Sunday, December 5, 2010

Homeownership

The day after I posted that we were buying a house....the bottom fell out. We found out, less than a week before our closing date, there were at least 15 repairs that had to be done on the house in order for us to get our funding....and the seller (bank) was not willing to pay for any of the repairs.
One of the repairs we had to make was moving our fence 17 Ft! The whole thing was an absolute nightmare, right up until the last half hour of our closing day. But we got it done, with a lot of help from family and friends, and were able to move in the day after Thanksgiving.
Our house was built in 1959 and after a week of living here we have come to expect most things not to work. We get really excited when they do though - especially when an outlet works, because most don't, or when a light works, thats pretty cool too. The joys of homeownership are upon us.

Sunday, November 14, 2010

An Actual Update

In most cases, I usually don't blog about what is actually going on in our little life, so I figured I would change it up a bit. Steve and I are embarking on our journey to homeownership. We are finally getting to the last stages of buying a house - we close escrow on November 24th (the day before Thanksgiving....its going to be a crazy weekend). After trying to buy a shortsale, waiting four months and still not even being close to having approval, and losing out on a couple houses we really liked, it is such a relief to finally be seeing the light at the end of this tunnel. Pardon the cliche. We absolutely love the house we are buying - and are so glad none of the other houses worked out. Its got a front porch (an absolute MUST for me), a big front and back yard that is irrigated, hard wood floors, crown molding, four bedrooms, three baths, and an adorable kitchen. Granted, the house is old (1956) and has some really weird quirks, like no hallway light, or no outlet in the masterbath anywhere, but we love it and are excited to make it our own.
Now we just need a refridgerator, washer, dryer, and a new couch. Black Friday? We are terrified at the thought. I don't want to get murdered over a fridge!
Our new home!

Monday, October 25, 2010

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Steve and I were parents of a 4 year old girl for about 2 seconds a week ago. Though brief, I think we learned a lot about parenthood in that time.
We were in the dairy section in wal-mart, strolling along, chatting about how mad I was that wal-mart had the audacity to run out of 2% milk.
In the midst of my rant about wal-mart,suddenly there was a little girl, holding on to our cart with one hand, like she belonged to us.
She must have wandered away from her mom, by basically walking backwards and just assumed that any cart near her was her mom's. Rookie mistake.
We didn't want to startle the poor thing when she realized we were in fact not her mother - so I cleverly said to her "We're not your mom! hahaha!"
Then she ran away.
Thank you little girl for teaching us not to let our unborn children latch on to other people's grocery carts.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Only a Year?

September 5th was our yearmark...feels like more. Was there really life before marriage? Seems like a vague, distant memory. At any rate, its been a fun year and I feel like a lucky woman to be the wife of my husband.
In celebration of our year of a happy marriage, we went to Sedona to relax. Or so we thought. We high centered Steve's Civic after about twenty minutes of being in Oak Creek Canyon. Stupid concrete that has a foot drop off! They have horrible roads in Oak Creek Canyon - lucky for us, we stumbled upon a nice mexican family who had a jack and put some nice big rocks under our front tires and pushed our car out of the mess we made. Crisis kind of avoided, I mean we still had a crisis, just not for very long. We high-tailed it to our hotel shortly thereafter and snuck into the Hilton's pool, like we are so good at.
Here are some pics that no one cares about but us.

Monday, August 23, 2010

22 Going On 14

This past Sunday was our Stake's Youth Standards Night. Steve was obligated to go since he is in Young Men's, and he guilted me into going with him. I really don't like going to these events, mostly because I know we are going to run into a million of Steve's current/past students and they are all going to want to talk to him about how much they miss him, what a great teacher he was, blah, blah, blah....while I stand by with absolutely nothing to say to these hoodlums. This time, however, the pain of it all was much more acute than usual. The evening had progressed as I expected, after the program ended Steve and I stood in a circle talking to past students of his, when one of the student's parents approached the circle, looking at me inquisitively, like he was trying to remember my name. Let me just say, I have had a conversation with this man, he is a high councilman and he speaks at our ward often. He spoke. "Are you...are you his wife?" referring to Steve. "You look like one of these 14 year olds." Thank you sir. That was a very kind thing you've just said, thank you for giving me a complex about going in public with my husband. This guy must have thought to himself that Steve was a pedophile scamming on some 14 year old girl. I will not be attending another Standard's Night until I'm in my 30's, just to be safe.

