Honestly, I'd Rather Not Be There

About 2 years ago, while I was still working in the Bay Area, the house across the street from our office went up in flames. A man (who lived there alone) was making himself a mid day snack of bacon and eggs when he started a small grease fire. By the time he drove down the 1/2 mile driveway the house was completely up in flames. (Our office was located out in the middle of wine country so it was kinda rural). That day I had decided to go home early (for no real reason other then I was bored) so I missed the whole excitement. The next day when I came into work, I looked out my office window and saw the charred skeletal remains of the house.

Six months ago a brand new apartment complex located a few blocks from our office went up in flames. The flames shot up over 100 feet from the 4 story building. The flames and smoke smothered our office. That day I had decided to take the day off work (for a reason I don't even remember). Once again I missed all the excitement.



Today, a woman was driving her car down the street with 3 loose cats in the car. The woman lost control of her car, drove between my building and the tree lined sidewalk, before hitting a tree and then the wall below my office window. The entire office shook with the impact from the car. Five minutes earlier I had decided to grab an iced green tea from the local coffee shop. I wasn't going to get a tea but one of my office mates convinced me at the last minute.

Once again, I missed all the excitement. Coincidence or not???

Obligatory Picture Post

To see each picture bigger, just click on the thumbnail.

One of the biggest selling points of this house was the fact that it had cathedral ceilings in the living room and master bedroom. Big mistake!!! 17 foot high ceilings meant that painting the house on our own was a major bitch. To complete the painting we had to rent 2 story scaffolding from Home Depot and Dave had to perch on the very top while attempting to paint. In this picture Dave is standing on the 1st story of the scaffolding. While he was on the 2nd story I was too busy pacing the floor to be able to take a picture of him.

Dave and I on the way to Yosemite. Notice my awesome new sun glasses. $15.99 at Target.

While we were touring the Yosemite valley floor it decided to snow on us.

Here I am ready to kick some ass at the Jack-N-Jill shower. I hate opening presents at showers. I think it's SOOOO boring to watch someone open each present and exclaim "OOOOooo! Just what I wanted. Thank you." I feel like saying "ummm ... Don't act surprised that you just got a toaster. You registered for the damn thing. Of course it's 'just what you wanted'. This is such a waste of time". So of course I was not looking forward to the fact that my future MIL was insisting that I open presents at our shower.

Our new bamboo floors and couch. I am in love with this room! I can't wait to buy curtains so that we can complete the room. Here is a picture of what the room originally looked like.

I wasn't going to pay a calligrapher $2 per invitation to do the writing on our invites. Instead I bought a book at a local hobby store for $15 and learned how to write calligraphy so that I could do all the invitations myself. I think they turned out pretty nice if I say so myself.

This is my mom, me and grandma at my bridal shower. It actually turned out to be a rather pleasant experience (my mom and I have a tumultuous relationship).

I be up in the gym just working on my fitness

For four solid years I worked out at the gym 6 days a week. My common routine included 4 days of 50 minutes cardio, 2 days of total body strength training, 1 day yoga or pilates, and 1 day kickboxing or step. This all stopped a year ago when I hurt my back. For 4 months after the accident I wasn't allowed to exercise (beyond walking). When it came time for me to get back in the rhythm of working out I had moved to San Diego and my work days were long and hard. When I finally finished my 10 hour work day I was often tired which became my common excuse as to why I should skip the gym that day. I occasionally participated in a weekly yoga class as well as a weekly belly dancing class (fun but expensive) but I never could get back to my gym routine which I loved so much. I've said it before, I'm not naturally skinny. I need to go to the gym to stay at a reasonable weight and not to mention I find exercising to be a completely cathartic and emotionally relaxing experience.

For the past 2 months I've been so busy with house and wedding stuff so going to the gym has not been an option. I think this was the perfect break that allowed me to stop stressing over my exercise habits and really focus on what I should do to get back to the gym routine. I decided that what I needed to do was wake up 30 minutes earlier in the morning, exercise, then come to work 30 minutes later in the day. In the beginning I would only work out 15 minutes per day then as time progressed I would increase my work out time by 5 or 10 minutes until I hit my goal of 50 minutes per session. In addition I plan on attending 2 evening mat pilates classes per week.

Today is day 2 of my new work out plan and I must admit that even though I'm not a morning person this new plan is working out beautifully. I have no excuses at 5:30 am as to why I can't go to the gym and it feels good when I get off work knowing that I can go straight home, sit on my butt, and not feel guilty! I feel like a giant weight has been lifted off my shoulders.

