Call me Crazy

I'm not totally sure how I'll feel about these $85 in the next few months, but I've been thinking about running a full marathon for awhile now and hopefully 2010 will be the year. I'll know by May 7th if I've actually made the lottery drawing.

Just getting after getting the keys.

View from the front door:

Living Room:

Kitchen:

Master Suite:

House UPDATE

Okay I mush apologize for leaving you all hanging like that. I wish that I could tell you all I have been busy trying to close on a house and packing to get ready to move. But unfortunately... No. Here's how it all went down:

Friday: Submitted an offer

Weekend & Monday : No news.

Tuesday:
12:00 pm - My Realtor, Rodney, calls to tell me they have submitted a counter offer. I figured they would counter but it was still pretty close to my original offer so I was pretty much ready to go with it. They gave me until Wednesday to at noon to respond so I told my realtor I needed to think about it for a few hours.

12:30 pm - Rodney calls me back to tell me that someone else has submitted an offer on the same property and it has now moved to a "multiple offer situation," What ever that means. So the seller took back their counter and gave me until 10:00 am Wednesday morning to submit my new and best offer or keep my original.

The rest of Tuesday was just STRESS! Trying to figure out what to offer and hope that it was just better than the other guys.

Wednesday:
9:45 am - Submit a new offer (which was even higher than their counter offer back to me), and that agreed to close by the end of February.

10:00 - fax all my financial info to the lender to get the loan process started so is they do accept my offer we really can close in 2 weeks.

1:00 pm - meet with the lender and talk $$.

4:00 pm - meet my Dad who happened to be up in Salt Lake for work to show him my almost house.

Continue to wait on pins a needles all day for the phone to ring... by 9:00 pm...Nothing.

Thursday:
Continue waiting.

11:30 am - receive email from my Realtor that says they should be making a decision soon, but both offers were very close.

1:00 pm - receive phone call from Rodney telling me they went with the other offer. BOO!!

I've been having mixed feeling about it for sure. A little relief because it was at the higher end of my price range, but also upset because it felt like they sold it out from underneath me. It was definitely a roller coaster week, but now I'm back to looking again. :(

House Hunt

So I'm doing it. I've been wanting to buy a home for some time now and I finally think I'm ready. You know with mortgage rates and prices so low (or so they say), first time home buyer tax credit, etc. now is probably the best time as any. Not to mention that I'm tired of living in my bedroom. Keeping my ironing board in my dinky closet. Having the blow dryer, hair and make-up stuff in my room because there is no other place to put it in the bathroom. Not using my new knife set, mixing bowls, nice silverware, etc. because I'm afraid it will not get taken care of. Having to share and coordinate a kitchen schedule with 5 other people. Miscellaneous food in the refrigerator that doesn't get thrown out because no body knows who it belongs too. Having practically zero storage space for anything. Only having a tiny space in the fridge with a cardboard shelf. You know I'm sure we've all been there. But basically, I'm just ready to move on.

So I've been looking around a little since about October but really hitting things hard since the beginning of the year. And I think I've found something!!! Something I love enough to actually make an offer on. So that is what I'm doing this afternoon - sitting down with my Realtor and writing up an offer on this town home!! I'm a little nervous but super excited at the same time. It's about 2100 sq. ft. (1600 finished) in Riverton with a beautiful kitchen (I think) and a really nice patio and deck in the back.

Front

Kitchen

Hard Wood Floors!!

Master Bath

Deck

So keep your fingers crossed for me! I hope they'll accept my offer and things move forward. I should hear back by Monday or Tuesday of next week. Wish me luck. :o)

Funny Story

A conversation I had with Kelly, my boss, before we left the office Wednesday night.

Kelly: Are you doing anything fun tonight?

Me: Not sure. Zeniff and I were supposed to do something, but I've been trying to get a hold of him for an hour and he's not answering his phone.

Kelly: Maybe he had an appointment/job interview that he had to run to real quickly.

Me: No. He's probably out with his roommates snowboarding or taking pictures. Somewhere where he doesn't get reception. What are you doing tonight?

Kelly: I'm exhausted, my eyes are burning, and I'm going home and going straight to bed.

Then we walked down to the parking lot and left. Zeniff ended up calling me ten minutes later and we made plans and went about our night.

Conversation I had with Kelly the next morning.

Kelly: Natalie I have to tell you something. Come here.

Me: Sure whats up?

Kelly: So you know how you couldn't get a hold of Zeniff last night? Well right when I got in my truck yesterday there was story on the radio about three young guys that were caught in an avalanche and one of them was killed. I was just sure that it was Zeniff and his buddies and I was so worried. I thought "I need to call Natalie. I've got to follow her home to be there when she finds out that it was Zeniff." But then I thought "What would Zeniff have on his person that would connect him to Natalie? How would the authorities know to notify her?" So I was sick to my stomach (literally) all evening. I stayed up to watch the late news just to find out if it was Zeniff so I could go pick you up and be with you when you found out....I never knew how much I loved Zeniff until I though he was dead.

Now I don't mean to make light of a tragic accident in the canyon. I'm sure their families and loved ones are grieving now. But I can't help but smile a little that Kelly was so worried. Because I know she was probably pacing around her house all evening, car keys in hand, waiting to hear Zeniff's name on the news so she could run out the door, and drive to American Fork to come pick me up. She's great just like that.

On a side note: Last summer while Zeniff and I were in Rome, Kelly and here husband were also there at the same time celebrating her birthday. We got together with them one day and went sightseeing and things. But now when ever anyone asks me what did you get you boss for her birthday? I say "We just got together for lunch in Rome." :)

True Love

I am in love with these. There I said it. I seriously can't stop eating them.
I went to the grocery store Monday to grab something healthy for lunch, bananas, crackers, etc., ya know, and I was fine until I saw these cookies on sale. They are usually pretty pricey for cookies so when I saw the sale, I caved. Only problem is, now I have a huge bag in my desk drawer and I can't stop eating them. I'm eating some now just writing this. I've even been known to eat until I feel kind of sick (which really doesn't take a lot because they are super sweet), then wait just long enough for the sickness to wear off before eating more. I refuse to look at the nutrition facts, but I think I can feel the pink frosted pounds settling right on my butt.

But so far... it's totally been worth it!

Birthday Fun

So yesterday was birthday. I turned a quarter of a century old; Yep the big 25. Crazy! It was a fun day though. My roommate made me a delicious breakfast then I went to work. We had a pretty busy day at the office, it was our 10-year Anniversary celebration. Big open-house, cameras, news reporters, the works! I did manage to skip out a little early though to make it to dinner with Zeniff. We went to Tucanos and ate some really fabulous food. Everything was so yummy, but what really got me was the grilled pineapple. I've had it before but it is seriously like a little piece of heaven on earth! (my mouth is watering now just thinking about it. Delicious!) Anyway, then we finished of the night hanging out with good friends and going bowling.

Thank you everyone for all the birthday wishes. It was a super-fun day.