried to explain to him that a) I'm not his admin, and b) Admin Day is 3 weeks away.   Still, he insisted that I keep his gift - what an unexpected blessing!

2) I was treated to lunch at the Lake Elmo Inn (my fave!)...to celebrate my nomination for the 3M Pyramid of Excellence Award.  I ate a garden salad, spinach & strawberry salad, pasta salad, snicker salad, dinner roll, steamed veggies, chicken, steak, stuffing, cheesecake, chocolate cake, strawberry torte, pumpkin cookie, marshmallow bar, brownie, and.... yep, I think that's it. 

3) After lunch, my boss called me into his office and gave me a raise.

4) I went out with my friend Liz after work.  We were planning to go to Chilly Time Coffee in Maplewood, only to find it surrounded by a bunch of thug-looking gangstas who yelled weird things at us when we pulled into the parking lot.  So, we picked up some bottled lemonade and sat outside at Battle Creek Park instead.  What a beautiful evening to sit out in the sun with a fabulous friend.

Thank you Lord, for this wonderful day filled with awesome blessings!!!!!!!

Running like the wind... Well, maybe not like the wind. More like a soft breeze.

Last week I started training for my upcoming 5K, which is scheduled for May 7.  The "Run for Hope" 5K is being organized by Brett Maxwell, who is the son of one of my coworkers.  Brett is a missionary in Tanzania, and is using 100% of the race proceeds to build a Christian preschool in the village he serves.

Check out this website for more details:  http://www.madalavillage.com/

Anyway, I started last week by just running 1 mile every other day.  This week, I'm increasing my distance to 1.5 miles.  My run went great tonight - mostly because I was surrounded by a beautiful sunset, a cool breeze, and lots of cute critters (ducks, dogs, cats and horses!).

I love the way I feel after running.  I try to explain it to Ben in a way he'll understand.  "It's like cleaning out your carburetor," I tell him.  He then tells me that cars don't have carburetors anymore.  I then have to point out the fact that I am a 1980's model, and I DO have a carburetor. :)   Seriously though, I feel so clean and fresh and renewed afterwards, like I've gotten rid of all the yucky inside of me.  It's awesome.

That, and it removes the guilt of eating a bunch of cookies earlier today.  Ha!

Lazy Saturday

What a lazy and wonderful Saturday!  Here's a recap:

- read about 100 pages of Dog On It.  This is a book that Ben read a while back, and now it's my turn.  So far, I'm totally loving it. 

- watched 3 movies  (while gorging on popcorn):  Crazy/Beautiful, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, and Music & Lyrics.  All mindlessly entertaining - just what I needed.

- folded giant heap of laundry.  Not fun, but somebody had to do it.

- stuffed face at Tai Pan.  Delish!

I hope your Saturday was as wonderfully relaxing as mine was!

Looking for someone to lend us $160,000. Can you help?

Nope, didn't think so.

But maybe US Bank can?

Today we met with our loan officer, Becky, today to see if US Bank would give us a home loan.  Our previous loan guy, Drew, said we couldn't get a loan until December.  Not good.  So, Becky is going to give it a shot, and she thinks it will be a slam dunk.

So, we are crossing our fingers that this year will be a year of home-ownership for us.  Becky thinks we'll hear something from underwriting around Tuesday, so, stay tuned!!!

Meatballs, Pasta, We Made Them Fresh For You....

Meatballs, pasta, we made them fresh for you

Homemade marinara, lots of garlic too.

Its your day at Buca, so were here to say

Have a happy birthday the Buca di Beppo way!  Hey!

 

The above are the lyrics to the Buca di Beppo birthday tune.  My brother, Tom, had the misfortune (yes, you read that right) of having it sung to him among a restaurant-full of clapping diners.  Ouch!

 

Today, my family gathered at Buca to not only celebrate Tom's birthday, but to simply catch up with one another during what my dad called our "annual meeting".   We learned that Mike and Esther love their new furniture and are looking at buying a new car this summer.  We learned that Janelle loves her new job at Bethesda, and that Tom got hosed out of his weekly bonus at work.  We learned that my dad is thinking about retiring in 2 years, maybe 3, or 4 at the most.  :) 

 

The conversation was great, and the food was even more amazing! We started with appetizers of bruchetta and calamari, followed by antipasta salad with bread and olive oil.   For entrees we had chicken marsala, chicken parmesan, spaghetting & meatballs, and baked rigattoni.  We also had side dishes of garlic mashed potatos, green beans and broccoli.  For dessert, we shared cheesecake, cannolis, and tiramisu. They almost had to roll us out of there. 

 

To put it simply, our gathering at Buca provided a great opportunity to catch up with everyone over a fabulous meal.  I'm hoping my dad decides that we need an "annual meeting" a little more frequently! Ha!

 

Rango

Tonight, Ben and I went out on a date, for the first time in what seems like years!  Originally, we had planned on going to the Orpheum to see Madagascar the Musical; however, after reading the reviews online, it sounded like the show was geared towards younger kids.  The adults were not giving very good reviews.  So, instead of spending the $112 it would have cost us, we decided to save some money and go to a movie instead.

We went to see Rango, an animated picture about a pet chameleon who ends up lost in the desert after his aquarium gets ejected from his family's car - apparently they're moving cross-country or something. 
Anyway, he ends up finding this little town of crazy critters in the desert; a town very short on water.  Long story short, Rango becomes the hero by saving the water supply and thus, saving the town.  Yay!

All in all, we liked the movie.  Lots of funny dialog got us laughing, and that felt good.  Here's to more dates and tasty popcorn in our future!

Pay to the Order of GMAC

Something amazing happened today.  I didn't think it would feel as good as it did.  I got out of bed, called my friends at GMAC, got the payoff amount on my car, sat down at my dining room table, wrote out a check for $343.64, put it in an envelope, dropped it in the mailbox, and did a happy dance for all my neighbors to see.

That's right.  I paid my car off.  What a wonderfu-ly awesome feeling.  It's like having a weight lifted off my shoulders.  It's not that my car payment was a burden, but we all know how nice it is to have some extra cash each month. 

My plan is to put this cash away.  Instead of paying for a car each month, I plan on putting that amount into our savings instead.  Hopefully I can stick with that plan, versus listening to that other side of my brain that's telling me to run out an buy an iPad instead.  Must. Be. Strong.