PS - Only down side to starting a new gym routine: I am SO hungry, ALL the time! Feed me.

Parting of the Sensory

I'm alive ... barely. For awhile I thought that this house was going to kill me. Then I thought that the wedding was going to kill me. I was pretty sure that work was going to kill me. Then I thought that Dave was going to kill me (or I was going to kill him, whichever came first). My life is now more settled and I've never been so grateful to be able to sit down at the end of the day. For the past month my day has begun at 5:30 am and not ended until 10:30 or 11:00 pm. I know that others have it much harder then me but I couldn't help but be stressed out by all that was going on in our lives.

Things I have done in the past few weeks:
* had a bridal shower
* finished painting inside of house
* installed bamboo floors
* addressed and stuffed wedding invitations
* flew to san francisco bay area
* drove to yosemite
* toured the yosemite valley floor
* completed food tasting and wine selections for dinner (mmmm ... beef wellington)
* taken engagement photos
* met with dj and made all song selections
* had jack-n-jill shower
* packed entire apartment in one day
* moved
* broke my right hand middle finger
* unpacked entire house (holy cow it feels good to be "home")
* worked
* lost a few more pounds (I'm at 34 pounds total now)
* began working out, again (tomorrow is mat pilates and I am SO excited)

When I began this blog I never intended it to be a journal of my days. It is a nice way to keep in touch with people but I was really hoping that instead it would be a place where I could exercise my creativity and writing skills. I'm naturally an analytical thinker and sometimes I feel like I need to work extra hard at being a creative person. Unfortunately, these past few months have been so busy and I feel like I don't have time to explore my emotions. Each time I blog it ends up being some type of catch up post. This aggravates me greatly and I'm hoping in the future to change that. We'll see ...

Things I Love

Dear 7/11 stores, Chevron Food Marts, Arco, and Other Convenience Stores

Please begin carrying my favorite water. You ruin my day when I walk into your mini-mart location only to be denied my bubbly goodness.


Sincerely,
Perrier Lover

Brought to you by my lover, Treo

Some people have issues with their hair. They can never find the perfect hair style. Some people have issues with their personal style. One week they are hippy chic the next they are hipster. Luckily for me I've always had long-ish hair (it suits my face) and my style has always gravitated towards Gap casual and I don't really feel any need to change that.

For me my issue has always been with purses. My purse cycle always seems to go in this same order:
1. Find cheap purse that I love. Cheap purse falls apart because of shoddy workmanship.
2. Buy expensive designer purse. Fall in love with designer purse's luxurious lining and many amenities. Designer purse quickly goes out of style and I curse the fact that I just spent $250-500 on a purse that was only useful for one fashion season.
3. Go back to cheap purse (and repeat over and over).

And for fun, sometimes I also toss in these experiences:
1. Buy purse that is too big but can fit everything! Back begins to ache from carrying around mammoth purse and purse items rapidly become disorganized. As I stand at the Macy's cash register fishing for my wallet I curse big purse.
2. Buy purse that is small and cute! Unfortunately, half my stuff doesn't fit into purse and I need to leave most of my essentials at home. But! purse stays organized and is easy to carry. After certain amount of time, I attempt to fit all my essentials in compact purse and end up not being able to close the zipper/latch/etc.
3. Attempt to find perfect size purse. Fail. Purchase purse that is too small or too big (depends on my mood). Repeat cycle.

Errrr ... At this time, I've been carrying around the cutest designer purse that has this wonderful pucci silk lining. I LOVE it except for the fact that the purse is way too small and I can't fit anything in it. So my purse odyssey has begun again. I've looked at every retail store and have yet to find a purse that I like (I can't even find a picture of a purse on-line to show you an example of what I am looking for.) Luckily, I live 2 miles from a Dooney & Burke and a Coach outlet store. I've promised myself that I wouldn't go back to a designer purse that will quickly go out of season but I found these and I think they are cute (but price-y). The price we pay for a good purse. Ughhhh ...

It's My Birthday Month

Meet my new lover, Treo. He and I have fallen madly in love with each other. He puts my previous cell phone to shame.


Meet Treo's friend. I love the friend almost more then I love Treo.

Bloggerdash

What I've been up to over the last week.