Monday, August 16, 2010

Our new family member

Since the day I moved out of my parent's house I have been hard up for a piano to play, and my skills are starting to dwindle (in unbelief). My darling husband is well aware of my pining to have a piano of my own to play whenever I want, so he bought me a piano for my birthday. He tried to keep it a secret so I would be surprised, but I beat it out of him, then I felt guilty about it =).
We got to bring it home today, and I am just tickled. It makes our home feel more like a home. And its probably going to drive our neighbors crazy because the piano is against a shared wall...oops.

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Tribute to Sugarland

Disclaimer: If you happen to read this blog, and also happen to like Sugarland...you may not want to read this post. I'm not exactly saying that anyone who likes Sugarland has horrible taste in music, but mostly I am. I occasionally listen to county music while I work...one can only take so much of 99.9, so any change is welcome. Last week I hear the new Sugarland song and my entire world is just rocked! Not at all because this song is awsome, quite the opposite in fact. It is called "Stuck Like Glue", and the best way I can sum this ditty up is this: country meets Blacked Eyed Peas meets reggae meets Mary Poppins meets the beginning of that new Train song. So basically Sugarland is going through a sincere identity crisis that Steve and I truly get a kick out of.....we've been listening to it so much this weekend we're probably going to end up liking it if we're not careful. Here is a really homemade youtube video some 14 year old girl made of the song.....listen to the whole song and you'll see what I mean. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUCjLLpAFLI

Saturday, July 31, 2010

Haircut Test

Growing up, my mom always cut my dad's hair. So, I just figured after I got married I would cut my husband's hair and he would be ever grateful I wanted to provide this service to him. Not the case. Something about the fact that I have never cut a single head of hair in my entire life made Steve a little nervous. After almost a year of my begging him to just "let me try" I finally came up with a fail proof plan, that I am surprised I didn't think of earlier. About a week ago he started talking about wanting to buzz his hair instead of going to Fanastic Sams to save a few bones. So I smartly suggested that he let me try to cut his hair first, and if it turns out to be a wreck, he can buzz it like he had already planned to do. To my delight, he reluctantly agreed. We bought some scissors, and some new clippers, and I got to work! Turns out I am an awesome hair cutter. He was shocked at what a fantastic job (where's the faith?) I did and didn't even have to buzz his head. Needless to say, I am quite proud of my new found skill. He insisted on not wearing a shirt during the process, and wouldn't even let me put a towel around his shoulders. So by the time I was done, he had thousands of hairs pretty much glued to his skin. Oh-la-la!

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Family Campout

This past weekend my family had their annual family camping trip at Turkey Springs. It was good times, and great weather. I love when it rains up north - whereas when it rains in Mesa it just becomes hot and muggy instead of just hot. Anyway, Steve is a "faithful" mate drinker, meaning he drinks it at least twice a day, and camping is not an exception to miss out on this daily ritual. Mate is a drink from South America, its a dried herb that smells like hay. Basically he heats up some water, pours some mate in the bottom of a french press, pours the hot water in, and compresses the leaves to get all the flavor out, adds some sugar and he's in heaven. Not a typical camping drink, I mean who brings a french press camping? My family got a kick out of it as well - mostly because he brought the mate in a plastic baggy so it suspiciously resembled a nice little stash of marijuana. It caused quite the controversy. Between my brother announcing to my family that "Ginger and Steve are in mom's trailer drinking marijuana!" and my oldest neice coming into the trailer to see steve sipping, and come to the terrible conclusion he was breaking the word of wisdom by drinking tea, I think we'll leave the mate at home next year and save ourselves some explaining.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Noteworthy