Officially Bought a House - We closed escrow last Wednesday. Escrow is complicated!


Painted a House - I almost went crazy trying to make the trim perfect. So far we've painted the living room and master bedroom. We have so much more to do!


Visited Balboa Park (a San Diego must see!) - I had a meeting there last week. I never realized how interesting and historic the Balboa Park buildings were and I only saw about a 1/10 of the park.


Saw a Vehicle Blow Up - A truck in our apartment parking lot had an electrical short and caught fire. The new-ish F150 Ford truck was parked about 20 feet from my car and 200 feet from our apartment! Scary stuff when you're lying in bed and then all of a sudden you hear someone scream "fire! fire!". Dave quickly moved my car while I ran and got the camera. Luckily where we live we don't have AC (it never gets hotter then 80) so we keep our windows open year round. Otherwise we might not have heard the screams of fire and my car would have met the same melted fate of the white car in the pic.


The End

Things That Annoy

After losing 24 pounds AND dying my hair back to it's natural color of dark, dark brown (almost black), does anyone notice?
Answer: Nope.

My previous hair color


My current hair color (but not a current picture)


Don't you think that people would notice these things???

Enamored

New Modest Mouse album + Me = Euphoria

I've been listening to the new Modest Mouse album "We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank" non stop all day. By far it is the best Modest Mouse album ever released. I can't get over how awesome some of the songs are. My favs are Fire It Up, Little Motel, Steam Eugenius, and Spitting Venom. I highly encourage everyone to check out Modest Mouse (especially if you've never heard of them before).

PS - I'm also falling a bit in love with the band Beirut. They have a very funky and original sound. Kinda like a melodic carnival for your ears. Check out their myspace page to hear some samples. I'm a sucker for indie bands.

I Do Love This Town

The Land of Sun, Sand & Sea

Temptations

It's a cold, rainy and gray day here in Southern California. The type of day that makes me want to change into my comfy pajamas, watch TLC, and eat a french toast bagel while drinking a cup of hot chocolate. Unfortunately, I'm stuck here at work and I haven't had sugar or carbs in 4 weeks so there will be no hot chocolate or bagels in my immediate future. [sarcasm] This is the life. [end sarcasm]

Countdown: 12 Weeks

Less then 3 months to go until our big day! It's all coming together and I'm getting more and more excited and nervous to see how this all shapes up.

This weekend I got back in the motivated wedding mode. I decided to create frames with table names (versus table numbers) because I thought it would be a creative way to showcase "us" plus I didn't want people to fight over who was at table 1 and who was at table 10. Each frame is named after a location we've been to and has a picture of us as well as a brief narrative of our adventure while in that location. I had so much fun (and I'm soooo not a crafty person) that I think I'll do my own programs. It'll be fun and a great way to save money too since most of the on-line vendors that I've found who can do programs charge between $200-$400 dollars. Not alot but I'd much rather save money if possible.



In other wedding news, I found my wedding day shoes on zappos.com. Aren't they so pretty!

I also want these shoes just because I think they are cute and would look good with a few dresses that I own. Dave thinks I'll break my neck walking in them.


And in the last bit of wedding news, this weekend we also selected the guy's tuxes and I found my bridal lingerie. It's exactly what I was looking for. White with blue ribbon.


To complete our productive weekend, Dave and I also found a couch. We selected this awesome wrap around with the chaise lounge in the green-ish color below. It's hard to believe but we're scheduled to close escrow in just one more week. Eek! We're so unprepared.

Happy Bday Fluffer Man

One year ago my little kitty boy was born. My love for that little guy is so big that sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night to make sure that he's still sleeping soundly in a ball near my feet. I wanted a cat for so long and I can't imagine a better kitty to own. Happy Birthday, Fluff.

Doing what he does best, sleeping in cute positions.

Curled up near my feet.

Eating dinner on his first day home. So little!

Happy 1st Birthday (yes we are dorks)

Bienvenidos

Hola. I've been boring, busy, and sick lately (in that exact order). To be honest nothing much is going on here in the land of sun, sand, and sea. With the upcoming close of escrow and home renovations, I made a pact with myself to get as much wedding stuff done as possible. In the last 3 weeks I've ordered the invites and thank you notes. That's it. I'm not sure where my motivation went but it's definitely not here. I also have a ton of house stuff to do too such as contact contractors so we can have the popcorn ceilings removed and I really haven't done that either.