So I haven't posted anything in a long time and the longer I wait the harder it gets because I feel like I have a lot of noteworthy events to report on and it overwhelms me, kind of like the length of this neverending sentence I've just created. So, in an effort to not overwhelm myself, and mostly so I can stop blogging and continue reading the second Hunger Games book, I'll keep it brief. 1. No we are not moving to Flagstaff. 2. Yes, we hate the traffic there and we are not too fond of the hippy atmosphere 3. No, we did not get accepted to ASU this year semester. 4. Yes, I hate ASU for screwing up Steve's application and for putting our lives on hold for another semester. 5. Yes, we made an offer on a really cute house in Mesa...too bad its a shortsale. 6. No, we haven't heard a peep from the seller's lender yet and its been about a month. Not looking too promising, but we're hanging tough. 7. Yes, my poor young-men's-president-husband has deserted me yet again for a campout. This time, Geronimo. And he won't be back until Thursday night...Thus "Hunger Games". 8. Oh, and no, I have not had a baby yet...not that I know of anyway.

Sunday, May 30, 2010

"In Review"

VS. Those are the two most terrible words right now. Everyday for the past 6-8 weeks Steve and I have seen those two little uncaring words printed on our computer screen. We are waiting to hear back from ASU because Steve applied to their Spanish Master's program - and we can't do anything until we get a yes or no. "In Review" is simply not helpful. The problem, or blessing depending on how you look at it, is Steve has already been accepted to NAU. Not only was he acctepted to their program, but he was offered an Assistanship (sp?) - meaning he would get paid to teach part time at the university and 75% of our tuition would be paid. The only problem is we don't want to move to Flagstaff. We would much rather stay here and buy a house. But we can't make any sort of decision until we hear back from ASU. It is agonizing - I guess the Lord knows that we need to learn patience.

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Pretending to be Rich

We're finding creative ways to get out of the house but not spend money, or at least very little. Yesterday Steve and I spent the morning at the pool at Gainey Ranch(its a really nice resort/spa in Scottsdale). Technically one needs to be staying at this awesome resort in order to take advantage of their "water playground" as they call it, but we snuck in, and tried our best to look like we were rich little honey mooners, as opposed to the "on a budget and saving for a house" newlyweds that we really are. Its fun to pretend to be rich, as Steve puts it, "its like we're getting away with something." Check out this link to see just how awesome this pool is. You can't see it in the pictures, but they have an actual sand beach at one part of the pool, no waves, but its quite lovely. I have some beautiful tanlines as a result of a day well spent. http://scottsdale.hyatt.com/hyatt/hotels/gallery/photos.jsp?hotelId=2220&start=12

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Mrs. Willard

I don't know if this happened to a lot of people when they got married, but we got a ton of cards that said, "To Mr. & Mrs. Stephen Willard." Willard is Steve's middle name. Are wedding announcements really that confusing?

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Firsts

Every morning, the first thing my little ears hear in the morning, like most people, is an alarm clock. In our case the alarm sound is none other than the the theme song to Magnum P.I. It makes me want to just jump out of bed and wear really short white shorts and chase bad guys down. It's very motivating, to say the least. The first thing I see when I walk down our stairs to grab a bowl of Quaker Oatmeal Squares (the hint of brown sugar kind) - is this little guy...the frog, not the cat. Do you like it? I love it! We got it at Ross! The first time we turned our A/C on since last October was yesterday - it was completely depressing. Oh how I hate the summer's here. The first time Steve has been called to serve as the Young Men's President was today. Our Bishop is a funny man - he started out by telling us that he has heard horrendous (sp?) things about our sunday school class and said we were being fired. We laughed, then he leaned back in his chair and got a serious face and said. "Seriously though, we're releasing you." Then he just seemed tickled to death to see how scared Steve looked after he extended the Young Men's President call to him then he told Steve to take a bow when he announces the calling in church next week. Goofball. I realize this blog has absolutely no direction - I started with Magnum P.I and ended with a church calling...really?

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Garage Sales

Garage sales make me happy and I had great success this past Saturday hitting them up. I think it scares Steve when I go alone - he's afraid I'll come home with yet another chair we don't have room for. Below are my two most recent finds - can I please boast about how cheap I got them? I got these candlesticks for .75 cents each! I got this little piece of art for $5 bucks! Go me!

Saturday, March 13, 2010

I feel obligated to blog

For whatever reason, I feel like I should blog (probably because so many, many people wake up hoping to hear the latest from Steve and Ginger and I don't want to let them down.) I have decided that I am no longer talking to my hair - we are not on good terms. I knew the day would come that I would wish my long blonde hair to magically reappear on my head, that day was about a month ago. I realize that I have no one to blame but myself - and my hairdresser for allowing me to tell her what I wanted and actually doing it. On a happier note, I got a raise yesterday - and last Saturday my boss lended Steve and I his season Sun's tickets, which may or may not be on the 9th row (we forgot our camera, so unfortunately we have no proof). And our cat plays fetch. What more can a person want? (besides awesome hair)

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Annual Sugar Overload

Easter season is great. The weather is awesome, General Conference is near, we celebrate Christ's resurection, and Sweetart Jelly Beans blossom on the grocery store shelves. My first sighting of these sour, yet delightfully sweet, beans of jelly was about two weeks ago. I am now on the bottom of my second bag. Steve hates them. I think I may be on the brink of a slipping into a sugar coma .

Monday, February 15, 2010

We Almost Got Rabies

In honor of the ridiculously-expensive-bouquet-of-roses-holiday we like to call Valentine's Day, Steve and I took a little trip to down south. Beautiful (actually its pretty dirty and a tad bit scary) Rocky Point! We were there for less than 24 hours, which is long enough. Not saying we didn't have fun, but there are only so many mexicans to take advantage of, and only so many waves that you can run away from because the water is so cold. Here's a little photolog of our time among the brown folk and lots old white couples from Minnesota. Picture taken, compliments of an old white man from Wisconsin (or some other cold state) Clam mouth. It's a real disorder, very serious. But even worse is pointy-seashell-nose-disease. 14 people died last year from PSND. Don't we look happy? I don't think I have ever looked better. We rented a four wheeler and took a little joy ride through some dunes. This picture was taken just prior to us almost getting rabies. We were riding through the neighborhoods, pointing at all the shabby shacks while jingling coins in our pockets, teasing the poor kids when out of no where this big black dog started coming at us...and fast. Steve and I were both screaming like little girls as we watched my foot almost get eaten off. Finally the dog gave up -- when we reached the top of the road there was a little boy who saw the whole thing just laughing at us. This is an actual castle house, literally made out of trash in the middle of the ghetto. Castle+trash+ghetto=Awesome. Angel Steve We spent the end of our day laying in this cool bed on the beach watching the ocean, and unfortunately some gay dudes in speedos pranced into our line of sight and kind of ruined our evening. So we left and drove all the way home. The end.

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Husband vs.Cat

Below are the differences between coming home to a cat verses a husband... Cat Husband

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Witness Protection Program

It appears that I have joined the witness protection program, or, even better, I'm like Jennifer Garner in Alias, except this is not a wig. I needed a change. Too bad it's not an act of me being noble, like Jo March in Little Women. Why am I comparing myself to all these fictional characters? I've no idea. But at any rate, check me out! and tell me it looks good and I made a good decision. I need soothing words to calm my regretful little soul.
At least we'll save on shampoo...