Things I have done:

* Lost 17 pounds. My clothes fit so much better. WOO!

* Walked around the home and garden show with Dave. It was held at my very favorite venue ever. A racetrack set near the beach. It's wonderful to be walking around outside, with the sun on your back, and the ocean breeze upon your face.

* Went to geology training for work. Learned lots of cool stuff such as that Santa Barbara (SB) used to be located directly above San Diego (SD) but due to earthquakes over millions of years, the land was relocated 220 miles north and the LA basin was formed by the subsequent void left between the 2 cities. See this cool animation to see what I mean. (If you're not a Cali native, the red lines are all earthquake fault lines. The really big thick red line is our very active San Andreas Fault.)

* Convalesced. I got a nasty cold that has left me tired and snotty. What a lovely combo.

Our 1st Home

Click here to see a slideshow of pictures of our 1st house. Pay attention to the notes on the bottom to see our plans for the house. Enjoy!

They Say It Gets Harder

Ummmm ... I think we just bought a house. I'm still in a little disbelief that our offer was accepted so easily and quickly. We saw this house on Thursday and I immediately knew that it was a great house for us as well as a good investment in a great neighborhood. Dave took a bit longer to agree but after he did we submitted an offer on Friday for $10k below the asking price. On Sunday night our offer was accepted.

The house is a 3 bed / 2bath split level located within a country club and is 1800 square feet. Six months ago a similiar house in the same neighborhood sold for $529k. Our house's price: $428k ;-)

I Love Weddings

Holy cow. It seems like our wedding is approaching like a wild fire. I'm quickly realizing that I have so much to do before the big day. Less then 4 months! I'm really excited but at the same time I'm trying to drag my feet. I know that the day will go by so quickly and I really want to savor this whole experience.

This week I've been focusing on the poem:
Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue
My something new is my wedding dress.
Something borrowed will be my Grandma's pearls
Something blue will be this cute set of bra & panties (or something similiar)

Any ideas for the something old???

My biggest accomplishemnt this week has been selecting the invites. THANK you einvite.com for ending my invitation saga!!! I absolutely love this design and I love the paper it's printed on. In real life the color is less grey and more sage. Most of all I love the price: $342 for 100. WOO!


And in the last bit of news, I found the perfect jewlery for my bridesmaids. I'll post pics of that after I buy the other bridesmaid and groomsmen gifts.

Maggie & Me

Do you hear that sound? It's the sound of pigs flying. I have found a wedding dress that I love. Actually, love doesn't even portray the true extent of my emotions. I LOVE love this dress. I can't stop starring at pics of it on the internet, that's how much I love it. Laaaaaa, Laaa, LAAAAAAA!!!!! (That's the beer in me singing. Dave started drinking at 4pm, I started at 6pm. Dave practically never drinks especially since 5 weeks ago he quite smoking. I think we're getting drunk tonight. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for some sex making later on. But anyways, I digress).

On Saturday, one of my bridesmaids and I went shopping in downtown SD for some bridesmaid dresses. I was looking forward to scoring a deal at the nearby Demetrios Outlet but was surprised to find that their bridesmaid dress rack consisted of a dozen dresses that looked like they could have come from the early 90's. In desperation we went to an actual brick and mortar store to look at overly priced dresses. We were looking for a tea length, celadon colored, summer dress. I think we found it perfectly:


While I was waiting for my bridesmaid to try on all 20 dresses (tea length is all the rage right now), I decided to pass the time by looking at a few of the bridal gowns that had been tried on by brides earlier and were sitting on a rack waiting to be hung up. One of the dresses immediately caught my eye since it had all the components of a dress that I was looking for: beaded corset top, asymmetrical gathering, and gathered skirt. I tried it on and knew immediately that it was THE dress. I never intended to be a "Maggie Bride" but it looks like that's what I'll be and to be honest, I'm actually kinda excited. I never got caught up in the whole Maggie sensation but I think that was because I never thought that I'd be able to afford a Maggie Sottero dress. Here is the dress that I purchased in a different color (minus the sleeves). And below that is a picture of a real bride wearing the same dress in the exact shade that I ordered.




OK. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some beer drinking to do.

How We Met

I was surprised to go back through my blog archives and find that I hadn't written much during the time that Dave and I met and first began dating. So in honor of Valentine's Day ...