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Last week's adventures

Last week was an interesting one. Thursday after work, I was making my little way home, and trying to be quick about because Steve and I were attempting to make it to the six o' clock session. But my journey was slightly impeded, mostly because I slammed my car in the the back of a really nice Sequoia. Good work on my part, i know. I have never been in an accident before. Thankfully I wasn't hurt and neither was the lady I rammed into like a billy goat, but my car did not fare nearly as well. Currently my escape resides in an auto body shop. While dealing with the lady I hit, the cops and calling Steve, my main focus was to stop my hands from shaking and NOT to cry. I cried later, and realized that my life actually will go on. These are the times we are grateful for insurance and for a brother in-law that is an insurance agent.
On a happier note, Steve and I got a kitten on Friday! We drove all the way to the back scary creepy deserts of Maricopa to pick up our free kitty. We named him Mate, not like the austrailian mate, but like the south american drink Steve decided to become temporarily obsessed with yesterday. Its pronounced MAW-TAY. He's kind of a freak, the cat, not Steve, but he makes us laugh. I forgot how kittens attack everything that slightly moves.
Anyway, so it was an eventful week. Hopefully I get my car back next week, otherwise Steve is going to have to give me vampire rides everywhere.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

The Unicorn of Love

These are the notes Steve took today in sacrament meeting. He's a brilliant artist.
-Up top there, you can see Adam & Eve on the verge of transgression.
-Then we have the unicorn rainbow of love. We have a magical type of love.
-And the bottom fella there, is NOT a member of the KKK, in fact he is the lead singer of The Red Hot Chili Peppers as he appears in their first music video entitled "True Men Don't Kill Coyotes."
The topic of our sarament meeting was about focusing your thoughts. Done and doner.

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Resolutions

Today's Releif Society lesson focused briefly on New Year's Resolutions. I haven't made a list of resolutions since I was in junior high. I always felt like New Year resolutions gave people an excuse to improve themselves, and I would think, why do we need excuses to change? Shouldn't we want to improve anyway, everyday? Anyway, today I felt differently about New Year's Resolutions as women in the room shared what they were going to personally improve this year. It made me realize that I haven't consciously written down something that I need to work on in years. I'm not above New Year's Resolutions! I have lots to work on, but I decided, for now, to start working on developing a few good habits and as I succeed I'll gradually add more to my list. This is what I have so far: 1. I want to write in my journal at least every other day (I've tried the every day and it can become daunting). I haven't written in my journal once since I have been married. Its horrible, I used to be much better. I remember a talk given by President Eyring a few years ago. He said for an extended number of years, he has been writing down every single day how he saw the act of God in his life that day. I actually tried doing that, I was faithful for about two weeks (impressive right?) so not long, but it was a memorable experience and I remember feeling truly happy when I would look for things to write about that night. Every other day. We'll see how it goes, but I have high hopes. 2. This one is embarrassing and short-term. I still haven't sent out our Thank You notes from the wedding (four long months ago). I will send those out by the end of January. So for now, just two pretty small resolutions. Baby steps.

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Rubber Sole Surprise!

Today my husband came home from throwing away some garbage in our complex, like usual he looked like he just threw up. (Some background info: our trash receptacles, nice word I know, are beyond disgusting. Breathing while throwing something away in is not recommended or safe.) But today he seemed to have an elevated level is disgustedness on his face. Apparently he was bravely approaching the dumpster when he felt his foot land on something soft and slippery. After slipping, he regained his balance to determine what had caused this unexpected disturbance in his equlibriam (sp?). The culprit? A dirty, poopy diaper. He came home with some baby's poop on the bottom of his shoe. I was no help whatsoever, mostly because I was laughing so hard. I'm not sure what is worse, stepping on a poopy diaper, or on a dead squirrel. Yes, I have stepped on a dead squirrel. It was squishy and I did scream. That happened about three years ago in Connecticut durng my nanny days and I can still vividly remember what that stupid squirrel felt like under my thin shoe sole. Its was horrible and tramatic, obviously. Oh the things we step in....or on.