It was in August 2004 when I moved to the East San Francisco Bay town of Pleasanton. I was living in a new town, with new roommates (Scott and Steve), and with a new job (same agency, different office). I was excited for my new life but also a little lonely. I've always been a girly, girl and enjoy being surrounded by many girl friends. In search of new friends I decided to join a co-ed softball league for the city I lived in. The problem? Besides the occasional high school gym softball game, I've never actually played softball!

To help prepare me for my new co-ed softball team, I decided to make a post on craigslist.org asking for someone to teach me the fundamentals of competitive softball in exchange for cookies (or other baked goods of their choice). I thought it was a pretty lame request and would be happy just to receive one offer for assistance. Was I surprised when the next day I looked in my email inbox and found over 20 offers to help me (all from men, go figure)! I quickly took the top 5, wrote them back and began scheduling training dates. I was tempted to just delete the other 15 but at the last minute figured that they at least deserved a response. I wrote back and told them that I appreciated their willingness to help but I had already received more help then I knew what to do with.

At this same time, Dave was looking for a female to complete his co-ed softball team (all co-ed teams must have an equal number of women and men on the team). Dave saw my request on craig's list and figured that after helping me with fundamentals, if I was good enough he would ask me to be on their team.

As I was going through the 15 emails, declining their assistance, I noticed Dave's email address. It made reference to Eta Beta Sigma so below my one sentence copy and pasted statement, I asked if Eta Beta Sigma was a social or academic fraternity. Dave quickly responded back that he wasn't a member of Eta Beta Sigma, he was actually a member of Sigma Chi, the eta beta chapter. At that point my interest was picked. I've always had a thing for fraternity boys, especially Sigma Chi boys. For the next few weeks, Dave and I maintained a platonic email exchange. I already had more dates then I knew what to do with plus at that time I was fooling around with my roommate Scott.

One Wednesday night, my roommates were at band practice so I decided to do a double class at the gym: 30 min abs class followed by one hour of yoga. By the time I got home I was a stinky sweaty mess. I was going to jump right in the shower but figured I would check my email first. The first email was from Dave and it had only one sentence "Are you there?". At first I was a little freaked, but I responded back saying "yes, i am". He quickly told me to call him and I did. Dave's first co-ed softball game was about to begin and one of the girls had bailed out on the team. If I didn't get there in 15 minutes, they would have to forfeit the game. Of course I jumped in my car and drove to the softball field.

I remember getting out of my car and walking across the parking lot. I was nervous as at this time because Dave and I had never seen pictures of each other and I wasn't sure how I would find him or his team out on the field. I saw a tall guy at the gate to the softball park and I thought to myself "wow. what a cutie". I continued to walk past the gate, towards the softball field. As I was walking I heard someone call my name. Surprise, surprise. The cute guy was Dave.

After the game, as a thank you Dave offered to take me out for drinks that weekend. Since then it's been a happy ever after. The end.

Things That Suck

I went wedding invite shopping today. I had done quite a bit of reading and research on-line before going to a local invitation vendor. Boy was I surprised when I sat down to look through the books and price out my invites. They are expensive! Outrageously expensive.


These are letterpress invitations. I love them but knew before I went shopping that they would be out of my price range. Cost (not including tax) is $1250 for 100.


These are the invitations that I love and *thought* that I could afford. According to the website they are $293 for 100. They conveniently forget to tell you that the green ribbon, brown ribbon, ecru ribbon, envelope lining, 2 color printing, and response cards are all extra. Total cost (not incl. tax) is $750 per 100. This may not seem like a lot to most until you think that this would be equivalent to sending $7.50 to every person that we plan on inviting. If you were invited to my wedding which would you rather receive, the card or the cash? That's what I thought. Moving on.


These are the invitations that we will most likely be getting. I like them but don't love them as much as the invite above. After looking through hundreds of sample invitations it was the only invite that I would seriously consider buying. Plus at $300 for 100 it is well within my budget.

OK. I'm off to scour ebay and on-line wedding invite vendors for a cheaper and more fashionable deal. I've been reluctant to buy on-line because I would prefer to feel the paper quality before I buy but at this point I'm not sure that I'd be happy with invite #3.

Update: I looked at many websites and found several cute and affordable invites. I *think* these may be the ones we go with. I love the color, ribbon accent, price ($200 for 100! and that includes everything), as well as the contemporary yet classic look. I've requested a sample so hopefully that arrives soon. Yay for the internet!

Wise Words

"In the end, we conserve only what we love.
We will love only what we understand.
We will understand only what we are taught."
- Baba Dioum, Senegalese ecologist

5 Things ...

Five things you may or may not know about me:

1. I hate taking my birth control pills each night. The taste of them makes me nauseous. Each night I have to bribe myself with a piece of chocolate (or something else that is sweet) so that it covers the taste of the pill and prevents me from getting sick to my stomach. I've tried changing brands of pills but unfortunately I'm ultra-sensitive to the hormones in birth control. The only thing that helps is if I take the pill as close to bed time as possible so that I sleep through the queasiness. God help me if I ever get pregnant. I fully expect to be nauseous all 24 hours of each day.

2. I have a really hard time "making" friends. What I mean by that is that there are certain people who are able to walk up to someone in yoga class and start a friendship. For me friendships just tend to happen over a very gradual process. A very slow gradual process which kinda sucks if you're like me and have moved around quite a bit in the last few years. In the past I've tried my hardest to "force" a friendship such as chat someone up at the gym that is a regular and invite them out for a drink. Unfortunately, I can never get over that forced feeling and loosen' up enough to actually enjoy my new friendship. I think making new friends is worse then dating.

3. I HATE clothes that are tight, binding, constrictive or otherwise uncomfortable. Skin tight jeans are the worst! This applies to shoes too. I see women wearing high heeled boots or pointy toed shoes and I can't understand how they can bear the torture of feet that hurt. My ideal daily wardrobe: flip flops, yoga pants, t-shirt and polar fleece pullover. Maybe I should become a gym trainer?

4. I'm extremely organized. Like Martha Stewart organized. You know the 'get organized' articles you read in a magazine that show pics of perfectly organized bills, home finances, drawers, dvds, and closets. Well that's me. ALL the time. Even my car and office are just as organized. I'm a little obsessed with everything having a proper place to be. Sometimes I think that I should open an organization business.

5. I didn't lose my virginity until I was 18. If I could go back in time and change one thing this would be it. At the time I was desperate to finally have sex and so I didn't fully appreciate how important the moment would be. I wish that I had saved myself for someone who was more important to me and that I had tried to make the moment more special.

People I'd like to learn 5 things about: Tam & Erin

I Thought This Was Supposed To Be Fun

Alternate Title: Things That Suck - House Hunting

We've been house hunting for a month now and so far we've toured seven houses. Of those seven:

1 was an attached home with a huge kitchen that I loved but Dave did not.

1 was located 300 yards from a major freeway and was therefore LOUD. No thank you.

1 we really liked but the realtor was a pompous ass. Another offer has been accepted by the realtor and the house is now in pending status (aka beginning stage of escrow).

1 is in the same neighborhood as the house above and even has the same floor plan. But it desperately needs updating and is selling for the exact same price as the other house. Dave and I both agree that we like the house but don't feel comfortable paying the same amount for a house that needs much more work.

1 was 2 stories but there was no staircase to unite the floors. You entered the house through the front door on the second (ground) level. To get to the bottom floor you had to walk around the house to the backyard. Unfortunately, the two rooms on the bottom floor were without a bathroom so if someone was sleeping down there they would have had to walk around the house and use the front door to access the restroom. Otherwise the house was exactly what we were looking for: gorgeous views, recently updated kitchen, nice layout, and as a bonus it had an awesome courtyard in the middle of the house.

1 is above our price range ($450k) and has been neglected by the previous owners (it is currently vacant). An offer had been made on the house on it's 1st day on the market but that offer was rejected and it is now back on the market. It's larger, newer, and generally more awesome then the other houses we've seen. As I said the house has been neglected but I'm optimistic and think that new flooring and paint would greatly improve the house's shabbiness. Dave tends to not agree with me and thinks that a combo of the high asking price and need for improvements would leave us on too tight of a monthly budget. This is our 2nd choice so far.

1 is our first choice and 2 weeks ago we put in an offer. It is 1700 square foot, 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 2 story, with an awesome view from the backyard. The problem is that the house is a short sale so our offer was made to the bank (not the owners). Banks tend to think in terms of money not people so they've been taking their sweet time deciding whether our offer is worth the loss they'll be taking. I wouldn't be surprised if we don't hear from the bank for another 2 weeks. This is driving Dave crazy.







** Side note: Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately for us), there are quite a few short sales on the market lately. Of the above houses that I mentioned 4 of them are short sales or close to foreclosure.